So I published my tour Saturday on LinkedIn. Within about 12 hours,  the post had 428 views, 10 reshares, 116 likes, and 41 comments mostly of people keen to have me stop by. I guess it’s real.

After a morning of working with my overseas developers and coordinating the team, I had a play with the drone today that I will be using for some of the establishing shots in regional areas. I also used the opportunity to play with Adobe Premier Pro for basic video editing. There is a lot to learn between now and when I leave, and the best way is to learn the tech to build up muscle memory. My aim is to make it as easy as possible so I can pump out daily vids.

Now however is a frustrating process. I want to be an expert yesterday, but some things you just have to do the time.

My first flight with the Mavic 2 drone was a non-event. In an experience common to most tech platforms, I turned the power on and was rewarded with a message to download firmware updates.  After a bit of download, I was back at.

The drone is incredibly easy to fly, but there is a depth of complexity behind the controls. I will come up to speed, but we did have a play with the auto-tracking feature.

The drone is controlled through a smart phone connected to the controller. You can then turn on a function to tell the drone to track an object. What you are seeing in the video is the drone flying itself.  I did not touch the controls apart from playing with adjustments on the angle in which it tracked. Very cool.

This is the process I am going to need to get structured .  Capturing footage through multiple sources (drone, Dh5, 360, Go Pro), bringing it together in Premier, exporting, uploading to YouTube, writing, publishing.  Every day.  Ten months.

I am conscious I will have three full time roles.  First is the PhD student, collecting data in a systematic way. Second is the tour manager and promoter, capturing and sharing stories and raising the profile of entrepreneur ecosystem exemplars across Australia. Third is the managing director of a measurement platform that helps hubs and programs map and measure their impact. These are all interrelated, but each will require a degree of discipline. The more I learn and automate now, the easier it will be to maintain while on the road.

Drawing a metaphor from tech, the process ideally moves like an autonomous drone, following along with minimal controls.