glacesworld

[glacesworld]

Going Mobile Changed The Way I Live

Image: www.blackamericaweb.com

In 2011 I became part of the world wide mobile trend.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was about to move from a flat in a house to a condo and was making arrangements for my technology in the new place when I realized I didn’t need a landline anymore. I packed my house phone, and packed away my Nokia cell phone because I had just invested in my first iPhone.  I believe it was the iPhone 3.  When I moved into that condo I learned that I could control entry to my building from my phone.  Even when I wasn’t physically in the building, I could buzz someone in.  This was the beginning of a new lifestyle for me.

Mobile wasn’t just a technology trend for me; it was also a content trend.  I listened to the news, weather and traffic on my iPhone using my CBC Radio App as I made my coffee in the mornings.  When I left home for work I checked my transit App schedule using my smartphone to know when I could catch the bus to get there.   Working in TV production, I was on call during and after the production day.  My cell number was on the call sheet so I could be contacted at anytime during production (the show I worked on shot on weekends) and after hours so my phone was always on.  Depending on what the issue or emergency was, with my smartphone handy I could go online, find resources, contact other crew if I needed to replace someone who was sick etc.

But the surprising and entertaining aspect of going mobile for me was my ability to access Apps to communicate with family and friends who were miles away.  So at 1am PT, I could send a WhatsApp text to my cousin in the UK.  She could text me back and/or send me the latest pictures of my beloved Aunt.  We also see each other through FaceTime because she also has an iPhone. And then there was Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn on my phone allowing for hours of social and business networking.  Personal banking was revolutionized because from anytime and from anyplace I could transfer money from one account to the next.  I could pay registered bills, and within the last year or two I can now deposit money by taking a picture of a cheque.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of going mobile is being able to watch the latest television show or movie on the go.   When I first got my iPhone my data plan wasn’t much to speak of.  I accessed the internet and Apps via wifi at home, at work, at Starbucks and at any other establishment that offered free wifi as an incentive to patronize their business.  As broadcasters developed Apps, then promoted their programs to mobile customers, I and other viewers were no longer tied to our TV sets or PVR’s for that matter.   Opening an App and watching the latest episode of my favourite show became easy.  In fact today my smartphone is now like my favourite purse…a great accessory that goes with me everywhere and comes home with me at night.

Finally, the power of mobile has some women giving up sex to keep their smartphone.  A survey among a group of 3600 women from China, Britain, Brazil and the US showed that 45% of Chinese women would give up sex for a month to keep their smartphones.  39% of women in the US said they would give it up for a month to keep their phones, with 38% in the UK and 29% in Brazil saying they would do the same.  I don’t know what Canadian women would do but I for one might join my sisters and keep my damn iPhone!

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-01/10/c_133034090.htm

SOURCE:  Smartphone?  Better than sex!

[glacesworld]

It’s here! This is a film called Indigo.

/

Starring Bukelwa Kunene as Indigo

Written and directed by Kandace Siobhan Walker

[glacesworld]

Check out my new project OBEAH OPERA FLASH MOB VIDEO - YOUTUBE in support of the Panamania commissioned theatrical production Obeah Opera.  

[glacesworld]

Check out my new project OBEAH OPERA FLASH MOB VIDEO - YOUTUBE in support of the Panamania commissioned theatrical production Obeah Opera.  

[glacesworld]

Collaboration, What I Know So Far

I thought my professional working life before the interactive media management program gave me all of the skills that I needed to step into a collaborative three person team.   I had the skills but I wasn’t prepared for how much more work was required when working in a much smaller team.  Here’s what I learned that will guide me in my next collaborative effort and and here are my recommendations.

We all come into group collaborations with specific interests and goals.  The tricky part is how to manage individual interests and with the team objective.  In our team we focused on taking advantage of our strengths and using those strengths to pull off a successful project.  For a UX presentation involving the creation of 18 wireframes one of our team members really loved UX!  We ended up using this to the group’s advantage by having this team member start the home page design.  The added bonus was that our team member also liked to start and finish projects early.  Instead of feeling pressure from one person to finish all of our designated tasks early, this team member was tasked with creating the home page wireframe template early.   The benefit to the rest of the team was that we could then use the template and build the re-design of our respective sections of the website.  As a team you should never look at one team member’s interest and experience in a specific area as a negative.  You can use their strength and individual goals to benefit the team as whole. 

