Only a man with a very busy life (or possibly, just possibly, a lackadaisical attitude to blogging) could seriously put the word “recently” and “September” together in a post title right at the end of the year. Regardless, that’s just how I roll. The other reason for this all-in-one four month update is because the Autumn and the first half of the Winter were all of a piece really. So, work: The new role that I mentioned last time came to pass, turning from a speculative secondment into a permanent move. I’m now working in a new team, looking at what Dennis Publishing can and should do with its content on mobile phones, tablets, eReaders and all kinds of other new hardware. My new team’s work also includes a bit of brainstorming of more general “new ideas” and some behind-the-scenes work on dull but important things like content management systems.

The team was initially called Emerging Platforms, but now goes by Dennis Media Factory. It’s a little vague, but intentionally so, giving a bit of room to change course, adapt, iterate. All important things when you consider this time last year the iPad wasn’t even on sale. At the same time, the name has a solidity and purpose and it suggests making things. Two simple words, but ones that promise a lot of change for media companies I think. Most of what they do – or see themselves doing – is creating on a very large, slightly vague scale (i.e. magazines that have become brands, containing print/online/event/merchandise/spinoffs), or, on a much smaller level – articles and features. Things - or better yet, products - are right in the middle of that. At the moment, by things, I mean Apps for the phones and tablets, digital magazines, eBooks. The challenge for us at work is to implement structure and processes that can achieve efficiency at scale and, of course, to make sure we sweat the details to make some absolutely cracking specific things.

My role (currently under the title Development Manager) is the second bit really. Talking to the different brands at Dennis about what they could, should and can do in terms of Apps. I’ve been reading and learning a lot about Product Management as a job function within media companies; went to a great AOP conference about it, and I’m enjoying the chance to have a lot of input into such a new, interesting bit of the company. If you want to keep up with what we’re doing, I’ve set up a link blog for DMF, and we have a Twitter account too.

Linked to that, I wrote a meandering piece on The Wired Jester about a week I spent up north, seeing the family, and what happened when they played with the iPad. I had almost a month off the bike in November as a result of bad weather and a minging cold, and I really missed it: 2010 has definitely been the year I got back into cycling, and it’s one of the best decisions I made all year. I’m getting quicker with doing stuff with my photos, thanks to Lightroom – here’s some pictures from my trip. In 2010 I upgraded to the D90 this year, and haven’t looked back. It’s a great camera – but nowhere near as significant to my pictures as Lightroom. Below, a few of my best pictures from the year.

Next year… well, next year will be very different to this one I think.