This was 2023

2023 is almost over, here is what happened this year.

Business-wise

At Vulpo we had a very stable year, and that was also the goal for me this year.

We hired 2 new people, a developer, and a project manager. As we're still developing state-of-the-art tech, we were in desperate need of someone who translates between us developers and the clients, because sometimes we don't speak the same language.

Now that I have found someone who can take on this challenge, I have more time to work with the other developers in our team.

We've shipped some awesome products for clients this year, that really have an impact on their clients, employees, and peers.

We already have some cool stuff coming up for Q1 of 2024, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

We'll also be releasing our very first Vulpo Saas Product very soon. 🤫

Oh yeah, here's an awesome image of our Christmas party at work this year.

As a Content Creator

What about the YouTube channel?

The channel grew at a rapid pace, I still can't believe it to be honest.
On the first of January 2023 the channel had 607 subscribers and we're currently (at the time of writing this) at 2.115 subscribers. 🤯

I also just noticed that I passed the 1k followers on Twitter, something I don't really keep track of, but it's really cool, thanks!

This year I posted random Laravel tips but also some fresh content on Livewire, more specifically some video's on Livewire version 3 which was released this year and had some quite amazing changes and features.

I also created a video series called Laravel Contact App: A Tutorial Series for Beginners, which basically is a beginners guide to Laravel, where we cover all the basics but also some more advanced stuff.
You can watch the video series here. This series contains 22 videos.
I also posted this on Udemy, where I received loads of awesome feedback.

Maybe I'll do another video course during next year. 😁

How about Meetups and Conferences?

I think I may state that this year was a wild ride.
I've been on stage at a few meetups this year, I've also spoken at the Fullstack Europe Conference this year.

And eventually I ended up organizing meetups 🙈 together with Freek and Elian. We're organizing every 2 months on the last Wednesday of the month.

Cash-Converter

It finally happened this year, I've created a package. It's a very small, but it's doing something I needed for myself.

Cash-converter is a small Laravel package, that takes care of converting currency A to currency B for you, based on the exchange rate of the present day.

It's available for everyone on Packagist.

What about my personal life

On a personal level, 2023 was pretty special.
Karolien and I took up the challenge together to drink no alcohol for a full year.

At first everyone thought it was for fun, that we would only do it for a month or so.
We even made a little video series out of it, but unfortunately we didn't have time to make videos throughout the year.

In the end, we both completed the challenge and both of us didn't drink a drop of alcohol in 2023.
By doing this challenge we both developed a new lifestyle, which I think will affect us in the years to come. Drinking alcohol-free beer became something normal for me, and I must say, I don't miss the alcohol.
In 2024 we will drink alcohol again, but I'm sure our consumption will be a lot lower than the years before.

Also our oldest son (Florian) started going to the first grade, he is now learning to read, write and do math.
It's crazy how fast he's evolving..
The little one (Tristan) is also doing well in kindergarten, he's having loads of fun.

2023 also has its dark sides.
The situation with my mother got worse, she had to go through an additional chemo treatment after new metastases were found.
I hope we may enjoy many more wonderful moments with her and that she'll be among us for yet some more year. ❤️

In sports

Well, to be honest 2023 wasn't that great.
I was building up towards the summer and had a first event planned in March, a Trail Run in Ghent. The race went great, I was able to keep a position in the first 1/3 of the field, but in the final 600 meters of the race, I was unfocused for a moment, knocking over my ankle, resulting in an avulsion fracture.

Due to this injury, we had to cancel our ski trip, and I had to rehabilitate for up to 3 months.
once I got back to working out properly, I started struggling with my Achilles tendon. As a result, I also had to forfeit 2 races during the summer.

In the end, I did start in Knokke for the 70.3 Ironman.
I had a good swim start there, but things went completely wrong about halfway through the bike leg. While overtaking, I hit a pothole in the road and found myself on the side with 2 flat tires. Game over, in other words.

In short, it is a sporting year to quickly forget.
In the meantime, I'm registered for next year's 70.3 Ironman in Knokke and I'm looking for 2 more goals to fill the year.

Closing off 2023

And that was it for this year.
Now I'm enjoying a few days off with my kids.
I want to wish everyone the very best for 2024!

#year-recap, #personal