I'm 1 Year Old!

Time sure flies, and I just realized it's March. Aside from Spring conferences getting into gear now, it dawned on me today that I've been on my own a year now. I left Frost & Sullivan at the end of February 2005, and I have to say it was the right thing for me to do. Frost continues to cover this market very well, but I have to follow my own road, and so far, so good.

Calysto is one of the leading PR firms focused on IP, and they were nice enough to mention my transition in their newsleter - Media Vibes - which is just about a year ago to the day. I can tell you these things work! I still remember how surprised I was to hear people come up to me at the beginning of Spring VON last year telling me they had heard the news - before I had a chance to tell them. They read about it in Media Vibes, where news of my move was briefly noted - here it is. Calysto got the scoop, that's for sure - nice work, Laura!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm an independent analyst/consultant focused on IP communications. You can read more about me and my practice, J Arnold & Associates in the sidebars on this blog. My website will be launched this month, and I'll post the link when it's ready - that will tell you much more about my practice.

Being an independent consultant isn't easy, and I'm thankful for all the support I've received from across the spectrum of vendors, carriers, bankers, the media, PR firms, entrepreneurs, consultants and my friends. I want to say a very special thank you to Jeff Pulver and his team at Pulvermedia and Pulver.com. Jeff's support and openness to working with me on a number of levels is a big reason why I'm here, and why I've been able to participate so broadly in the global IP community. One of Jeff's virtues is building community and giving back, and I know that I'm one of many people in this industry who has done well by being part of Jeff's world.

There are many ways to gauge success, and I'm happy to say that I've found a good niche to grow from in my first year. I've got a growing client base, a strong pipeline of new projects, and I'm developing a good network of ad hoc associates to work with me. I've maintained my industry profile as an independent, having participated in 15 conferences, been cited in the media and press releases over 100 times, become an advisor to several companies, and have posted over 200 blog entries (here's entry #1!). I'm not a volume blogger, and some people post this ofen every month, but that's not me. But I certainly hope to maintain a regimen of daily postings, and try to focus on providing original content and/or commentary. Same goes for my weekly podcasts on the Canadian IP market for the Pulvermedia Podcasting Network (that's an updated and fancy way of saying PulverRadio!).

That's all I have to say. A year sure goes by fast - I'm very excited about Year 2, and appreciate all the business and support that has brought me to this point so far.