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[odelia76-blog]

My Internship Voyage

Welcome aboard Every1Games. Let me introduce you to the crew. Capt. Sarah, 1st Mate Cameron Hamilton Niagara region, 1st Mate Tina Toronto region, 2 Mate Mark, Bosun Damien, Chief Engineer Bram, 2 Engineer Ronnie, 3 Engineer Carl and Stewart/Cook myself.

On this 10 week voyage I had a chance to work with all crew members learning many skills and applying a few skills of my own. Here is a breakdown of my logs.

Week One Taking the initiative and starting a first impression analysis and a content audit analysis of their website. Hit The Ground Running (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/146137286494/hit-the-ground-running).  

Week Two Meeting with Sarah at Corus Entertainment going over my research and developing my networking skills at Interactive Ontario’s annual general meeting. Rooftop Social (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/146487831589/rooftop-social).

Week Three and Week Four Content Consultant: First impressions and Content audit. Social Media Consultant: Posting blogs, checking and editing social media accounts. Web Developer: Developing a database spreadsheet in Excel to input contact information for user experience testing. Teaching Assistant: Creating a lesson on the basics of Axure software and the importance of wireframes when building a prototype. Wearing Many Hats (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/147175759534/wearing-many-hats).

Week Five (Halfway Through) Posting blog posts about Every1Games on social media. One-day training on social behavior in a neurodiverse educational environment. Biography blog posts on the guest speakers for Autism Friendly Au-Some Conference. Pushing Through (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/147526328259/pushing-through).

Week Six Staff introduction to the students, meet and greet. Workshop with Sarah, JP and Nasir from Deloitte Consulting Firm, parents of the students, and Sasha one of my professors from Centennial College. Going over the discovery phase research for Every1Games website. Validation Of Learning (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/147881238984/validation-of-learning).

Week Seven Field trip to Gamma Space by Bento Miso a collaborative gaming studio. Used Canva software to create staff biographies. Researched information on government funding and grants. Research and Collaborative Spaces (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/148227153989/research-and-collaborative-spaces).

Week Eight Learn about script writing and new software (3DS Max, GarageBand, Unreal4, Adobe After Effects). Research on camps and class courses in the digital Industry. Giving support and positive feedback to students on their projects. Amazing Students (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/148573151214/amazing-students).

Week Nine Adding more information to comparative analysis. Helping staff gather student’s projects together to create a portfolio the students can take home. Saying goodbye to the students and wishing them well in their futures. Saying Goodbye (http://odelia76.tumblr.com/post/148906972669/saying-goodbye).

Week Ten (Last Week) Creating a 2 minute video about my field placement experience. And a 10 minute presentation about what I did. What I learned. What challenges I faced and how I solve these challenges. Where do I see myself going in the future.

This week the crew and I put down long hours to put together my presentation.  We have been through sunny days and stormy seas.  This has been a great voyage of personal and professional discoveries.  It is truly an honor to work and serve with this amazing crew aboard this internship Every1Games.

If you enjoyed my logs about my voyage and would like to learn more about Every1Games, or even join the crew check out http://every1games.ca/

[odelia76-blog]

Saying Goodbye

• What did you do this week?

Continued adding more links to the camp section on the comparative analysis.

Helped with getting the students ready for their group projects. Making sure they completed their (video assets, 3D assets, 2D posters, arcade game, and animation) part of the project and submitted it. Provided encouragement and positive advice.

Taking photos of their work and wishing these amazing adults well in their future and saying goodbye.

• What did you learn this week?

What did I learned over the past 8 weeks at Every1Games working with the students and staff.  

2D and 3D Assets, how to render a video, 1 Point and 2 Point Perspective Grids, Guestre Drawing, Script Writing and Story Writing Proposal, Level Design, Camera and Lighting. And learning about the software being used in the gaming industry. Garageband audio file creation, 3DS Max, Unreal 4.

• What are your thoughts about what you did and learned this week?

