Reflecting on More than 15 Years with GoCertify

I'll start off with just a small toot on my own horn: I was surprised and pleased to see that four of my articles made GoCertify's newly minted 10 Most Popular Articles of 2019 recap. It got me to thinking about the long and storied trip I've been on with GoCertify for much of the past 20 years.

I went digging back into my e-mail archives, and discovered some early correspondence with prior site owner Anne Martinez dating back to 2003. Prior to the site's acquisition by its current owner and operator, Noel Vallejo, I wrote perhaps one or two dozen bits and pieces for GoCertify.

Since the site's change of ownership August of 2013, however, I've been writing an average of four or five articles or posts a month. As time passes, that sort of steady contribution really adds up.

Right now, if you do a Google Search on my name at GoCertify.com, it generates 843 hits, perhaps 50 percent of which actually point to articles or blog posts I've written for the site. That puts the number of submissions at around 420 in round numbers, which works out to almost six posts per month over the past six years (factoring out prior work for the old regime).

Since 2013, GoCertify has been kind enough to let me pick my own topics to write about. This adds to the frisson I get when I see my name come up in the Top 10 for previous years. (I also had two in 2017, and five in 2018).

I'm also pleased to relate that I referred at least two other recurring Top 10 authors to the GoCertify team: Aaron Axline and Mike Chapple. Aaron and I first worked together back in the 2000s at a practice test outfit, and I've been a co-author with Mike on numerous books.

All in all, it's been a great ride for me so far, because it's given me the best possible excuse to keep up with a subject matter and industry niche that I love. I've been able to think about and dispense all kinds of career advice, to help spotlight programs for active duty military personnel transitioning back to civilian life, to keep IT pros on their toes and advancing their certification portfolios, and more.

So please, let me take this opportunity to thank you readers for your interest and engagement over the years. I hope I can continue to attract those things in the years still to come. With the IT industry's rates of growth and change themselves exploding, there's certainly going to be a LOT to dig into and talk about in the months and years ahead.

It's my firm and unchanging belief that training and certification are as important to IT as they've ever been. I also believe that's not going to change any time soon.

All that said, let me take this opportunity to wish the best of the holiday season to everyone, with my fond hopes that 2020 may be an even better year than 2019 has been. Those good wishes also extend to your friends, family ,and colleagues as you gather to celebrate the end of an old year, and the beginning of a new one.

I hope you'll take a little time to reflect on your career and certification plans for 2020 while enjoying some holiday downtime. Have a great set of holidays, and may we all return to work and the daily grind, renewed and refreshed for 2020 in early January.

A Brief Absence

I'll be back in the saddle with my next piece here at GoCertify on Jan. 10. Why this hiatus? My Dad is being interred at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 2, so I won't be posting again until I return from that ceremony.

I hope I can take your thoughts and prayers with me as my family and I follow the caisson with full marching band and final salute. He'll be laid in his eternal resting place, where my Mom already awaits him (Section 59, Plot 3926). So long, old soldier!