23 June 2011

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Second birthday? What's that all about?   Well it's two years since I became a contributor on Philofaxy... doesn't time fly when you are having fun... and I've enjoyed every minute of the last two years on here.

I will be honest that at first it represented quite a challenge for me to think of things to write about. I spent many hours composing and editing my first posts trying to get them absolutely perfect in terms of the wording and grammar. I still care about those things (I might not get it right every time!), but practice makes an improvement (not perfect!). English and writing has never been a strong point even at school. I'm a lot happier moving numbers and formulas around on Excel, than I am composing lots of text in Word!

I had set myself some goals to achieve when I joined the 'team', who made me very welcome. I have not completed all of the things I set myself to do, when I got the email asking me to join Nan and Laurie, but some things do take longer than you originally thought they would!

So some 'landmarks/highlights' of the last two years....
  • My first post was about buying Filofax goods on Ebay 
  • My original post about Filofax Templates, which for some reason still gets read many times each week!
  • My few minutes of fame on BBC Radio 5 explaining about how the Filofax is still very much an organisation tool for a lot of people. I still have a copy of the recording, which I will try to edit down and make it available here;
  • Meeting Laurie in London;
  • The first Skype Round Table chat;
  • Pocket it's where it is happening - It caused a bit of a gasp when I also followed the 'trend';
  • The Readers under the spotlight series, was a lot of fun to do, we got to know people a lot more;
  • The first London Meet up - I chuckle to myself now when I look back,  it was nearly 5 weeks later before we had any confirmed attendee's apart from me!!! Compare that to recently, all places taken in less than 48 hours! But the event was a big success;
  • The New York Meet up, I sat adding to that post as the pictures appeared on Twitter that night, it was great to see the smiling faces. The Philofaxy Magic had travelled to the other side of the world and it was working. It was quite emotionally touching to read the follow up postings, particularly Nan's post about the event. 
  • The many guest posts we have had in my time, although there were many before as well. And we always welcome guest posts. But this one by Jotje stands out from the many, mainly because it was so popular and again still read by quite a few people.
  • And of course recently the Philofaxy Style Off. Thanks Thomas for making it so much fun to put together a very light hearted post. We both I'm sure you know enjoyed the comments on the post and on Twitter!
  • And so many other things, I could list, it was difficult to know what to leave out!
I also have to thank Nan and Laurie for putting up with my crazy sense of humour at times! They have been great supporters of things I've done and introduced in the last two years. And especially to Nan for inviting me to join back in 2009.

And I can't finish without of course thanking you the readers, who have been fantastic, friends and loyal throughout this whole time. It's been great getting to know you all, thank you for all of your support either in the comments, in Tweets on Twitter, in those nice personal emails, and the odd Skype chats too and of course for travelling considerable distances to take part in meet ups.

So what next.... well I have a few ideas up my sleeve that I'm working on to share with you once a few technical bugs are sorted out. I'm trying to bring you the latest Filofax news much quicker than I do at the moment.  My focus of course will be on continuing to write posts on the blog, with the odd video review once in a while! 

Thank you...

21 comments:

  1. Happy 2nd birthday Steve.I only discovered the wonders of Philofaxy last year but since then it has been a daily fixture! Thank you for your wonderful contribution to the blog. You, Laurie and Nan really make this blog special :-)

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  2. Happy Birtday :o) and thank you for wonderful job.

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  3. Happy birthday Steve. I'd be really interested to hear the BBC recording, duly edited, when you have the time......

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  4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And many more...
    I'm so grateful that you are with Philofaxy, and that I found the site; it has brought many new friendships and loads of blessings!

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  5. Happy 2nd birthday Steve - love reading your posts. Looking forward to hearing the Radio 5 clip. Go celebrate!

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  6. Happy Birthday Steve & thanks for all your contributions and inspirations

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  7. Happy 2 year birthday!!!!! :-D

    Have you recevied any nice presents?? :-)

    Just want to say that i enjoy your post very much! But at the moment i think my favorite has to be your Style off!! :-) I dont think i have laughed that much at something in ages!!!

    (I love everyones post tho not just Steves) I dont think i would be as obsessed with filofaxes if i didnt find this amazing community!! :-D

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  8. Happy 2nd Birthday, Steve!

    I've been relatively new to the community, but I love reading the blog! The community is fab, but it wouldnt be without this blog!

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  9. yay! congrats on making it to 2! may you have many more!

    like the rest, i'm so happy to have found this blog and meet all you fellow filofax geeks! this blog has helped me edit myself and see what i need and what i don't in terms of managing my day/week/month/year which in turn gets me closer to my goals...it can (and still does) get pretty overwhelming sometimes so it's comforting to come here and find solutions or empathize. so thanks again for helping to provide this forum - i'm not sure what my planning situation would have been without this (pretty sure i'd still have a couple of filofaxes tho. heh heh. so glad to have found you all)

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  10. Happy 2nd Birthday Steve. This site is the only one I read on a daily basis and the meet ups have been the highlights of my year. Thank you for putting so much effort into making them happen.

    I wonder if any other blog has the sense of friendship and community that this one does?

    A credit to you, Nan and Laurie.

    Can't wait for the BBC recording.

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  11. Happy Philofaxy Birthday Steve!! Many thanks to you for everything you do for this blog and our wonderful community!

    Here's to many many more wonderful years of Steve's Philofaxing! :)

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  12. happy Philo birthday! Thanks for all the work you (and Laurie and Nan) do for this site. It's been a real inspiration to me to read how others use their FiloFaxes and how I can make mine more useful!

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  13. Happy birthday, Steve! And I can only agree with Laurie, thank you so much for contributing to this blog in the finest way!!!

    Thomas

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  14. From a new reader (filofax obsessed), many happy returns.

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  15. Happy 2nd Birthday, & thank you for all your articles & contribution to the site :)

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  16. Happy birthday Steve! This blog is a must for me to read every day. Thank you so much for making it so special, useful and interesting! I feel like I have made new friends here.

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  17. Happy Philofaxyday Steve!

    Thank you so much for your dedication and creativity. And coming from a fellow smart a$%, your sense of humor too!

    I look forward to many more posts!!!

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  18. Happy second Philofaxy Birthday Steve!! Just love the site, the friends I've made online and in person, and all the news you bring us Filofax 'adorees.'Especially like the web finds..... my favourite bit of the week, along with Free for Alls. Thanks for everything. CP is right... it's truly something special.

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  19. Yay! Happy birthday, Steve. This blog is great and I honestly don't know where I'd be without it - I have met so many wonderful people here! I'm looking forward to many more years of Philofaxy fun!

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  20. Happy Philofaxy birthday! Thank you for creating and maintaining this fantastic blog with your partners in crime, Laurie and Nan. I was fortunate to stumble upon the blog and to meet you and other wonderful Philofaxers.

    Thank you for all that you do!

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  21. Happy 2nd Filo-birthday, Steve! I can only comment now and again, but I've been a long time lurker and can't tell you how I've enjoyed reading through the archives. Thanks for your contributions to this amazing blog. It's one of the friendliest communities out there and I've picked up so many tips about time management and organization. Where would I be without my Filofax enablers?

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