Geof Harries hails from Whitehorse Yukon and writes an increadibly interesting blog entitled: Yukonbiz. During the day Geof is a Program Manager at Aasman Interactive. but at night he is a father, snowboarder and mountain biker. If have ever wondered what it’s like to work in technology in Canada’s north – Geof wrote the book.
Technologica: Why did you start blogging and what was your original intention for your blog?
Geof Harries: I was seeking a method by which I could expand our business into new markets. We’d tried email newsletters, direct mailers and other traditional advertising methods, but blogging has far and away been the most successful. It’s also a lot of fun.
My original intention was to focus on discussing the benefits and impacts of usable web applications for everyday businesses and organizations. I’ve written a few posts along these lines, but over the past year, I’ve transitioned into topics such as website reviews, Internet marketing, user experience design and project management. I’m running the full gamut at the moment.
Technologica: How do you measure the success of your blog?
Geof Harries: Most importantly, by how much traffic it drives to the Aasman Interactive website http://aasmaninteractive.com.
I also consider the number of comments I get with each post. They’re not huge numbers by any means, but I do notice that my more general-purpose, sometimes controversial, posts get the most comments. I therefore try to write in this style and on these topics.
Technologica: What do you think are the biggest trends in tech are right now?
Geof Harries: Really small companies doing really big things with no outside investment, at least at the onset.
Cheap hardware and free software which greatly lowers the barrier to entry for these companies.
The groundswell of disruptive open source frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, which has gained a massive amount of mind-share by free community marketing alone. That’s really impressive.
The re-emergence of Flash within Flex as a viable delivery platform for video and web applications.
The success of user-generated content and non-corporate networks for advertising and blogs, along with the looming death of printed newspapers as a long-term business model.
Simply put: Less is not necessarily better, but it sure keeps you on the right track for the first few years.
Technologica: Is small the new big?
Geof Harries: They’re interchangeable. The renewed focus on starting and remaining small is refreshing, but in the end, all companies become big in one way or another. Only real-world experience will teach you this lesson.
Technologica: What’s the biggest misconception the nonblogging world still has about blogging?
Geof Harries: That blogs are only for geeks, cat owners and lonely teenagers who don’t dare wander outside of their bedroom.
Technologica: What is your day job?
Geof Harries: I’m the Program Manager for Aasman Interactive, located in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.
Technologica: How closely does your blog relate to your business and do they feed off each other?
Geof Harries: Very closely. The quality of my blog has a great effect on our reputation. Sometimes that’s good but other times it can have a negative impact if I end up ticking somebody off with a controversial post that ruffles corporate feathers. This has happened a few times with my Homepage Review posts, such as http://yukonbiz.com/index.php/site/homepage_review_government_of_yukon or http://yukonbiz.com/index.php/site/homepage_review_city_of_whitehorse
Once my words are publicly available, outside of deletion, it’s for eternity and at the mercy of anybody who wants to agree or disagree.
Yet, no matter the reception, bad publicity can be just as beneficial as good. Marketing is marketing.
Technologica: What makes a good program manager?
Geof Harries: Being able to smoothly float between technical, marketing, sales, administration and business environments at any given moment. Understanding the constraints and opportunities of each, then knowing how to tie them all together. Having enough experience in each world to not look or act like a total dimwit. Well, at least most of the time.
Technologica: How did end up in Whitehorse or are you from there?
Geof Harries: I grew up in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. I first arrived in Whitehorse in spring 1998 and returned with my wife, who was raised here, in June 2003 to start up Aasman Interactive.
Moving to Whitehorse was part of my migration west from Southern Ontario. I went to university at Lakehead in Thunder Bay, then after graduation headed to Whistler to live as a snowboard bum for a year.
In April 1998 I was sitting on the floor of our rat-infested, outrageously expensive condominium situated by a gas station outside Whistler, contemplating my future. I had been offered a summer job with the mountain to drive the salt truck up the glacier, which is not where I wanted my life to go.
I started to flip through a previous years’ Yukon tourism guide, found a wilderness tourism operator who offered snowboard expeditions, and phoned them up to inquire about jobs. A few hours later I had a sales position at their retail store. Two days later I was on my way to the Yukon.
Technologica: What are the top three most exciting things about living up north?
Geof Harries: Honesty, beauty and quick access to wilderness.
Whitehorse is a fantastic place to call home: we’ve got many of the amenities of larger cities further south, but we avoid the rampant commercialism, traffic and pollution. People are much less concerned with wealth and image. They’re true to themselves. Rednecks, no matter how loud their trucks or dirty their offspring, are generally good neighbours.
In the Yukon, caribou outnumber humans 5-1. Alaska is less than 2 hours away. Monstrous glaciers, lakes and mountains are really just a short trip outside of Whitehorse, comparatively speaking. I can hop on my mountain bike and be on killer singletrack within 10 minutes.
Technologica: What do you see happening with your blog in the next few years?
Geof Harries: A transition into more marketing theory and advertising concepts in plain language for all sorts of readers. Inclusion of video and photos. Changes to the user interface, including better archives, tags, relational links to other posts and a greater focus on people’s comments.
As for blogs in general, I predict less concentration on technical features and merit. There will be more focus on socializing and sharing, with a renewed interset in the importance of visual design. Or at least, I hope this is the case.
Technologica: What do you do when you are not blogging?
Geof Harries: Mountain biking, road cycling, fly-fishing, snowboarding, playing basketball and hanging out with my family. We have a 2-year girl and as of today, a 4 day old boy.
Technologica: What are your three favorite blogs and why?
Geof Harries: 1) Luke Wroblewski’s Functioning Form because of his brilliant, well-written insight into user experience design issues
2) Rands in Response
because of his thought-provoking posts about team management and relationships
3) Andrew Robulack’s Woolsock because of the sheer diversity between his posts and analytical approach to research and writing
Technologica: Have you ever posted something you regretted and what lesson did you learn from the experience?
Geof Harries: Lots of times! Being honest and open is the only way I want to be, but sometimes I go overboard. No matter, I treat each of these episodes as learning experiences. It takes years to become a good blogger. I’m just getting started.
Technologica: What do you say to the people who think that bloggers are Narcissistic Egocentrists?
Geof Harries: I wholeheartedly agree. Somebody has to blaze the trail for the rest of the world.
In a couple of years, we’ll all be onto something else.