At the beginning of any new collaborative effort, creating a plan and sticking to it is important.  But how the team handles missteps is also crucial.   Our team made all the right moves.  We met and had a discussion about how we would approach our assignment.  One of us was tasked with typing up the plan and posting it in our team Dropbox (our communication tool).  We had two documents that outlined who was doing what.   Based on the nature of the tasks, it appeared that we all had one major job with some secondary tasks.  When we all came together at the end each of those tasks would complete the presentation.  Despite these great plans, we discovered that a couple of us were so focused on our primary tasks that we missed the secondary items on our to-do list.  One item was caught before our presentation date and was completed by another team member.  The other was caught on the day of the presentation.  Because we essentially had the assignment completed except for the physical run through, we were able to collaboratively fix the problem.  One team member added a couple of slides and the other team member had strong presentation skills and was able to add the missing section during the run through and the final presentation.  So even the most organized team can have a misstep and the recommendation is always be prepared to think on your feet, pull together a plan B and execute it.

A lot of the work we do in teams today is conducted via long distance.  In my most recent three-team member collaboration, we had daily contact with each other but often worked on our own, checking in via email, text and phone or uploading drafts of the final presentation to Dropbox.   In one instance, a conversation by phone about one document seemed pretty straightforward.  The only problem was that both team members were discussing two different documents.  How could this have happened?  When you’re not face-to-face looking at the same file, believe me it can happen.  This was a serious misunderstanding because one member continued to write a report in a specific style that was not the intent of the team member who was overseeing the final package.  All of the content was there but how the content was organized was not the optimal presentation of the raw data.  What I would recommend in my next collaboration is more team check-ins in person to avoid any confusion.  If we can’t we should always name the file we’re referencing as a way to avoid any misunderstanding.   

Finally, being gracious and generous with your teammates is not something that you can necessarily measure, but it goes a long way to making the collaborative process a pleasant one.

[glacesworld]

The Toronto Zoo Needs to get Social on YouTube

The pitch – is an increased social media presence for the Toronto Zoo.

The first video uploaded to YouTube occurred in April 2005.  It featured YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo in front an elephant enclosure.  You’d think that YouTube as a social media platform would be a natural go-to for an institution like the Toronto Zoo but not so.  The only social media platform present on its home page is Facebook, with YouTube links embedded in certain sections of their website e.g., Serengeti Bush Camp.  Here are just a few reasons why the Zoo should use YouTube to increase its social media presence.

In 2011 YouTube had 3 billion views per day.  Today YouTube has over 1 billion monthly active users – a marketer’s dream!  Because video is highly shareable who wouldn’t want to see a baby animal’s first days after birth, their first steps or their first bath?  Capturing emotions as they occur will leave a lasting impression on the existing and next generation of animal lovers.  Through YouTube, the Toronto Zoo can convey its brand messaging about endangered wild life and preserving wild spaces.

Generation C or Gen C (generation connected) should be a prime target audience for the Toronto Zoo. The Nielsen Company (whose business it is to measure what audiences watch and buy) came up with the phrase to describe 18 – 34 year olds who watch media on all screens.  They’re the generation that made YouTube popular because they watch content when they want and from wherever they are.  Each year they are watching YouTube 74% more on their smartphones versus a 33% increase on desktop views.

Gen C’s like content that matters to them and more importantly they love to share this content with friends and family because they’re determining what’s popular. The Toronto Zoo could become popular too if the right content is created for them.   Live streaming of wildlife has become hugely popular.  Over 11 million people watched a bald eagle’s nest in Iowa.  The Toronto Zoo could enhance its role as a preserver of wild life by introducing live streams into its YouTube presence.   It can work closely with its marketing department to feature endangered animals that are not in enclosures because they need special care.  A perfect example was Humphrey the baby polar bear who had to be hand reared by the Zoo's wildlife care team.  Live streams are so popular even Gen C’s would love them and share.  This could also bring national and global audiences to the Zoo.

Because YouTube’s audience has grown in leaps and bounds there are plenty of Pros versus Cons.  Today, YouTube is globally recognized and accepted.  It’s easy to use, just shoot and upload and there is instant visibility on the web.   Video is highly shareable, popular and plays particularly well on smartphones which will help increase the Zoo's search engine optimization. The Toronto Zoo can set up a unique YouTube channel, featuring Zoo videos for its subscribers.  Users can vote for their favourite videos to increase interactivity and there could also be incentives to not only encourage subscriptions but to increase attendance at the Zoo.  The Cons of using YouTube for the Zoo exists.  They face the possibility of having the user stray from their channel to YouTube’s main site and related videos.  There are also unrelated and sometimes tasteless videos which would be a problem for the family friendly Zoo.  Despite these cons, if the Toronto Zoo utilizes YouTube to increase its social media presence, by far, the benefits outweigh the downside.

