Announcement #2 - Rogue on the loose

So, yes, the rumors are true. As of today, I am no longer with Riya as a full-time employee. However, it wasn't an easy decision for either myself or Riya to make.

So why am I leaving?

1. My personal brand is growing in leaps and bounds and I owe it to myself to pursue Pinko Marketing as a greater entity. I simply cannot do this while at Riya. It wouldn't be fair to them and...although the idea was born there, it's never been fully embraced by them. Watch for meetups, seminars, camps, publications and other events near you!
   
   
2. Although Riya recognizes the importance of community-focused marketing and how far they've come because of it, they are planning to hire some MarCom people to champion a more traditional and mass appeal strategy. Or something like that (I don't know the person they are going to hire, so I can't assume anything). Both Riya and I agreed that there would be too much tension when this happens. If I'm already a pain in the ass, I'll be even moreso then. I want us all to stay friends. ;)
   
   
3. I just have too many opportunities to not pursue them. New challenges and experiences and vibrant communities await me and I can't let this time pass by. Who knows when the bubble will burst! Must...take...advantage... In other words, the time is ripe for this radical. I mean, when will the stars ever align so perfectly again?
   
   
4. Riya's community is so awesome and strong and the members of the Riya community run that program themselves. Frankly, y'all have made the past couple of months too easy for me - you're hired!
   
   
5. I want to spend more time working on the non-profit, goody-two-shoes projects that I've already been working on in my 'spare' time. It's time to take these a little further into the world and open my life to broader experience. Even just the little bit I learnt while in Bangalore has blown my mind open. I can imagine a videoblogged travelog of these adventures would do wonders for blowing everyone else's minds, too.

It was an agreed upon decision between Munjal and myself. I knew we were moving in this direction a little while back. The issue was that I still felt a loyalty to Riya and vice versa...even though we were moving in different directions. Kinda like one of those relationships where you grow apart, but still have a history and a great deal of respect for one another.

The only issue I'm facing is that I'm a Canadian citizen on a TN-1 Visa. I'll have to speak with someone on my options. [please don't kick me out of the country! I promise to pay taxes, etc.] I'm pretty certain I have 30 days leeway to figure out what I'm going to do.

So...what next?

I don't know. I'm really very excited about what's in store me and don't want to make any irrational decisions. I know I want to go forward fearless and choose the best path. Thus, I will be spending the next few weeks, chilling out, assessing the situation, talking to everyone I know and taking as much advice as possible. [besides, it's a busy month with Mashpit, Barcamp, Vloggercon, Super Nova (where I'm moderating the marketing workshop), etc. coming up]

I will continue to advise Riya one day a week (Munjal wants to make certain the community continues to reign prominent). I also thank Munjal from the bottom of my heart for recognizing my Rogue ideas as being important to building his business and bringing me down to the Valley.

Tags: riya, web2.0, riyarocks, roguedeparts