Friday, December 31, 2021

Closing Out On 2021

Well, this has certainly been an interesting year, to say the least.. 
I thought I'd write up my findings of 2021, and have a little look into the future as well.
And of course also for you all to keep me accountable for the goals I set in this post.

Blogging

Let's start with the best topic.. 😁 I managed to write a whopping 6 (six!) blog posts this year, of which 4 are from this month.. That is actually the lowest for one year since I've started blogging in 2011.
My goal for next year is definitely to blog more, and more consistent! I think I already made a great start this month.

Speaking

While I had some great speaking engagements online in 2021, with 7 presentations in total the number is not that high. But the winner is definitely Power BI Next Step in Copenhagen, the first (and for me only) in-person event in 2021! It was great to be back and physically meet and see friends again. Also, the road trip with Marc (@MarcLelijveld | b) & his girlfriend was quite fun.
I also have some plans for new presentations, and even have an in-person (new) presentation planned at DataGrillen!

MVP

This was certainly the highlight of 2020 and 2021, because on July 1st 2021, I received the great e-mail that I was (re-)awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in the Data Platform category for the 2nd consecutive year.
I've already learned so much from all the conversations and e-mails with other MVP's. And of course the direct links to the (Power BI) product teams are amazing!
Thanks again to Jan Mulkens, Marc Lelijveld and Rishi Sapra for supporting me on this track.

Learning/Reading

While I do read a lot of blog posts to keep up with all the news in the Power BI and Power Platform world, I think I didn't actually finish any books this year. I do have 3 books still in progress at the moment which I started recently. I want to read a bit more and also more regularly next year.
I also managed to do 2 exams in the first week of 2021: I passed both DA-100 and PL-900 in one day! 🥳

Running

Just over 2 years ago I started as a member of the local athletics club, with training on a running track once a week. That helped me a lot in getting more regular in running. In 2020 I ran 1250 km, which was way more than I ever did. However, my goal for 2021 is set to 1800 km! And I managed to beat that 1800th km on this final day of the year! 🎉

I also wanted to get a half marathon under 90 minutes, but that didn't go as planned. I got stuck at just over 92 minutes. That's a nice goal to finish next year!

The motivation of my fellow runners on Twitter (#runhappy) helped me a lot, so THANK you!

So, What's Next?

2022 will also bring about another big change. As you already may have noticed, next month will be my last month at Van Lanschot Kempen.
On February 1st I will join Powerdobs as their Unit Lead Power BI! It's a small consultancy company, located in Den Bosch, focused on the (Azure) Data Platform and Power BI.
So out of my comfort zone, back into consultancy. More focus on Power BI, but also the connecting parts on the Azure data platform, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are going to be some posts and/or certifications around that.

I wish everyone the best, a happy new year, and good health for you and your loved ones in 2022!



Nicky,
Out.

1 comment:

  1. 92 minutes? Any chance it was a technical malfunction in the timer? :-)

    I am confident you put allot of effort into that time. Good job!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback!

Cheers,
Nicky

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