[glacesworld]

Hello Responsive Design & PHP!

You know that cool thing that you do with your smartphone?   When you hold it vertically and then turn it on the horizontally and all of the text and images conform and fit?  That was my introduction to responsive design.   In 2010 web developer Ethan Marcotte coined the phrase “responsive design” describing how to design for multiple screens.   Basically giving people what they want based on size and orientation of the screen they’re looking at from their desktop to a tablet, from an iPhone to a phablet.

Going hand in hand with responsive design is fluid text sizing i.e., the continual resizing of text during window size changes.  This is particularly important now that the technology is focused on going Mobile First then working up to tablets then desktop computers.  It’s not surprising given that there are 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide.  

Media queries were first introduced in 2009-2010.  It’s part of the specification for CSS3.    Queries are placed inside the CSS and CSS is used only if the conditions of the queries are met.  How big is the viewport?  What’s the resolution on this device?  In turn, the browser responds with the information.  Media queries deliver different styles to different devices enabling the best experience for each type of user.  Web developers can then target styles based on a variety of properties, one of which is screen width, then orientation.  I have an iPhone 4 and if I was coding to ensure that I would have the best results I’d need to know that the viewport size of my phone was 320 pixels wide by 480 pixels in height. 

Here is my first responsive design assignment with three breakpoints.

There was success at the third breakpoint but I had issues at the first and second breakpoints.

I then went on to learn about what happens on the server side.  When the browser/client i.e., Chrome, Safari, or Mozilla, sends a request to the http (hyper text transfer protocol) server, it essentially sends a GET.   The server doesn’t really care what the file type is.  If it finds the file, it will send it back to you.  If it doesn’t it will send an Error 404 message.  I learned that static content can be great as it shows the same page to everyone.  So a restaurant menu, contact information and hours of operation are static content.  The reality is that it’s not feasible for many situations e.g., user specific views like we see on Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr.  Dynamic content exists when you have frequently changing content like a product catalog, or a ticketing outlet like Ticketmaster.  Online banking today is run by customizing, one of the killer Apps on the web right now.

Server side scripting means that servers can now run programs.  Using Computer Gateway Interface (CGI) an http server temporarily hands work off to external programs/scripts via this well-defined interface.  When you look at programming, I learned that you have to see it as a series of instructions.  Each executed in sequence.  Most programming language is very for giving.  PHP is technically a general purpose programming language used exclusively for web development.  It was created by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1995.  PHP is a somewhat forgiving programming language that is beneficial when you’re learning like me.  But when it comes to media queries, order is everything.   What’s important to remember is that the browser sends a GET.  It is received by the http server, and is then handed off via CGI to the PHP process.  The process runs the script and produces the output.  The PHP process then completes.  Responsive is then returned to the client i.e., the html file and browser.

I am now moving into the world of Javascript and Word Press but I wanted to share the work I did bringing four media queries from a responsive CSS into a current responsive file.  Further, I had to integrate an AllTogether.php file into the responsive html and have a series of CSS files in one folder: main.css, main2.css, mainResponsive.css, reset.css and responsive.css.  To complete the assignment, I had to then launch on four different devices, with at least one vertical file.  Here are my screen captures starting with desktop, followed by tablet, android then iPhone and phablet.

[glacesworld]

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Gets Social

It was my first time trying to raise funds for a charity through the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  If I had been in Vancouver, I would’ve had a large base of friends and work colleagues to ask for money for my charity.  But I was now in Toronto where I had a smaller group of friends who I could call on to donate.   Luckily, I had just joined Facebook late last year and reconnected with a group Toronto friends from back in the day.   And it just so happened that the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon added a “Social” component to their website which included Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  Here’s how ‘going social’ helped me reach my fundraising goal.

As a fundraiser for a charity I registered on the Scotiabank website where money that I raised was tracked and as soon as I received a donation I was sent an email.  On my registration page Scotiabank had direct links for social media platforms that allowed me to link directly from my fundraising page and send an appeal to all of my Facebook friends.  I could’ve done the same thing for my Twitter and my Instagram accounts but I focused on Facebook instead because that’s where I had most of my contacts that I knew could support my fundraising efforts. 

Going Social for the marathon caught on because the Public Group had 1,214 members.  This group also used FB for fundraising and talking about which charities they were running for.  But they used the Facebook page as a community of runners.  They asked questions about the race and shared blog posts.  On race day many shared pictures from the run, told stories about whether they ran the whole marathon, the half marathon or the 5K.   One woman posted that her husband ran the marathon and that she ran the 5K.  She thought it was a great event, so much so that she was going to do the half marathon next year!   Despite the fact that the weather for the 2014 marathon was chilly and windy, people were so pumped that some were asking about signing up for the 2015 run.  In fact registration for next year’s marathon is already open. 

Now, back to my fundraising efforts!  I sent an initial shout out to my Facebook Friends in mid to late September, about a month from the marathon date in October.  I also sent a reminder out to folks a couple of weeks away from the run.  My fundraising goal was a modest $200.  I was able to surpass it slightly by raising $210.  Could I have raised this money without the help of social media?  Perhaps but I think it would have required a lot more time on my part notifying people via email, not to mention follow up calls.  What was great about the link from my Scotiabank fundraising page directly to Facebook was that my friends simply had to click on the link which got them straight to my donation page on the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon website.   Giving was made easy and for that, the charity I raised money for is forever grateful. 

[glacesworld]

Going Mobile Changed The Way I Live

Image: www.blackamericaweb.com

In 2011 I became part of the world wide mobile trend.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was about to move from a flat in a house to a condo and was making arrangements for my technology in the new place when I realized I didn’t need a landline anymore. I packed my house phone, and packed away my Nokia cell phone because I had just invested in my first iPhone.  I believe it was the iPhone 3.  When I moved into that condo I learned that I could control entry to my building from my phone.  Even when I wasn’t physically in the building, I could buzz someone in.  This was the beginning of a new lifestyle for me.

Mobile wasn’t just a technology trend for me; it was also a content trend.  I listened to the news, weather and traffic on my iPhone using my CBC Radio App as I made my coffee in the mornings.  When I left home for work I checked my transit App schedule using my smartphone to know when I could catch the bus to get there.   Working in TV production, I was on call during and after the production day.  My cell number was on the call sheet so I could be contacted at anytime during production (the show I worked on shot on weekends) and after hours so my phone was always on.  Depending on what the issue or emergency was, with my smartphone handy I could go online, find resources, contact other crew if I needed to replace someone who was sick etc.

But the surprising and entertaining aspect of going mobile for me was my ability to access Apps to communicate with family and friends who were miles away.  So at 1am PT, I could send a WhatsApp text to my cousin in the UK.  She could text me back and/or send me the latest pictures of my beloved Aunt.  We also see each other through FaceTime because she also has an iPhone. And then there was Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn on my phone allowing for hours of social and business networking.  Personal banking was revolutionized because from anytime and from anyplace I could transfer money from one account to the next.  I could pay registered bills, and within the last year or two I can now deposit money by taking a picture of a cheque.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of going mobile is being able to watch the latest television show or movie on the go.   When I first got my iPhone my data plan wasn’t much to speak of.  I accessed the internet and Apps via wifi at home, at work, at Starbucks and at any other establishment that offered free wifi as an incentive to patronize their business.  As broadcasters developed Apps, then promoted their programs to mobile customers, I and other viewers were no longer tied to our TV sets or PVR's for that matter.   Opening an App and watching the latest episode of my favourite show became easy.  In fact today my smartphone is now like my favourite purse…a great accessory that goes with me everywhere and comes home with me at night.

Finally, the power of mobile has some women giving up sex to keep their smartphone.  A survey among a group of 3600 women from China, Britain, Brazil and the US showed that 45% of Chinese women would give up sex for a month to keep their smartphones.  39% of women in the US said they would give it up for a month to keep their phones, with 38% in the UK and 29% in Brazil saying they would do the same.  I don’t know what Canadian women would do but I for one might join my sisters and keep my damn iPhone!

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2014-01/10/c_133034090.htm

SOURCE:  Smartphone?  Better than sex!

[glacesworld]

Targeting The Best Re-branding Platforms

After over six years in lifestyle television production, I made the decision to take a year off for professional development in digital and interactive media.  By the end of the year my plan is to re-brand myself on social media platforms.  After reviewing a variety of platforms I’m going to focus my efforts on re-branding with LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+.

LinkedIn was a no-brainer.  Globally, they’re the largest online professional network that presents information in a standard format so regardless of your profession there is always a profile headline, summary, education etc.  I want to be able to develop and maintain business relationships especially when I make contact with people in the interactive media industry during the course of working on my assignments.  I like the fact that LinkedIn has a high Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so my profile page should show up at the top of most search engine results. 

Google+ is my second choice.  They're the biggest player with almost 67% of all US search engine volume (comScore 2013 US search engine rankings).  With a Google + account, a Google Profile, and a Gmail address I know that I can sign into all of Google’s services including YouTube, Google Analytics, Google Hangouts etc.  One of the features that I find attractive on Google Plus is Sparks, the Google Alert that’s organized to flag keywords of interest to me.  When I'm ready I'll be able utilize my Google Profile for my new unified digital self.  I can import my new digital contacts to co-exist with my old TV connections and separate them into unique circles.  

I view Twitter as a great way to engage in dialogue on hot topics in my industry and to share my insights with others in under 140 characters.  Twitter is not to be taken lightly as the numbers don’t lie.  There are over 271 million active users each month and 500 million tweets sent daily (business.twitter.com/basics/learn-twitter). What I find fascinating about Twitter is being able to send a tweet out there and almost  immediately get a response back or a re-tweet.  I do know that I can build my brand on Twitter and develop a reputation.  This is especially important since my plan is to re-brand myself from TV production to digital.  I have already started with a tweet about a pair of networked photo booths at #NuitBlanche called @onenightstandTO that was accomplished by coding.  I want to see if I can also utilize Twitter Apps like Twellow to find more people in the field I decide to pursue.  And Tweetbeep to track my mentions on Twitter.

The following is a listing of all of the references I accessed to research and select my social media platforms.  From Mashable’s “How To Build Your Brand on Twitter” and Twitter Basics on Twitter, to Job Hunt’s “10 Best-Practices for Building your Online Brand and Your Identity”.   There was a great Slideshare on LinkedIn Best Practices, an introduction to Google Analytics and a great article on "SEO best practices to follow for 2014".   Wrapping it up were two Google articles on the “Personal Brand Best Practice Tactics on Google+” and “How To Use Google Plus for Professional Networking”.  All of these links support and justify my choice to go with LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ in support of my career pursuits in interactive media management.

http://mashable.com/2009/05/20/twitter-personal-brand/

https://business.twitter.com/basics/learn-twitter

http://www.job-hunt.org/personal-branding/building-your-brand.shtml

http://www.slideshare.net/dmastrocola/linkedin-best-practices-4818233

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1008065?hl=en

http://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/bid/123473/on-page-seo-best-practices-to-follow-for-2014-part-1

http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/how-use-google-plus-professional-networking-10-smart-ways/

http://www.smallbizclub.com/component/k2/item/1512-personal-brand-best-practice-tactics-on-google-plus?Itemid=522

[glacesworld]

Brainstorming & Collaboration, a Team Affair

Before I started focusing on interactive projects, the mainstream world of lifestyle TV production was my only reference of how best to collaborate in a deadline oriented production environment.  In TV production, collaboration is key to getting through pre production, production, and post-production straight through to delivery.   It tends to be a hierarchical environment with executive producers driving the creative, writers executing same, directors delivering the creative working with a crew and talent, the production manager or line producer is keeping the show on budget and on schedule, editors cut the show with executive producer and broadcaster approvals and the post supervisor ensures that the show gets delivered on schedule.

 My current experience in the interactive media realm seems more collaborative.  As a part of a team I’ve brainstormed, throwing out ideas to my team and listening to their thoughts.  Our decision making process is respectful and fair, even when an idea seems to be really ‘out there’, we’ve been patient with each other and because of that patience the off the chart idea goes away and in its place something else emerges that all of us can buy into and move forward with.

 In researching brainstorming and collaboration I came across a variety of ideas on line but was most impressed with a simple Slideshare presentation “Collaboration Techniques That Really Work” by Leisa Reichelt (see link to her slideshare and her website below).  She presented it in 2008 at the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin.  Leisa is currently Head of User Research at the Government Digital Service in the Cabinet Office and is a member of the London UX Book Club.

disambiguity.com

What I loved about her presentation is that she tackled both brainstorming and collaboration.  I discovered through her presentation that when brainstorming “I wish to or How to” should always be used to start a session…you should never ask questions.  Her definition of collaboration was great for what it wasn’t.  Leisa felt that it was a coming together of people or organizations working toward a common goal(s) by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus.  “Collaboration is NOT inviting a bunch of different people to a meeting at the beginning of a project and it is not working separately on the same project.”  Her final takeaway was about reaching consensus using the KJ Method (group process for establishing priorities).  She did this with an affinity sort using post it notes on a wall to consolidate a concept(s) that people can vote on.  I think this is brilliant as it makes the process to reach a final decision more collaborative where everyone can have a say and feel that they're truly a part of the team.  

