More New Directions

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Big changes are on the career horizon here. Once more I'm altering course and going in a totally new direction. I've accepted a full-time position at Arizona State University, helping one of the departments with their print and Internet presence.

Despite all the trash talking I did about it, I've really enjoyed being freelance. It gave me the opportunity to learn and experiment with a lot of different web techniques, philosophies and technologies. But I have to admit that, although I've grown immensely as a web designer, I haven't improved much as a businesswoman. I spend way too much time on R&D. I tend to prefer clients with worthy causes (i.e, non-profits with limited budgets). And I hate public speaking, including having to sell myself to prospective clients.

The university hopefully will offer the best of both worlds--the freedom to learn and innovate while still putting that all-neccessary bread on the table. I'm not done exploring web design...and I'm not done talking about it, either. This blog and my passion for the web are here to stay.

At the risk of sounding overly geeky, I believe the future lies in networking and communication, and the Internet is the beginning of that future. This future can be a bright one, or it can be bleak. That depends on us. Web standards, accessibility, open source technology, and technology education for our youngest citizens are just some of the issues that can make a significant difference in the direction the future takes. They're issues I care deeply about and would like to support more actively. ASU is the largest university in the nation. Perhaps they have room for one more advocate.