Working at Every1Games taught me a lot about Accommodations, Peer Support, Assistance, Behaviours, and Triggers.  The services being provided to the students from their successful adult peers provides hope for their future.

• Did you run into any problems? How did you resolve them?

There have been challenges, difficulties and misunderstanding among students and at times among staff. We learned a lot about our behavioural triggers and how to talk things out.  We remind each other that we work and learn in a safe non-judgmental environment where creativity thrives.

It has been a great pleasure meeting amazing, hard working, creative Neurodiverse adults. Saying goodbye was hard. I wish everyone all the best in their future and looking forward to their contribution to the gaming industry.

[odelia76-blog]

Amazing Students

What did you do this week?

This week I tried to use 3dsMax to create objects and backgrounds. Created a music audio file using GarageBand. Helped students understand and put together a Scripting Proposal. Continue my work on research for a comparative analysis.

What did you learn this week?

What I learned this week working on my research about camps I discovered Camp Kodiak (a camp for children and teens with or without ADHD, LD, and high functioning Autism spectrum disorder). Camp Twitch and Shout (a camp for children ages 8 to 17 diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome).   Camp Winston (a camp for Nerodiverse children and youth).

This week I learned the amazing things our students can do. With their challenges and each student’s uniqueness I watch them create their projects using difficult software.  One of the students used Adobe After Effects to create his video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39gukmz17Kg).

What are your thoughts about what you did and learned this week?

This week I learned a lot about different types of software which I found quite hard to use and difficult to understand. I almost gave up.  I developed a great admiration for the amazing things the students can do.  Their willingness to never give up even when they’re very frustrated is a lesson we can all learn and take to heart.

Did you run into any problems? How did you resolve them?

This week’s problems had more to do with many different personalities and different opinions clashing together in the small room.  To resolve these issues, we work together as a team to hear both sides and come up with a solution.   Talking your problems out or going for walks can help in defusing a negative situation.

Next week I will be helping the students put together their amazing portfolios. I am so excited Monday is not coming soon enough.

[odelia76-blog]

Research and Collaborative Spaces

This week’s field trip I went with the team from every1Games and their students to Bento Miso (Gamma Space) a collaborative gaming studio.

My roles of researcher and designer had me working on staff biography pics using a template from the website Canva.com.

Gathering information on changes made within the colleges and universities dealing with accommodations for those with disabilities. Finding out how does a student apply for accommodations at Centennial College, and where do they go to get these accommodations granted? Researching information on funding and grants for people who have autism or learning disabilities. Collect information on websites that provide similar services like Every1Games. Putting together a Comparative Analysis based on my research.

I learned about Canva’s website and what services they provide in the Design field. On the website you can create Infographics, Brochures, Social media covers/headers and other forms of design. Working on the Biographies using Canva I learned a lot about the team I am working with at Every1Games.

On the field trip to Bento Miso (Gamma Space) a collaborative gaming studio.  I learned that they are a not for profit art organization.  Game developers are going there to share their skills and mentor anyone that would like to create games or anyone that likes to play games. We were shown a game in the prototype phase and learned the importance of prototyping and user testing.

This week I was feeling kind of sluggish.  Not sure if it had to do with the weather or the huge amount of research I needed to get started. I reminded myself that I have done a competitive analysis before and looked over my previous notes. I started to think who might I contact to get help.  I remembered my professor Sasha Boersma is an excellent source of information about accommodations within colleges and universities and government grants and funding.  I applied Sasha’s knowledge and links in my research and thank her for all her help.

This week’s challenges we’re getting 12 people on transit to Bento miso through construction and rerouting.  The solution to this challenge is pairing up one facilitator to two students. When it came to the research.  The solution is to start with one thing on your list first and don’t be afraid to ask your networking contacts for help.  Collaboration is the key to success.

[odelia76-blog]

Validation of Learning

This week I have been going to George Brown College to meet with the team from Every1Games to get the summer students ready for classes. Here's the rundown. Helping with the warm up activities like 20 questions guessing game. Checking to see if the students need any help with the assignments. Taking photos of students working on their digital assignments. Involved in debrief meetings at the end of the day.

On Thursday there was a meeting with Sarah from Every1Games, JP and Nasir from a consulting firm, parents from some of the students and Sasha one of my professor’s from Centennial College. The meeting was about how great the website is and how to make the website awesome.

In the meeting I learned about:

Pain Points. Who is using the sight? What are they looking for? Why? The reason behind what they are looking for and why they chose Every1Games.

Personas: The different types of people using the site. Who are our demographic. How will they use the site. What kind of information each persona will see.

User Stories: Brainstorming what each persona would need to get their pain point done. How can we help them get the information easy and fast.

Validate and Prioritize User Stories: Read, talk and chose the order of user stories importance from high, medium and low.

During this meeting we did fun activities using large blank paper and placing little sticky notes of our ideas on these large pieces of paper. Giving funny examples and explanations on our ideas.

It was nice to see everyone work together to meet common goals. Watching JP and Nasar take on the project manager role and have everyone participate in a scrum. Helped me understand and validate what I learned in Project Management class at Centennial College and confirmed what I wrote in my reports on first impressions and content audit for Every1Games website.

[odelia76-blog]

Pushing Through

Pushing through week 5 and reaching the halfway mark of my adventure in field placement. I have been keeping up with weekly blog posts for Every1Games. This has been a challenge for Sarah and me. We have been trying to get the word out about their great programs in game design.

Getting up at 6AM, and leaving the house at 7AM, to go Downtown for 10AM training on social behaviour in a neurodiverse educational environment was a long ride. Training on social behaviour in a neurodiverse educational environment with the importance of health and safety in a work/educational environment was along day.

I am currently working on a biography blog post on the guest speakers for the Autism Friendly Au-Some Conference. This conference is about the diversity of the autism spectrum and the challenges the guest speakers faced.

I learned a lot of hard work goes into creating and organizing weekly class programs. Remembering to always think ahead of the challenges that might come and to have a backup plan ready.

It takes a team of very skilled people to help give support and understand what it is like be Autistic and Neurodiverse.

When I meet with the team at Every1Games I felt like I finally found a group of like minded people that had similar experiences. People that understand me and the hardships of pushing through the education system and accomplishing great things.

The great team at Every1Games has set the path for everyone to reach greatness. By working hard at cutting the path for others to reach their potential. True trail blazers in advocating for Autism and Neurodiversity. Fighting hard and beating the odds by educating everyone they meet, to not judge a book by its cover for the story inside has a great adventure to tell.

The problems I ran into this week is getting up at 6AM to head Downtown and staying cool while ridding the public transit for the 2hours both ways with no air conditioning on the bus, the subway and the street car going there and coming back home. This week’s weather was brutal with the heat. The best I could do was bring ice cold water and fan myself with my hat and keep pushing through. I wonder what next week’s adventure will bring.

[odelia76-blog]

Wearing Many Hats

I have been very busy since my last blog post. With the long Canada Day weekend in-between I have squeezed two weeks in this update. Welcome to the Big Top where I, the Ring Leader will wear many hats.  Let the show begin.

• Finished the content audit. • Started posting Blog Posts from a social media campaign calendar. • Created a contact spreadsheet for user experience testing. • Created a teaching activity for learning the basic tools in Axure. • Worked with Sarah brainstorming and creating Personas.

When it came to the Content Audit there was a great deal of analyzing to do (The good, the bad and the ugly). There were a few broken links dealing with information on the site and a few broken links connecting with their Industry Allies’ websites. The broken links problem can be easily fixed. This is what Project Managers would call the Discovery phase.

I met with Sarah downtown Toronto at Yonge-Dundas Square to go to Ryerson University DMZ (University Business Incubator). There we went over her social media campaign. We discussed how Every1Games is displaying there Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts. What changes can be made, what can stay, what can they add and when should they post. I learned there is a lot to do when it comes to their YouTube channel.

