Big ideas, and then ... no time

Every time I go to a conference, I come away with big ideas, opinions, and definitive actions for when I get home. I going to do X! I’m going to demand that X starts using Y! I’m going to change the world by doing Z etc. Once I’m home, other pressures take hold (running a business, running a family), and these big ideas never happen. They are quickly forgotten.

One example. Last year’s SXSW was my first encounter with Microformats in Tantek’s presentation. Almost scary in their simplicity, I was excited at the possibilities they presented*. When I got back, I would start looking at how I could implement this into my work.

A year went by. This year at SXSW, Gordon Montgomery on the “Design and Social Responsibility” panel urged people to start small. Even a small change was better than no change at all. These words stuck with me, and gave me hope for this years inevitable come home… then not do anything cycle.

So, its taken me a year to get around to such a chuffing simple task, but I’ve reformatted my contact details to use the hCard microformat. Its funny how a few extra class names can give you satisfaction.

Now I repeat to myself as a mantra. Small changes. Start small…