Top 10 People Of My Life In 2009 « John Raul dot Com

Update: To all other people who made something significant that I failed to mention on the list, please know that I remember you. You don’t have to be on the list to know that you’re special to me especially when you’re a friend. The numbering system below represents the level of influence or significance of the people in my 2009 life. Finally, I want to make it clear that this was not a competition. I came up with the list personally after assessing what happened to me this year.

This post is one of my year-ender posts for 2009. This is about the top ten people outside my direct biological family that brought happiness, helped me, or significantly influenced or contributed changes to the perspectives and ways of my life as a dignified human individual. It was difficult to come up with this list because there were many good people whom my life engaged with this year, but the people below are the creams of the crop and the roses among thorns.

10 – Demitri Aleksejev (Chester, England, United Kingdom)

I met Demitri through the online tech show I established this year, the Tech Conclave. Demitri found my show through Dylan Comb’s Live Show and since then he expressed his support and became a tech correspondent for my Internet show. Through him, I also met online a new friend, Sean Jonze, Demitri’s best friend who also appeared in a Tech Conclave episode. Demitri is a smart young bloke who loves all things tech especially web graphics, gaming and video production. In most of our chats, we talked about our tech passion and exchanged wicked jokes. I’m always hit by his sharp sense of humor which I find quite amazing as it always made me interested to engage a conversation with him. He originally came from Estonia which means he has a rich Latin and Russian background. These are few things that made him unique on my top-ten list.

9 – Geoffrey Moffett (Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)

Geoffrey is a new friend who just surfaced this year. He is my first friend coming from Northern Ireland. I think he found me through Tech Conclave. We share same passion towards technology except he has strong liking towards Internet marketing and online money making. He is frequently a busy guy oriented so much on his online ventures which is really good. He had shared some web work to me this year and helped me through that. And yeah, he has an outstanding English accent that is unique among the rest of people on this list. I tried to mimic it with no success – LOL – but I’m not giving up. Geoffrey is a good friend and I feel there’s going to be a lot of business work we’ll share in the future.

8  – Brad C. (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

I really never expected to become a close friend of an Aussie guy who just popped up randomly when I was broadcasting at Justin.tv a year ago. At first, I was so hesitant to believe about Brad because of his unusual behavior especially when you compare it with other people among his age. However, I recognized I was too quick to judge and he turned out to be a very good friend among the rest. In fact, I owe the existence of my show, the Tech Conclave, to him as he influenced me into podcasting and sponsored me a condenser microphone this year. We also created a podcast together, called Tech Webcast, which I didn’t really expect to last long. However, his unusual determination slapped me in the face, as he stunned me in disbelief when his show reached over 50 episodes and he was able to engage many people into his show.

7  – Dylan Combs (Cincinnati, Ohio, United States)

It was Brad who brought Dylan Combs on my table this year. He runs his own tech blog featuring a live stream show called Dylan.Combs.tv. When I formally met this person, I had initial impression that he was a strong influence of Chris Pirillo shortly after I started the first episode of Tech Conclave. Our first few conversations on Skype gave me the impression that this guy has an impressive vocal tone on par with the quality that I’ve usually heard from radio and TV broadcast shows which I really, really find attractive because it sets the bar up of his potential in becoming a great show host virtually on any broadcast media channel he likes. At first I was quite hesitant to befriend him because he seems rather dominant and frank person when I listened to his broadcasts. I later realized when I finally made him as a friend that he’s also very friendly, very supportive and very professional on the flip side. What more when you learn you’re on same boat? Well, it just escalated my desire to work with him, share geeky thoughts and things that we can only understand. LOL Dylan truly made history by becoming Tech Conclave’s first ever Geek of the Week, which soon he later became a very active tech correspondent.  He also contributed so much to the exposure of the show and through him and his live stream I met many new geek friends from around the world. He also supported me big time with the HP contest that I participated in September. He created a testimonial video and wrote a blog post in support for my entry. Such noble acts are things that I’d always remember and never forget in 2009. You will know how special they were for me when you learn that I consider him as one of my favorite online geeks. I hope that we meet one day. That would be freaking awesome.

6  – Michael Bolton (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)

I met Michael Bolton online and became my first friend from Sydney. Because we share similarities when it comes to our orientation, he was always one of few people who can easily relate my rough roads. Michael strongly supported Tech Conclave and extended my attraction towards Australia. He also gave me opportunity to visit KFC a few times and I shared that joy with a few people around me. If I ever have the chance to visit his country one day, I’m sure he’d be on my list as one of the many people that I’d like to meet.