I was asked by Cameron to create a spreadsheet with a list of contacts interested in participating in User Experience Testing of the current website. The headings for the spreadsheet are: Name, Phone Number, Email, Comments or Suggestions, and Attending in Person or Conference Call. This spreadsheet can be used in a Database.

When I was asked to create an activity that teachers can use based on software and technique I learned in my Interactive Media Management course at Centennial College. I did not know where to begin. It is because I learned a great deal.  I noticed on Every1Games teaching Forum is missing wireframes. That’s when the light bulb went on and I started to create my lesson on the basic tools of Axure and the importance of Wireframing.

From all the projects I worked on I found Personas to be the most challenging. Creating people based on who your target audience might be is not easy. Sarah and I did some brainstorming and came up with four primary Personas.

In the past two weeks I wore many hat:

• Content Consultant: First impressions and Content audit. • Social Media Consultant: Posting blogs, checking and editing social media accounts. • Web Developer: Developing a database spreadsheet in Excel to input contact information for user experience testing. • Teaching Assistant: Creating a lesson on the basics of Axure software and the importance of wireframes when building a prototype.

The problems I encountered is trying to keep pace, remembering what hat I am wearing, what team am I working with. The solution for these problems is remember to ask for help.

No matter the journey remember you are not alone and things will out. After all, under the Big Top, “The show must go on.”

[odelia76-blog]

Rooftop Social

I meet this week with Sarah at Corus Entertainment near the lakeshore.  We had a small meeting about my role and what projects I will be working on. I showed her the first impressions analysis I have been working on and she took notes and gave me positive feedback. Sarah would like me to continue with my report. After the meeting Sarah invited me to join her for the Interactive Ontario General Meeting. Not missing an opportunity to learn more and meet new people, I kindly said yes and joined her.

We got in an elevator and took it to the roof where we entered a spacious room this comfy seats, small bar and many awards on display. I felt like a just walked on to a grand scene out of a movie or TV show.  Pinch me, am I dreaming. As I was taking it all in. Sarah whispered to me. “Is this not amazing. Straight out of a movie”.  I nodded and followed Sarah into the meeting.

When the Interactive Ontario general meeting was finished. Sarah and I started networking around the room and ended up outside trying the bite size finger foods, sipping a small glass of wine taking in the fantastic rooftop view of Lake Ontario, and the sail boats below.  We continued our networking at the rooftop social.  

What have I learned this week? I am on the right track with the first impressions analysis and the content audit. Interactive Ontario works really hard to fund and organize networking events with many companies and organization in the interactive industry for collaboration, education and support. I watched Sarah networking and make new connections.  From watching Sarah, I learned networking is more about finding a common interest to talk about and making new friends.  Most of all when you see a great opportunity don’t let it slip away, take hold and go with the flow because you never know you might end up feeling like you finally made it at the Rooftop Social.

[odelia76-blog]

Hit The Ground Running

This is the end of classes and it is time to face the world and use the knowledge this sponge of a brain has absorbed.  I was afraid of leaving my friends and the security of the school nest , but I quickly moved on and hit the ground running.

Sarah and I was unable to meet during this busy first week.  So I decided to take the initiative and start this week by working on Every1Games first impression analysis of the website.  

I picked a quite place in the house and set up my laptop, pad of lined paper and a pencil. Took a long breath and got started. Browsed each page keeping tract of what I was doing and what I was seeing. My own version of user testing.

I found the website easy to read and understand the information on most of the pages and the navigation was consistent on every page. I understand Every1Games provides very important services to support and help autistic and neurodivergent youth build skills in the interactive digital media industry. I learned a lot about the company from their website and looking forward too working with Sarah.

This week I learned that taking the initiative on this project helped me remember what I learned in content strategy class in first term and put the knowledge into action.

I will be meeting Sarah next week for our first field placement meeting and I looking forward to showing her my progress on my first impression analysis of the website.  I am ready to hit the ground running with confidence.

[odelia76-blog]

Crowd Funding for Little Robot Friends

Introduction

Aesthetec Studio is a Canadian interaction design and technology start up company, where they create engaging experiences through interactive installations. It is located on Danforth Avenue in downtown Toronto.

