I want to thank everyone for all of the positive feedback on the new video quizzes. The response has been far better than I expected. I'm seeing a lot more comments than usual, and I love it. It's great to see people coming out of their shells, posting their scores, talking about the questions, and even a little friendly competition over who got a perfect 5 out of 5. One of my goals was to get more people involved instead of just quietly watching from the sidelines, and the quizzes seem to be doing exactly that. I love seeing the engagement from people who have never posted anything before! So if you've been participating, thank you, and keep those scores and comments coming. I really enjoy reading them.

Along with all of that positive feedback, I've also seen a few comments like, "Bring back the teaching lessons," or "Do more TechHelp videos." I completely understand where those comments are coming from, so I wanted to take a minute to explain why I'm adding the quizzes and how they fit into the overall schedule.

I understand where you're coming from, but the teaching lessons haven't gone anywhere. I'm simply making a couple fewer TechHelp lessons each week so I can finally make meaningful progress on all of the other projects that people have been asking for.

First of all, the video quizzes are actually a form of teaching. Educational research has shown that testing yourself is one of the best ways to reinforce what you've learned. When you have to stop and think through a question instead of just watching me explain something, you're exercising a different part of your brain. It's a great way to keep older material fresh and discover what you know and what you might want to review.

People have actually been asking me for quizzes for years. That's why every lesson on my website now includes a quiz at the bottom of the page. Those have received a lot of positive feedback, and the video quizzes are simply an extension of that idea. They're also generating a lot of discussion, which I think is a good thing.

There's another reason I'm doing them, and it's simply a matter of time.

I'm a one-man operation. A TechHelp lesson isn't just 10 or 15 minutes because that's how long the finished video is. A 10 to 15 minute TechHelp lesson usually represents an entire day of work. I have to come up with the topic, build and test the sample database, record the lesson, edit it, render the video, upload everything to YouTube and my website, create the web page, write the description, publish the lesson, and do lots of other little things. There's a lot more involved than just sitting down and talking into a microphone. This ain't just a podcast.

People sometimes see a three-minute quiz and think, "That must have replaced a 15-minute lesson." That's really not what happened. The quiz didn't replace a TechHelp lesson. It filled a publishing slot. If I hadn't made the quiz, there probably wouldn't have been a video that day anyway, because I'd have been spending that day working on the next Developer lesson, SQL Server course, or another larger project.

The quiz only takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to create. That leaves me the rest of the day to work on the bigger projects that so many people have been asking for, like more Developer lessons, finishing SQL Server Level 2, updating my Excel and Word courses, answering customer emails, maintaining the website, producing a handbook, and everything else that goes into running this business.

If I tried to produce a full TechHelp lesson every day like I have been for the past several years, I wouldn't have time to finish any of those larger projects. I'd spend every day making that day's video and never make meaningful progress on anything else. That's why I've produced very little else over the past couple of years besides TechHelp videos. I've grown that audience tremendously, which is great, but now it's time to work on some of those other projects.

In fact, with SQL Server Course Level 1, I essentially had to force myself to block off an entire week to work on just that. That meant doubling up on TechHelp videos the week before so I could keep the publishing schedule going. Those two weeks were brutal, and I can't keep doing that. Plus, I'd like to have at least a little bit of a family life. My wife and the dogs will probably pack up the car and leave if I disappear into my office for another marathon like that. LOL.

My commitment to members hasn't changed. You'll continue to get at least one full TechHelp lesson with an extended cut every week, just like I have for years. I'll also try to get another TechHelp or explainer lesson out most weeks whenever my schedule allows.

The quizzes simply fill in some of the other publishing days. They keep the website and YouTube channel active so there's something coming out every business day. They reinforce material you've already learned. They free me up to build the larger courses and developer content that many of you have been requesting. Plus... they're fun. So... enjoy!

So the teaching lessons aren't disappearing. I'm just adjusting the balance so I can keep publishing something every day while also making steady progress on the bigger projects that have been sitting on my to-do list for far too long.

Unless, of course, somebody knows how to get to the cloning colony from Next Gen. I could really use a trip to Mariposa right about now. Three more Richards would probably solve most of my problems... and create a few new ones, too. Like in the movie Multiplicity when Michael Keaton said, "No one sleeps with my wife but me!"

LLAP
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