Hi 👋, I’m Andrew Connell, the person behind Voitanos. I’ve been helping fellow developers since I started coding! Honestly, it’s how I’ve gained as much experience as I have. I value these questions because it means that I get a peek into the problems that people are experiencing that may or may not be similar to problems I have experienced in the past. Finding and providing the answers exposes me to more problems which gives me more experience.
As an educator, developing a community of people who trust me is important to my success. As my community grows, the number of support questions I get grows as well.
I do what I do (training & educating developers) because, after many years, I found that what gives me energy is helping others. Seeing that light bulb glow when I unblock someone or when they now understand a previously confusing topic is what drives me to do what I do.
Unfortunately, the number of direct questions I receive has grown to an unsustainable level. Direct questions come in via:
- social media DMs such as LinkedIn, Bluesky, Threads, Reddit, Facebook, etc
- Github @mentions in issues & discussions
- Discord DMs
Direct or 1:1 questions are especially hard because it’s just 1:1 help… no one else benefits from the discussion. LinkedIn, Bluesky, Threads, Reddit, Facebook, or any other social platform DM’s are the same. 1:1 isn’t an efficient use of our time… someone else could benefit from this discussion.
Do you have a development question? Keep reading…
[email protected] to reach out to us. My team will help you and get me involved if necessary.In a typical 24 hour period, I receive requests for help from 20+ individuals. Each request could be as simple as “Hey, do you have a link to that blog post about testing implementation details?”, as complex as “Here’s a bunch of code, how would you structure the state here to avoid unnecessary rerenders.”, or someone asking for career advice.
Even if it’s simple requests for links (or questions for which a link to my blog post will suffice as an answer, of which there are many), the time it takes to respond adds up very quickly.
Answering questions all the time leaves me with very limited time to complete my actual commitments. There’s just not enough time in the day so I’m no longer going to respond to direct or 1:1 development questions.
So… you’re not helping anyone at all anymore?
No, let me clarify.
Going forward, I won’t respond to direct or 1:1 development questions on the mediums I listed above.
But if you have a development question I have plenty of options how I can help you that work with my schedule and commitments. Let me explain…
Students of my courses
If you’re a student of one of my courses, post your question in the associated Voitanos Discord community channel for your course. The channel associated with the course is linked below the video & notes on every lesson page in the course.
Got a question that’s not related to a specific lesson? Use the private mastermind groups you have access to as a student (only offered in some course bundles). I have multiple blocks of time set aside each week to address these questions. Get the link from your course’s page once you sign in (the one with the list of chapters in the course).
Or tune into my monthly office hours live stream on my YouTube channel!
Not a student of one of my courses?
Every week I set aside multiple blocks of time on my calendar to answer questions in the the Voitanos Discord community. Students come first, then questions posted to the more generic channels everyone has access to.
Or tune into my monthly office hours live stream on my YouTube channel!
Time permitting, I’ll then head to the other communities.
Got a question about one of my articles? Leave a comment at the bottom of the post to continue the discussion!
Join My Monthly Office Hours Live Stream
I hold office hours at 11 AM ET on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. Check the upcoming schedule on my YouTube channel here & click the Notify me button to get a reminder when it’s about to start, and view the previous sessions!
Microsoft 365 Development Coaching
Have a question about a project?
Need guidance related to Microsoft 365 development, the SharePoint Framework (SPFx), SharePoint Embedded, Microsoft Teams app development, Microsoft Azure, or Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility?
Need a fractional Microsoft 365 developer subject matter expert?
… or something else you think I can help with?
In addition to the above options, I also set some time aside for a few coaching clients. Under this model, you reserve a block of 10 hours for virtual coaching calls related to Microsoft 365 development. NOTE: 5-hour blocks available for first-time coaching clients.
Interested? Let’s talk! Use the contact form to get in touch. We’ll setup a time that works for both our calendars to connect!