[glacesworld]

CODE, What I've Learned So Far

Everything around us is programmed with code.  With a simple click of a mouse where you arrive on the world wide web and how you navigate on a webpage is controlled by code.  So what do you do when you’re struggling to code after you realize that CODE is everything?  You panic and then you take a moment to exhale and figure out that you’re not that lost after all.   It happened to me and here’s what I know after six weeks of instruction.

  I know that the www was invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee and that prior to that academics were using email to communicate with each other.  But it was the big breakthrough of NCSA Mosaic as the first browser to use images that really made the www take off.    Here’s a visual representation from the evolutionoftheweb.com showing how web tech and browsers brought us to the myriad of Apps we have today.

The heart of what I needed to learn and understand about code involved the two core technologies that are key to building web pages and that was HTML (hypertext markup language) and CSS (cascading style sheets).   When you look at an HTML page, it is made up of block level elements and inline elements.  So a block element is a paragraph, section, article, aside, nav, header or footer.  Whereas an inline element is the bold let’s say in a paragraph.  CSS allows you to style block elements so a particular font or value, font size/colour, and background colour.   When you apply a style to a block element it can become a beautiful thing!  Here is my first html page with a CSS (in this instance I put a bold style on my header and sub-header and had a bigger font on the header vs the sub header.  It might appear simple to someone who has a lot of experience in code but for me it was a huge first step.  I had errors in this first assignment which I have now fixed.  The fact that I could go back and fix the code after 6 weeks is also an achievement for me.

 As the weeks went by I learnt the importance of keeping organized files so for each page that I created I would have the following folders:  CSS, HANDOUT (if applicable), IMAGES, JS, and MEDIA.  It would look like this:

I also learned that punctuation is everything!  A colon instead of semi colon, tightening a missed space can make the difference in seeing or not seeing the web page you coded.  I learnt about the box model and that it’s a box wrapping around html elements…so in looking at a box it has width surrounded by padding surrounded by border surrounded by a margin.  Armed with that knowledge and how to examine a page in Chrome and Safari using developer and view source respectively I was successful in creating my first box model html.

The next big task was to create navigational buttons that floated right of the main container image of my superheroes and the buttons would also then animate left when you hovered over the button.  I encountered two main problems.  First, my nav wouldn’t align.  In order to fix the problem I had to use Chrome as my browser and right click to inspect the element.  I highlighted the nav on the left and select computed on the right to add up the element (nav) plus padding, border, and margin (note margin was 110px).  I also had to select the h1 and counted the total i.e., the border, padding element and set the font size to 25px (I experimented with different font sizes).  This was how I was able to resolve my nav alignment problem.  Here is the before image and further below is the after using another superhero image.

The second issue was that my nav had squared edges when the objective was to style rounded edges.  My solution was that I needed a border radius declaration so I looked at the image that already had a rounded edge to determine my border radius and took a shortcut by cutting and copying all of the correct border radius declarations into the nav and voila, almost like magic the problem was corrected.  I still had one small problem.  If you look at the previous screen capture you’ll notice that the nav was off.  To rectify this problem I had to add a line height declaration of 1em in the style.css which equaled the font size in order to fix that problem. 

I know that learning code will be a constant challenge for me, but with a lot of extra time spent reviewing and doing the work combined with online tutorials, I’m determined be master the art of coding.

[glacesworld]

Is Employment Equity Lost in the 21st Century?

In the early 90’s there was a call to action in many of Toronto’s culturally diverse arts communities.  The main reason was a lack of access to cultural institutions.  People of colour weren’t being hired, weren’t being asked to sit on boards, weren’t being invited on to juries, and weren’t being encouraged to apply for acceptance at the Canadian Film Centre.  When it came to the provincial, and national arts councils (the Toronto Arts Council was the exception) artists of colour and first nations artists in particular, felt their culturally specific concepts were not being understood and hence not being valued and not being funded.  This was before interactive producing was a part of the creative landscape so attention was focused on traditional film and television unions.  People of colour were woefully under represented, and when it came to representation of women in the camera, grip and electric departments they were almost not present at all.

Many groups were formed in the Asian, South Asian, African Canadian and First Nations communities.  We came together, strategized and organized workshops and conferences together to understand what our specific experiences and issues were.  Then we met with the arts councils, the training institutions, and the unions.  Internships were set up and some unions began a concerted effort to encourage qualified people of colour to join.  I benefited from an internship with Marilyn Stonehouse, David Cronenberg’s Line Producer on his feature “Crash.”  It was a life changing experience because when I was through, I knew that I wanted to be a producer.

