Intro Post — No Drills, Please!

When I volunteered for the DIY blog, I mostly did so ’cause, well, I’m easily persuaded? All joking aside, I’ve been a blogger for a long time, and I really like the DIY community, so an occasional contribution from me seemed like the least I could do.

For those who don’t know, I’m a Stack Exchange employee (scroll down and you can see me) that works as part of CHAOS. Mostly, I’m here to help DIY get to a point where it’s 100% self-sustaining.

So far, DIY’s traffic has pretty much looked like this:

Which, awesome! My job is to help get DIY to a kind of critical mass, where traffic explodes and the site becomes self-sustaining. I do this mostly with promotion-work, interfacing with the community, and getting passionate users to act as brand ambassadors.

But what does that critical mass mean, exactly? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. It’s something we all feel more than know. It’s also the kind of thing that usually isn’t obvious until well after that fact. My gut, though, tells me we’re close – we’re really close! And that, friends, is plain awesomeness.

Aside from that, however, I’m something of an armchair DIYer. I grew up watching This Old House and various shows on HGTV (I know, I know) with my mother all throughout my adolescence. Nowadays, I’ve learned better (thanks, team) and I’ve been able to offer advice to friends who are debating refinishing vs replacing. And suddenly, Craigslist and the Salvation Army are treasure troves of potential! It’s funny, sometimes, how your job can change your perspective that much. It’s nice, though — I see potential everywhere.

For your time: