connect2edinfo - becoming a professional

Becoming a professional is a lot of work.  Not only is there an actual lot of work to do inside of work, but there's a lot to do outside of work, too.

I decided a while ago that I wanted to change my Twitter name, that I wanted to create a website, and - after matriculating into the Higher Education program - that I wanted to change my blog's domain name.  Whew! 

You might ask why... and the answer is strictly professional.  My old Twitter name - abundntsunshine - meant nothing, particularly because I live in Michigan where we don't have a lot of sunshine.  I wanted to create a website because, hey, that's what information professionals do, right?  And, I wanted to change the blog domain name from being solely about libraries to being more inclusive of my interest in higher education (not that I believe we shouldn't still live.love.libraries). More than anything, I wanted to create a cohesive online profile.

So then the challenges started.  Not only would I have to come up with a semi-creative and relevant Twitter and blog domain name, but I'd have to find the time to change all of the links in various spaces.  Between LinkedIn, my School of Information profile, Facebook, Twitter, and my resume, it's nearly impossible to keep up with everything - let alone change three important pieces of information everywhere.  That's why it's taken me until December to do so.  But I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Connect2EdInfo is my new Twitter (@connect2edinfo) and blog domain (connect2edinfo.blogspot.com), and my website is simple - alissatalleypixley.com.  It was my attempt to keep my online profile professional, and for it to represent what I'm interested in and what I hope to work on in my career.

It's a lot of work to continually put myself out there in a way that is representative of my professionalism.  But I think it's worth it - more and more people are reading my blog and it's my hope that the new name change will begin attracting broader audiences on Twitter and on the web.  Enjoy (and thanks for reading this self-promoting post :)  - hopefully there are some lessons learned for all.