On the educational front I was the first coordinator of the Canadian Film Centre’s Summer Lab initiative.  The focus was to get talented and emerging filmmakers of colour and First Nations filmmakers from across Canada for an intensive series of workshops, lectures by visiting filmmakers and develop their feature scripts.  Mina Shum “Double Happiness”, Clement Virgo “Rude” and Stephen Williams “Soul Survivor” successfully developed their projects at the CFC and made their first features.  All to critical acclaim!

The Canada Council for the arts would eventually embrace cultural diversity which would see peer representation on their juries include artists of colour and first nations artists.  Their biggest stride however was the creation of the Equity Office.  It exists to this day and has grown.  The office maintains a strategic focus on “supporting Canadian artists of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American or mixed racial heritage, and their artistic practices.”  The office works closely with the Aboriginal Arts Office “to integrate the distinct history, experience and contributions of Aboriginal artists into a wider equity framework.”

As an interactive producer in the 21st century I hope to bring my unique history to the table when it comes to hiring a team as well as keeping an eye on content.  Today despite the fact that employment equity is a law in Canada (the Employment Equity Act, requires employers to engage in proactive employment practices to increase the representation of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal peoples, and visible minorities), it appears that we’ve left employment equity and cultural diversity behind in the workplace.  I think it’s a huge mistake as the demographics around us have changed.  If we can’t deliver content that’s entertaining as well as culturally aware, we are going to get left behind.  If Shonda Rhimes can create successful shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” with a talented and culturally diverse cast and creative team, I know we must strive to hit those benchmarks in the interactive media industry in Canada.

[glacesworld]

What Not To Wear

So you’ve got a job interview and you focus on getting the same resume that you sent into them printed.  You check out their website again to find out what they’ve been up to and googled background information on the producers.  Just when you think you’ve got it going on you realize that you don’t know what to wear, or better yet, you don’t know what Not to wear.  It’s something that I struggle with because since my return to Toronto from Vancouver, I can’t seem to get it right.  With the exception of one or two interviews or information meetings I thought what I chose to wear was an epic FAIL.

Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when our instructor cued up the next Power Point image “PROFESSIONAL DRESSING-WOMEN”.  I think I did a double take.  I always had discussions with my former roommate who came from business about what I’d wear on interviews.  She was my fashion police, guiding me as I prepped.  A couple of times my gut told me casual was best than that business suit that I keep meaning to buy.  Flats were better than 2 inch heals.   Thankfully, after Week 2’s class I feel confident about what not to wear in the future.  We reviewed the don’ts first…no low cut tops, nothing tight or see through, no power suits (I really liked that one), and no casual jeans.  What was on the approved list?  Business casual - a blazer, a pair of cool dark wash jeans, a nice top and a 1-inch pump.

PROFESSIONAL DRESSING FOR MEN also began with don’ts and funny enough the list was almost identical.  No super tight or see through clothing, no power suits (unless you look like you want to work in a bank).  Again, men shouldn’t wear casual jeans as business casual is best.  Men should wear dress jeans, a long sleeved collared shirt and a blazer.  And yes, even cool sneakers are acceptable for men.

In my last workplace casual dressing was completely acceptable.  If the broadcaster came for a visit or any kind of business meeting, or a major production meeting occurred, everyone tended to dress up a notch.  If I was thinking at the time of my failed attempts, I should have remembered how I was dressed for the job that I landed….a nice pair of jeans, a shirt, a blazer and flats.  I’m not saying that what I wore got me the job it was more than that.  I think I fitted in with their company culture and in that instance dress does matter. 

[glacesworld]

Goodbye Red Rocket & Hello New Ride Launch Article a Fail

When I went to the TTC website to read about the new jewel in its streetcar transit fleet I was expecting a video tour of the new car with a voice over describing and demonstrating its brand spanking new features.  Instead all that I saw were images and bullet point descriptions about the new streetcar and the new payment system.   While the written text and images gave me the basics of what I needed to know, the fanfare leading up to the launch of the new streetcar seemed like a non-event after I read this article. 

 A video would have prepared first time riders for the experience.  TTC riders who are in wheelchairs or who have other mobility challenges could have benefitted even more.  And it would have been so easy.  Simply by seeing someone actually use the ramp to get on the streetcar and disembark from it with close up shots of the blue accessibility buttons.  There is an existing image of a woman in a wheelchair getting off the streetcar but no close up shot.  In fact, we had a closer shot of the passenger with his bicycle in the designated area than we did of the wheelchair on the streetcar ramp. 

