Some personal news…

I'm leaving the @FinancialTimes at the end of today, after 12 amazing years at one of the best news organisations in the world.

I’m so grateful to have had the freedom during this time to do wildly different jobs, and learn from so many real pros.

I joined the @ft in Hong Kong after three and a half years at @SCMPnews and this, from March 20, 2007 was myrst FT byline.

(The HK politics story was quite different back then, to say the least)

I was such a cub reporter that I would never have survived if @tmitchpk hadn't rewritten all my copy before they landed on @sdonnan's editing desk in the first three months

One of my favourite pieces from that time was this interview with Shi Yuzhu, who parlayed a Rmb4000 loan from friends into a $3.7bn fortune via "Brain Platinum" health supplements, an abandoned 72-storey skyscraper, and gacha loot boxes
https://www.ft.com/content/2d5688f2-4794-11dd-93ca-000077b07658

In 2009 I landed in Taiwan to take over from the formidable @KathrinHille who, among many other things, taught me how to ride a scooter in this sort of traffic

It was while in Taiwan that I accomplished this unprecedented and not-since-repeated feat: The Triple Robin Byline™ with @RobinWigg and @RobinBHarding

There was of course also that time when I interviewed the corrupt former president of Taiwan in a detention center...and still didn't make the front page.

But I did get to go and learn all about the science and business behind farming 600kg giant groupers, so, there's that?

In 2012 @sarahgor brought me to London to be Technology Media, and Telecoms editor.

It's one of my greatest privileges to have edited @RichardWaters, @tim, @emilysteel, @MattGarrahan @Edgecliffe and so many other great reporters who taught me what a good story looks like

I'm proud of the journalism we produced. For example this 2012 series on how big data was transforming retail, healthcare, and advertising

And this @emilysteel opus on data brokers that featured a 'How much is your personal data worth' interactive calculator online (remember this, @ecadman @callumlocke?)

https://ig.ft.com/how-much-is-your-personal-data-worth/

That later led me to @martinstabe realm, where for 18 months I engaged in the futile task of trying to keep up with @jburnmurdoch in learning D3 and R.

(In my defence, he DID have a head start)

It took me three long months but thanks to @tomp, @callumlocke, @lukekavanagh_ and @carolinenevitt (and @henrymance for the idea), I designed and coded my first standalone interactive:

https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/bbc/ 

There were other, more code-intensive projects, but none was more fun than the time when @alekswis and I strapped every piece of wearable tech we could find on @sarahoconnor_ and monitored her for a week

I was never much of a coder, designer, or data analyst (or, for that matter, reporter or editor), but I did like bringing people with different skills together to do innovative, ambitious things, so I'll be eternally grateful to the FT for letting me be Special Projects Editor.

I mean, who wouldn't want to work with @sdbernard and @ErikaSolomon to tell the story of how Isis made money from Syrian oilfields by following the journey of a barrel of oil?

https://ig.ft.com/sites/2015/isis-oil/

Or with @lilahrap to test out 'memberful routines' (to borrow a phrase from @membershippzzle) and ask our readers to help shape our AI and automation coverage? https://ig.ft.com/sites/ai-callout/

Or make a news game about Uber and the gig economy with @lesliehook @davidcblood @aendrew @callumlocke @joannaskao @BeckyTTurner and @knicolai?

https://ig.ft.com/uber-game/ 

It was around this time that I started thinking more about processes, workflow, and organisational change. I codified what I knew about managing newsroom projects into a guide: https://source.opennews.org/articles/ikea-inspired-workflow/

And took up my role as Head of Digital Delivery, to lead a team of digital editors to change how stories are commissioned.

Thank you, @manib0g, @NikiBlasina, @winterbiz, @LaurenFedor, @AdrienneKlasa and @ifwross for going on this crazy adventure with me.

Along the way, I learnt product thinking from Moshe Raphaely, @gadilahav, @jameswebb & @martinlfallon1

Audience engagement from @rkapkap, @jgrovum & @hannahsarney

Quantitative research (and a teeeeeny bit of SQL!) from @McKinleyHyden, Lindsay Nicol, Sam Harris and Justine Williams

Qualitative research from @MonicaMonica1 @c_lambert and @RasSesay

And tried to apply all that by creating and implementing the Story Playbook, a set of digital article templates to improve visual storytelling: https://source.opennews.org/articles/story-templates-financial-times-reusable/

It's been an immensely rewarding 12 years. I'd be remiss not to thank @lionelbarber, @John_Ridding, @robertshrimsley, @AlecuRussell, @SpiegelPeter, @davidpilling and all the senior editors who took a punt on a kid from Hong Kong and his crazy ideas.

But it's time for a new adventure! I'm delighted to join the @wsj in December to be Newsroom Innovation Chief in @Louisestory's strategy team, and working with @base2john and @pietropassarell. I'll be relocating to New York in the new year.