About This Blog

 I'm in the early stages of building out my own company, Coastal Chicago LLC.  Though I expect the company's aims and goals will change over time, my current focus is to help entrepreneurs and small businesses find straightforward solutions to the technology and management challenges they face.  

To generate some content and help me find a few leads, I've decided to come up with a proof of concept that leverages my experience in the travel industry:

I will approach creating a new online travel agency from the perspective of an entrepreneur with limited tech ability using AI tools - predominantly ChatGPT to start with.  The real product isn't really the OTA - though I plan to take its construction as far as is reasonable - but my documentation of the journey.  I hope to point out where AI tools are useful and where we still need pesky humans.  I'm sure I'll be taking a few detours along the way.

I want to generate content that helps people out with some of their own pain points in similar spaces, and with any luck, entertains you along the way.  If this generates curiosity and business opportunities from a few of you, then so much the better.

I plan to gather posts along the following themes:

• Strategy - This addresses more of the "why" and the "what" of the OTA overall.  While I'll probably be using some technical language, I want to address broader concepts.
• Management - This addresses the need for staffing teams to meet the theoretically budding website and will likely include editorials of my takes on management theory as well.  
• Technology - This will address the technical guts of the work I'm doing.  While I'll try to explain as many concepts as possible to less tech-savvy people, the idea here is to let those interested in the code take a look and check my work.  I'll also make sure I keep everything in a GitHub repository for anyone's perusal.  
• If enough of you are interested in getting to know the ins and outs of some of the tech jargon, then it's something I'd be willing to do, maybe as a side venture.  I'm skeptical of most professions and the walls they construct to keep others out, when much of what goes on can be explained in plain English to varying degrees.  Some concepts may take more time and effort, but I don't think - at least in the case of software engineers - there's any magical skill that we possess, regardless of what our stereotypically dismissive attitudes and acronym-speak may indicate otherwise.
• Potpourri - This will probably encompass other side projects I'm assisting with and, if I really think it's worth broadcasting, a random recipe here or there.

If things go according to plan, I'll be updating this blog 2-3 times a week and shooting for 1000-2000 words per entry (so, just on the cusp of the long form space).  Time will tell if my abilities meet my expectations.

For those of you wondering what version of ChatGPT I'm using - as of April 12th, 2024, it's ChatGPT 3.5.  If I switch to a different version later, I'll let you know.