So a Funny Thing Happened on Twitter the Other Day

A funny thing happened on Twitter the other day. Funny as in awesome. Awe. Some. Heavy on the awe. I’ve been clawing my way through learning WordPress for nearly a year now. I’ve sought out and taken advantage of nearly every learning opportunity I could find. I’ve often had discussions about apprenticeships, internships, and/or mentoring along the way. So when any of those words pop up my ears perk up. And I do believe I was actually having a conversation in Skype with NikV regarding mentoring when he puts out this seemingly boring tweet:

Check out this awesome post by @mattmedeiros. http://t.co/O4ijnAFwDu

? NikV (@TechVoltz) December 15, 2013

Well, it sure looked like the word mentor to me, so I clicked on the link only to be taken to a great article about how Matt Mederios is mentoring a couple community college students who want to build an Android game. (It’s a good read, you should check it out.) And while the blog post is interesting it’s the comments that really piqued my interest. Others were volunteering to be mentors. This was like finding the lost city of gold! So I meekly threw my hat in the ring and said “Pick me?” This started a conversation and some tweets and emails. But what really blew my mind was when Troy Dean of Video User Manuals? and WP Elevation (yes, THAT Troy Dean), tossed up the comment “I?m up for some giving some mentoring for 30 days. Hit me up on Twitter @troydean and tell me Matt sent you.” I saw that and did a quick O_O. Wanting to give others a chance I let it sit there unanswered. But I kept thinking about it.

Bit of background first. I saw Troy give a presentation (albeit by Skype) at WordCamp Phoenix 2013 last January. He was the last presentation on Developer Day. You know. Sunday. Last day of a three-day event. Late in the day. Brain mush and all that. But he was awesome and energized everyone there just as we were wrapping up. That’s impressive. I of course followed him on Twitter. Somewhere along the way I signed up for his newsletter and podcast. Which led me to his WordPress Consulting Primer course, which I had finished only days earlier. Troy and the challenges he’s capable of laying down were quite clear (and a bit frightening) to me.

So with that blog post comment still rattling around my head, I basically couldn’t sleep because of thinking about it.?I sent a reply to @troydean asking if anyone had taken him up on the offer. From bed. And as I could have anticipated, he asked me to pre-qualify by writing him a reply in the blog comments. So I crawled out of bed to do so. Well, that sealed the deal apparently. And I’m now scheduled for what in my mind is the Troy Dean bootcamp starting in mid-January. It will be right after I return from WordCamp Phoenix 2014, where Troy will once again be speaking. We’re going to do 2x 45-min sessions per week with an hour’s worth of homework every day for a month. Anyone who knows my schedule will wonder how I’m going to make that work. I just will.

I expect that we will focus on getting my business put together. Which is good since I’ve been trying to figure it out for, I dunno, maybe 8 or 9 months now. I lack a lot of confidence in my skills and could use a mentor in that area too, but I need to go with what I’ve got. I’m excited, nervous, terrified, and overwhelmed all at the same time. And grateful. Mind-blowingly grateful.

Matt on the other hand enjoyed watching this all transpire. He sent out a tweet a bit later…

A really great connection was made on my Mentor post and I’m going to document it 🙂 –> http://t.co/vKjadprWuG

? Matt Report (@mattreport) December 19, 2013

Not only did I agree to Troy’s mentoring, I also agreed to share my experience on Matt’s blog. And I’ll do the same here. I’m really not sure what I’m in for, or whether I’m up for the challenge. I just know I’m going to leap on faith and hang on like terrier.

Looking forward to a kick ass 2014!!

P.S. Looks like I might have played a small part in something bigger. Matt’s taking this idea and institutionalizing it:?http://mattreport.com/launching-wp-mentor/ and?http://wpmentor.org/