There was an attempt at a modest design in the article.  First there was a handheld photo superimposed over a black and white image from the 20th century.  Four additional handheld images followed over older streetcars.  This was a very simplistic way of contrasting the old with the new.   The TTC colours red white and black remained throughout but there was no uniformity with the font style.  This was most glaring when the second header “Our new streetcar” was in plain text on a white background.  It really stood out like an eyesore from the other headers, which were all in white text on a black background. 

There was a lot of excitement in Toronto leading up to the launch of the new streetcar but the TTC didn’t harness that energy into this article. The only way that I was able to see a video of the streetcar was by going to their YouTube channel from a link I found on the same page and that was shot like a home movie with no interior shots of the streetcar.  If this was meant to inspire me to take a ride, someone should tell the TTC that there’s a better way.

[glacesworld]

Eileen Fisher Knows What Women Want

I remember my first encounter with eileenfisher.com.  I had insomnia and it was at some ridiculous time in the morning that I got out of bed and walked into my home office. I googled their website because I saw their clothing at The Bay.  Once I got there I fell in love with their designs.   Because I’m always interested in seeing what people do with videos on line I was fascinated with what they did.  Eileen Fisher had real people, their employees, lined up facing the camera. Off camera a pair of hands appear with an article of clothing that’s tried on by the first employee who then takes it off and passes it to the next person in line.   She then tries on the same item of clothing but wears or styles it differently and so on and so on.  It was an ingenious way of showing different garments on different body types worn differently.  

Today eileenfisher.com has really grown up.  When you go on their website, the first thing that pops up is a screen informing you that they now ship to Canada.  Also that the prices on their website are in Canadian dollars and that there are low international ship rates.  If you’re in Vancouver, you can check out their store in the very fashionable south Granville neighbourhood.  They also list locations across Canada where you can find their clothing.  Eileen Fisher’s employees are still featured in their videos but from a behind the scenes and design perspective.  Their current collection is displayed as photographs but when you roll over the image a model appears in the featured clothing.  You can get your runway fix by literally watching a runway show or check out their Lookbook of stills that zoom in and out dissolving from one outfit to the next.  Eileenfisher.com also has videos and text about sustainable and organic fibres, and what they describe as ��broader efforts to protect the environment, empower women and girls and preserve traditional crafts and cultures”.  Despite their very customer centric website, they want you to know that they are good corporate citizens.  I also think they want to say don’t cringe when you see the price tag for their exquisite designs.

Nigelbeauty.com can take a few lessons from the Eileen Fisher website.  If you’re a hair or make-up professional working in the film, television or fashion industry, Nigel’s (based in the U.S.) is the go-to place for products that you can’t get at the Canadian beauty supply.  Many professionals are working on set and that is where they’ll realize that they need a specific product in the not too distant future.  When you hit the home tab at nigelbeauty.com you’re greeted with a variety of drop down menus.  However it takes time to click and scroll through different sub headings when you’re looking for a specific product.  The quick fix would be to go in their search function and type in what you need.  Unfortunately for this site you often end up with “no results match your search”.  A search for curling irons was somewhat successful but with it you got an artist backpack, and a thermal hand pad.  Yes, Nigel’s can learn plenty from Eileen Fisher. 

[glacesworld]

My Ahaa Moment

So you make a life changing decision to go back to school as a mature student and when that first day arrives you wonder if you’ve made the right decision.  During my first week at College there was still that tiny voice inside of me saying are you sure this is the right choice?  It wasn’t until after I had an ahaa moment in my first Interactive Media Industry class that I could put all of my doubts aside that I had made the right choice.

  Working in an interactive media world means that you can’t just care about the content.  You have to know about distribution i.e., where the media is going.  It could be direct to user, on mobile, tablet, or traditional TV.    And then there’s the question of how are we going to make money and most importantly how do we keep it alive so we can get more money.  Do we create an App to keep monetization going?  Once the website or interactive project is launched I learned that you’re going to need to see how many visitors or hits its getting.   This is where a systematic analysis of a site or analytics can also help.

  An important learning curve for me was understanding that there are sub-sectors in the interactive media industry.  From advertising/marketing, transmedia, web video and web series, to children’s interactive, elearning, mhealth, indie and AAA games.  My challenge as a mature student is figuring out how I can import my years of experience in television and film production into the interactive media industry.   We were told to keep ourselves open to new possibilities and that’s exactly what I’ll try to do.