Evolution

It’s been a while since I wrote a new blog post. Over the last couple of weeks my online presence underwent evolution as we all moved into a “new reality”. Right of the bat I’ll start by saying that from here on the main parts of my blog will remain what they are. To me these clearly are writing posts and as a spin off produce podcast episodes. The latter is part of my online evolution, but I thought telling a little about this evolution until now and upcoming plans wont hurt anyone.

So I started the blog in january this year, as the Corona virus was starting to spread. As you could read from earlier updates I wrote I enjoyed the process of setting up the website and the technical side of it. As it allowed me to gain new skills, the virus turned into a pandemic and world wide governmental measures were taken. As we were forced to stay home more, I decided to gain more skills online. Half way March the layout of the blog roughly reached the status at which it is now on the technical side. Apart from the post section on my landing page I added a post archive page on which more of my articles can be browsed. This part for now completed the blogging side of the website.

Social media

While working on the last technical parts of the website, I started exploring other social media channels like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. For a long time I deliberately had not paid any attention to for example Instagram and Facebook. The past two months however provided the opportunity to also gain more insight and experience in these channels while curiosity got the better of me. So I started an Instagram channel and Facebook account. On the face of it I always was hesitant to start with them as I didn’t see any added value to me personally. I’ve come to believe they can be a great asset to my blog while providing different channels to reach potential new readers and audiences.

Instagram, mechanics and metrics

Instagram, while of course I’m still learning, provided the most fun learning curve. After starting out and playing around with it with help from Aartie, my wife who works in media, I decided to learn more about the mechanics behind it. Aartie provided exciting insights into the world of search engine optimization and hashtag research. Use of hashtags and the mechanics and metrics behind these were a couple of topics she explained to me.

Never thought all this hid behind the Instagram front end, this all might sound a bit nerdy but hey that’s just me. While Aartie helped me with custom hashtag metrics research I incorporated this into my Instagram account. This resulted in a basis for my Instagram account on which I share visual insights into shipbuilding and management topics about which I write on the blog. Apart from this I’ve also started using it to promote my podcast episodes. As far as I’m concerned my Insta presence is here to stay also.

Interaction

Interestingly enough the most interaction with “audience members” I’ve had from starting the blog until now, has been through posting on Instagram. I was slightly surprised by how interested people are in the stories behind photos and have gotten some questions and started conversation through them. Again this is old news to many, to me a nice new experience.

As an example I’ve come into contact with the people from the National Dredging Museum based in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands. The museum is unique and offers the opportunity to learn about the past and present of Dutch dredging development and history. As the pandemic developed they seemingly increased their online presence through the use of for example Instagram and Facebook.

They posted some feedback on some of my podcast episodes which I greatly appreciate. We’ve unofficially agreed on recording an episode together in the future, looking forward to that! I’ll first pay a visit to the museum as I’ve never been there. Keep an eye out for an upcoming post about this visit. I recommend following the “Nationaal Baggermuseum” on Instagram if you’re planning a visit to the Netherlands. They offer a nice opportunity to get off the beaten path while visiting and at the same time is a little gem filled of Dutch civil engineering and water work history and memorabilia.

On another instance I was pleasantly surprised and asked to be an overseas guest on the Insta channel “Anakdermaga”. I agreed and have had nice interaction with their followers in Indonesia. The channel provides a podium for their countrymen and women who work in shipping, shipbuild and any related industry. As a greenhorn in the Insta world, I do think it’s safe to say this is an overseas connection I wouldn’t have made outside of Instagram. 

Short term outlook

Now that my digital presence and interaction with audience members has grown, “real world” interaction also increases again. As in many parts of the world public life is starting to increase little by little. Governments and employers are starting to find a new balance, a new reality. As for the Dutch situation the goal of developing group immunity seems to be developing at a slower pace than hoped for. This means the general consensus now is to move along with “controlled unlocking” while searching for vaccines and other treatment methods.

Professionally I haven’t worked at home, being part of a production organisation makes a lot of us essential to be present at the yard. It does pose again new challenges for many moving into this new normal. For me personally (and many in the field) the last months were tough, while staying at work on site and dealing with all the extra measures. These measures to a certain extent appear to continue to exist for the unforeseeable future. Having had a couple of weeks off and able to recharge I’m ready to take on the remainder of 2020 :).

As I’m finishing up this post and glance at various news streams from over the globe, it’s clear that internationally we haven’t reached equal levels of a new normal. This for a large part has to do with the way this pandemic develops across the world combined with the ability of governments and societies to deal with their challenges. If anyone wants to discuss dealing with measures in a professional environment just leave me a comment. I’d be happy to give my insights from over the last 4 months and at the same time learn from your experiences.

For now I’ll close with wishing readers the best of health, stay safe and stay tuned for upcoming posts and podcast episodes!

If you enjoyed this post check out my post “3 Tips on Staying Focused and Motivated”. I wrote it and recorded the podcast episode while dealing with the pandemic from my professional perspective. These are in English.

Also check out my post “Powerful Motivation en Leidinggeven in een Productieorganisatie”. This post and podcast episode are in Dutch. They are the result of a conversation I had with entrepeneur Richard Soemeer about his challenges and some of my experiences with managment (in a shipbuilding environment).