Aesthetec Studio’s main clients are museums and other institutions in Asia, the United States, and Canada, but its audience is everyone that has a sense of fun and curiosity. Its main goal is to encourage exploration of electronics and programming.

Its products include:

Light loops (interactive music and light instrument installation for TIFF Kids DigiPlaySpace).

Sing & Paint (interactive installation that puts voice into digital colour and texture paint on a digital canvas). 

SMILE (interactive lightbox that responds to music or plays patterns. This digital installation was at the 2011 Toronto Nuit Blanche). 

After all of its success with these installations, it decided to produce a consumer product called Little Robot Friends. This product is robot characters designed for teaching electronics and coding to adults and children. It took Aesthetec Studio ten years between other projects to come up with the concept, then develop and build a prototype of Little Robot Friends.

First Kickstarter Campaign To help fund Little Robot Friends, Aesthetec Studio launched its first campaign on September 11, 2013. Another reason it used Kickstarter for its crowd-funding campaign was to see if consumers would buy its product. The company wanted to raise $55,000 and it received $123,659 that was $68,659 more than its goal.

Three reasons this first Kickstarter campaign succeeded are as follows:

Its video was simply made with a low budget without any special effects. The video introduced its creators and talked about its product. 

Kickstarter had just started, was a new fundraising tool (tactic) and only had a few campaigns using it. The was less compaction for Aesthetec Studio.

It allowed the audience to make small pledge amounts and the company had a reasonable funding goal.

I learned about Little Robot friends when Katie Barnes came to my class. Showed us the robots, the story behind them and talked about the company’s Kickstarter campaigns.

Second Kickstarter Campaign With the funds raised from the first campaign, the company produced and sold some robots. It also reinvested some of those funds into developing a new prototype that was more creative and gave the users more options. It needed funding to produce and upgrade this new version of the robots.

Because the first campaign did really well in raising funds, Aesthetec Studio created a second campaign. So it launched a second kickstarter campaign with $125,000 as its goal on April 25, 2016, which was 2.5 years after its first campaign ended.

The company received $7,521 in the first two weeks of the campaign. Due to the low response of pledges, the campaign was cancelled on May 5, 2016.

Three reasons this second Kickstarter campaign failed are as follows:

Its video was too professional looking and it was missing a personal touch. The video quality was so good, it looked like the company did not need funding.

Kickstarter was now well known and established. So, there was more competition.

The company set a much higher funding goal and higher pledge amounts (most started at $60 or more), which made it less appealing to contribute.

My Thoughts I really liked the robots. I was sad when Katie had to go and take the robots with her. 

I think the second Kickstarter campaign would have been more successful if they would have followed the expression: “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.” They should have kept the same goal amount and pledge amounts as the first campaign. They should have also kept the same simple concept of the first campaign’s video. It showed the personal touch and interaction among the staff displaying their love and passion for their little creations.

What also might have made the second campaign more successful is if they had added customer testimonials about the product and videos showing customer interaction with the robots.

Resources: • https://medium.com/@mizchk/origin-story-of-little-robot-friends-82e1ffbe173f#.ikgd4qen6 • http://www.aesthetec.net/portfolio-category/products/ • http://www.littlerobotfriends.com/ https://theblueprint.com/stories/aesthetec-studio/

[odelia76-blog]

Interactive Baby Steps: Reaching My Potential.

What is interactive media? Is it all about a narrative story? Is it user experience.  Some might say it’s content planning, or project management.  Interactive media is all of those and more.  What interests me the most about this industry is both the research and the creative ideas.

What I have learned in the past two semesters at Centennial College in the interactive media management program are the following: • Content planning • HTML, PHP, CSS Coding • Social media • Analytics • Web graphics • Interactive videos • User experience design • interactive narrative • Project management

What do I do best when it comes interactive media? I am a very creative person with vast knowledge in the media arts field ranging from photography, graphic design, and broadcasting. I am able to take a lot of research information and break it down in simple point form.  Getting right down to the heart of the matter.

