Where in the World is Kathy Sierra? -- Or, the best tech writing blogger ever

http://davidbarneswork.posterous.com/where-in-the-world-in-kathy-sierra-or-the-bes

by cruise02 • 16 years ago

67 17 16 years ago

davidbarneswork.posterous.com

mikecane• 16 years ago

I didn't know she closed her Twitter account. I noticed her absence. I hope she is OK.

thesethings4• 16 years ago

Kathy did not close her Twitter account due to anything bad (unlike the unfortunate threats that coincided with her blog shutting down.)

There are lots of ways to participate in communities and conversations, and she wanted to step away from that one for a bit.

I can't point to a public URL as I got this from private conversation, but there was a public Tweet from one of her friends on this as well.

In any case, her work is GREAT and anybody from an engineer to a marketer would do well to absorb her customer-centric philosophies that make EVERYTHING clear ("your product doesn't kick ass... your product makes your CUSTOMERS kick ass...")

Google and learn :D

cruise02• 16 years ago

Thanks. I'm a big fan of her books, blog, and philosophy in general. I hope she doesn't lay low for too long, but she's given so much to the programming/online community that I guess she deserves a break if she wants one.

thesethings4• 16 years ago

I don't think she thinks of it as a break, but actually something that enables her to do MORE work :D

As somebody who devoured her twitter, I do feel an absence. But I do think she's working on similar stuff/themes at the moment, as she was pre-Twitter break.

runevault2• 16 years ago

I've actually been meaning to go back through her passionate users blog and reread some of the entries, there was so much great content put up there before she closed it off due to threats.

thesethings4• 16 years ago

Definitely do it. Also, there are at least 2 full length keynotes gave at different conferences around online (and many shorter videos as well).

tankman2• 16 years ago

What kind of threats?

jonnytran• 16 years ago

I've been doing this -- reading the Creating Passionate Users blog from the beginning as if it were a book. I'm up to March of 2005 so far, and it has dramatically transformed my outlook on creating software.

Not only that, it's about create passionate users, where "users" is meant as a general term, whether it be users of software, readers of books, listeners of music, etc. I've applied the concepts to my entire life, where the people I interact with are users of me. Even though I know it has already ended, I secretly hope it never does. Even the oldest entries are still relevant today. Deciding to go back and read it all is turning out to be one of the best decisions I've made.

I am evidence that her method works, because I'm now one of Kathy Sierra's passionate users!

dasil003• 16 years ago

More power to her. I was one of her followers on Twitter, and I am extremely selective about who I follow (eg. Tim O'Reilly got the boot a long time ago). I have missed her tweets, but Twitter is not a really high value channel for me because I'm not interested as much in what's hot as in true refinement of my craft. To that end I'd rather take the time to read what she has written in longer formats.

petercooper• 16 years ago

Does Kathy's approach resonate with you? I'd love to talk to you about Packt Beginner's Guides books. Email me on davidb@packtpub.com

Just in case anyone misses it right down in the bottom, it looks like the author is an acquisitions editor with Packt and is looking for authors willing to take a Kathy Sierra approach. That might interest more people around here than the whole post does..

Where in the World is Kathy Sierra? -- Or, the best tech writing blogger ever

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