5 – Chris Morris (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

Chris Morris got to be one of few people who know where to hit me humorously. He has been my close friend for almost two years now – and like everyone else on this list, I just met him randomly online. He is possibly the most expressive, well evolved, and very talented young Aussie I’ve met so far. He’s one lucky person too – when it comes to ownership of good computer systems. Hahaha. And that inspires me to work more to be able to gain them one day. One thing that I really appreciate about Chris is his dynamism in dealing with people, his out-of-the-box attitude (our similarity), and his strong passion towards technology (again, our similarity) and innovation. If in the future there’ll be a nice shiny product that people appreciate, I would not be surprised if the creator is named “Chris Morris.” Perhaps he’s one of few people whom I can trust to share and understand whenever my pent-up emotions go overboard.

4 – Dimitar Avramov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

I’ve written a few articles for Dimitar since last year for his online business. Since then, he became very supportive of me and helped bring me and my endeavor, the Tech Conclave, into spotlight. Since I met him, I was exposed to his online feats and activities. They made me form a deep inspiration of him and his ability to travel from country to country to do or to attend business events. I have strong feeling that he will play a huge role in evolving my personal, business, and career life in the future. I believe he’ll contribute some unique history in my life that no other person on the list would be able to rival. I’m prepared for that and will do my best to reciprocate all of them with good service and relationship.

3 – Bryce Thomas (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

If I have one good friend that’s shrouded with mystery without question that would be Bryce Thomas, also known online with a codename "bilsta57." He owns a tech reviews blog with same name. I first met him on Skype earlier this year through Brad’s podcast called Tech Webcast and I was able to converse with him about many tech-related things for nearly a year now. I must admit the first few weeks after I met him I was totally awestruck with all his computer systems — it’s my first time to know a person and a friend living a geek’s dream in real life. Oh dear! He owns many computer devices and gadgets many geeks can only dream of (including myself). His Apple computer systems are just his little toys among his massive geeky collections. Unbelievable? Why not watch his YouTube setup video that garnered tens of thousands of views? The chair that I sit everyday can’t even compete his’. LOL. But yeah, enough envy. What makes Bryce mysterious for me is that for so long I’ve communicated and exchanged thoughts with him, I still have no idea what he looks like! I don’t have a single clue either so imagining has no use. However, I respect the reason underneath the clouds when he told me that he’s doing it for his own security. I think I can understand that. I’m just very grateful that he let me witnessed his true character that goes beyond his hidden identity and purchasing power. He overwhelmingly supported me this year when I joined an HP contest on YouTube. A level of support that gave me and a few members of my family some tears of joy. I may have failed to know what he looks like, but his act was enough for me to get convinced to understand the shape of his heart.

2 – Gerardo Velasco (Alhambra, California, United States)

I’m really glad that Gerardo remained one of the most special friends I’ve ever met online. This year, he has been super supportive with all my online endeavors. He actively participated on many Tech Conclave episodes and supported it through his talent and time. I trust him with anything without doubt. It comes from his distinct honesty, keen listening, and open-mindedness. He’ll probably become one of the friends that I will cherish and keep for life. I think he’s already one since last year. This year, we both experienced major crossroads in our lives that made us really busy. He’ll go to university soon so I expect that we’ll not be able to communicate as frequent as before, which I feel sad about. Even so, I’m confident to meet him one day and be able to share stories about our lives, work or do tech-related business together. And yeah, he was my first Hispanic friend. That’s special.

2 – Tom Maxwell (York, England, United Kingdom)

If Batman has Robin and if Harry Potter has Ron Weasley, I believe Tom Maxwell has earned the same place and importance in my life this year. I met him online through Chris Morris early this year and since then we get to know each other well. He listened my daily stories of happiness, joy, and sorrow – things that not everyone would be willing to listen. He simply made a difference. I am eternally grateful for the time he spent with me whenever he’s online and for his eagerness to share his own exciting life in Yorkshire. He has helped me a lot by becoming a good company of whom I can comfortably share my thoughts about the world and our evolving, yet contrasting lives, as they run parallel. I would never forget the person who made history with an Easter egg and good thoughts. Hehehe. Tom has really become a special friend for me — no doubt it’s something permanent, and I’d really work hard to reciprocate the good things he brought me this year and the years to come. We might meet next year – who knows – and that is something I strongly look forward and extremely excited about. Fun times, big times ahead! I’m sure we can celebrate our lives together as good friends.

1 – EV (name withheld) (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Don’t ask, don’t tell. Always remember, that the list above is a result of my personal assessment only for this year. In the future, I will look back on this post and I will be able to identify whose people remained attached in my life.

Check last year’s top 10 here.

• Top 10 People Of My Life in 2010
• Life Of A Freelance Web Developer After 2 Years
• I Am Now 22 And More To Come
• My Valentine Fantasy Of Pachelbel’s Canon
• Breaking The Monotony At World of Fun
• Top Events Of My Life In 2008
• Top 10 People Of My Life In 2008
• 365 Days Of Home Computer Work
• And Just Like That, My 21st Birthday Passed!
• The List That Will Help You Succeed