What what of kind organizations would benefit most from my vast knowledge and skills.  Where would I like to do my field placement.  I have volunteered in the past for not-for-profit organizations in the community. I have volunteered as a tour guide for a museum because of my love for art.  Have volunteered as an assistant webmaster for a not-for-profit art gallery using my skills as a web designer.  As a graphic designer working in the small print shop I applied my creative skills and ideas. As an assistant video director I have helped in the creation of school tutorials.

The one field I have not worked in is interactive gaming.  I have watched technology grow and change over many years. I have experienced gameplay many different ways.  Through networking, research, information interviews and support from the great stuff at Centennial College. I have chosen every1games as my field placement.

The things I would like to learn in my field placement at every1games is the service they provide autistic youth in the community within the gaming industry. Build upon the knowledge I have learned in the interactive media management program. Being able to apply my creative ideas (interactive narrative) and my straight to the heart of the matter research skills (content planning) in this industry.  Overall help me reach my full potential.

What is the challenges I’ll be facing and how will I overcome them and succeeds in my field placement.  The great challenge we all face when traveling is public transit.  The early morning packed like sardines in a can commutes that can take hours. Will I make a good impression?  Fear of the unknown.  The best way to deal with challenges is to have positive outlook.  Don’t thing see things as challenges.  See them as little adventures helping you reach your full potential by developing skills and tools along the way

[odelia76-blog]

Free Trial Lynda.com

When I heard about Lynda.com from my colleagues I knew I needed to check it out.  How often do you hear about a website where you can learn many subjects for free. Lynda.com is partnered with the Canadian public library and Linkdin Company which is a Social Media website.

This is my journey through Lynda.com.  I am going to try and sign up for a course using my Toronto public library card.  Let’s begin.  I text Linda.com Google search.  And I am instantly linked onto the page.  I look through the page header and I find a list of categories.  So far so good.  I click on the link library and find all subjects from A to Z where are look under U and find user experience course.  Click on that link and it takes me to a List of Payment packages. Go down to the bottom of the page and I find the link that says free trial.  I like the option of being able to try something out first before having to pay.  So I continue to click on the link for my free trial.  To find out that it takes me to a payment form requesting my personal information plus my credit card.  Trying again to bypass the payment option because I do not have a Credit Card.  I keep ending up on the forms page asking for my credit card information. I was finding it very frustrating and decided to go into the Toronto public library website.

When I got to the Toronto public library website I long in my Library card information and the password.  I was able to see where Linda.com was located click on the link to register with your library card and was forwarded back to the same Page on Lynda.com requesting my credit card information.  I went back to the Toronto public library website to see if I might have taken wrong steps in registering for Lynda.com.  when I ended up with the same page requesting my credit card information I stopped right there.

I found my journey going through the steps to sign up for a course on Lynda.com and the step through the Toronto Public Library be very frustrating. I did not sign up for courses on Lynda.com or on the Toronto public library website.  So much for my free trial version.   My suggestion for websites that offer free trial versions should allow the user to bypass the credit card page if they do not have a credit card.  When our free trial version has ended then you can request for our credit card information.

This whole experience was frustrating but I’m willing to give Lynda.com another chance just not anytime soon.  I hope my colleagues have had a better experience and are willing to give me  a helping hand.

[odelia76-blog]

If you like please post and share. Thank you.

[odelia76-blog]

Employee VS Contract Growing Up Tech

Employee/Employer/Entrepreneur/Contractor/Freelancer which path will I make or take.

In my many years (since 1995) I have study and worked more times then I can count. Back then the pace was steading and reasonable. You had more time to complete any given task and finish it feeling a great sense of accomplishment (pat yourself on the back). Now the world is moving in such a fast pace speed that it has been hard to keep track on which direction we are heading.

Technologies through my years: • Telephones - Landline Rotary phones, Cordless phone, Cellphones • TV – Big box tube, small box tube, Flat screens (Plasma, LED) • Radio – Transistor, battery operated, Boom Box, MP3 • Magnetic Tapes – Reel to Reel, 8 Track, Audio Cassette, Bata, VHS • Recordings on – Vinyl LP, Turntables, Mini CD, CD, Mini DVD, DVD, Blu-ray, Smart TV, PVR • Gaming Systems – Atari, Nintendo64, Nintendo Gameboy, PC/Mac Computer, PlayStation PS3/4, • Xbox 360, Xbox One • Computers – Desktop, Laptop, Tablets, I Pads, I Pods • Memory Devises – Floppy disk, External hard drive, Zip disk, Memory card, USB keys, Jump drive • Photography – Chemical process, Rolls of Film, Digital Pixels

Now I know you are wondering what does this have to do with the roles of employment. Give me time I am getting to it. 

As I grew up and changed so did technology. As technology grew and change so did my School studies. I have put lots of time and money in my education to move with the times. I went to many Colleges (Lambton College and Humber College) to study Media/Technologies.  This was my path: Broadcasting (TV, Radio, Journalism), Photography, Graphic Design and Web Design. Nearing the end of completing my studies in Web Design there was a health situation in the family and my life was turned around. I placed my studies on hold and helped where I was needed. 

I have worked many jobs and most were nowhere near Media/Tech and a few just touching the edges. I have been and Employee (Part-time, Full-time and Part-time/Full time). Worked as a Contractor and Volunteer.

Employee Pros • Working with others • Getting on the job experience. • Steady paycheque • Benefits • Employment Insurance • T4 tax slips

Employee Cons • Set hours of work • May not be paid overtime • What you create belongs to them and not you • No room for creative flexibility • You are doing what they want even if it does not make sense • Can not work for other companies while still working for them

Contractor Pros • Can Work from home or anywhere • Flexible hours you can pick your own time to start and finish • Able to set your own rate of payment and how long the contract • Can pick and chose what project you want to work on

Contractor Cons • There is room for misunderstanding for you may not have regular meetings • You need to be flexible with time and be able to change direction on short notice • There are no benefits • One time paycheque there is no steading income • You may overbook yourself on to many contracts and make a mistake that can cost you your reputation and them your career

Based on my experience in the work force the names of Employee, Employer, Entrepreneur, Contractor and Freelancer have changed and tend to mix and blur the lines. I prefer Employee at this point because when I graduate from Centennial College where I am now studying to becoming a UX/UI Designer. I know that working for a company big or small will help in developing many skills needed in keeping up with Media/Tech in this super fast pace world and the new employment paths. I am looking forward to growing and changing with Technology and willing to see other opportunities when it comes to employment. After all, we did grow up together.

[odelia76-blog]

10 posts!

[odelia76-blog]

Best Business Practices

[odelia76-blog]

Where’s the Ethnicity? Gamers want to know.

When reading the article “Video games without people of color are not neutral “written by Sidney Fussell. ( http://boingboing.net/2015/06/26/race-video-games-witcher-3.html )  I thought it was interesting that creators of the video games would try to be “politically correct” by using the disguise of “historical accuracy” to create neutral characters instead of non-white characters. What upset me about the portrayal of non-white characters is the only parts available are aliens, elves, witches and dwarves. My responsibly as an interactive media professional is to remind game creators about ethnic culture. Encourage the creation of strong female characters as the heroes. Portray gays and lesbian in a positive manner, and to create characters regardless of religious backgrounds. Interactive video games should be globally versatile. When creating video games we need to keep in mind who will be playing our games. Will our players have any disabilities? Do they speak a different language? In order for online games to work well they need to have multiple languages, have large text, and be able to talk in a clear voice. The games Sidney Fussell talked about to show evidence to back up their point of view is: Witcher 3, Rust, Dragon Age, Bioshock Infinite. I do agree that we need more Ethnicity in video games.  I was able to find a website that has online games that does show Ethnicity. Here is a good place to start. http://the39clues.scholastic.com

 39 Clues

http://spiritanimals.scholastic.com

  Spirit Animals

http://infinityring.scholastic.com

  Infinity Ring