Sheridan College Interactive Multimedia Guest Speakers
Over the past eight months, students in the Interactive Multimedia Program have had an ongoing Guest Speakers series to highlight and enlighten students on the various topics, sectors and possibilities within Interactive Multimedia.
Guest Speakers are a great opportunity for students to learn a bit more about this dynamic and creative field from talented and knowledgeable people working with the many facets of the industry.
Shawn Seles, Television Animator for Nelvana, showed students how television animation is now being produced with the use of Flash. Students were shown the full range of animating capabilities within Flash. The growing trend in the industry means that almost everyone is capable of producing high quality broadcast animation on a small budget.
Andrew Tedford, 3D Animator in Flash currently working on
SpyGuy.ca took students on a tour of his sites that incorporate 3D in flash as well as imparted his experience in preparing 3D in Maya to import into Flash as a Quicktime video among other techniques.
Jennifer Leavey, Senior Project Manager, gave students a look at the everyday workings of project management with the interactive industry. The concepts learned and applied in the classroom are the tried and true methodologies to project success in the “real world”. Jennifer showed the examples of success stories, the “ideal client” and the type of workload a busy interactive company has on the go each and every week. “If you are working more than eight hours a day on a project, then that project is being poorly run”, said Jennifer. In addition to talking about project management, Jennifer also answered questions about the interview process and what she looks for in a graphic designer and programmer.
Vivian Wong, eCommerce Consultant, with a background dating back to the initial startup of Chapters Online, students were given a look back on the dot com growth in Canada and its continually evolving future. Speaking on the topic, “If you build it, will they come?”, Vivian explained that the same business models that work south of the border in the US do not work here in Canada due to a variety of regional and cultural differences that make up the Canadian landscape. Major factors of usability and customer service are at the core of every successful online shopping experience. Failing to “attract, convert and retain” users will eventual lead to business failure.
Bob Jones, Sheridan Visualization Lab, shared his experience and knowledge on the topic of eLearning and online training. Bob gave students a history of learning and how it has evolved with technology. When trying to deliver online training, no one technology will solve all the problems of distance education. The current trend in training is the use of blended models that use traditional classroom based instruction and technology to enhance the learning experience. Elearning is not just information that is given to someone on a cd or website, but has to have sound instructional structure and learning outcomes to be beneficial to the end user.
Lina Cleovoulou, Art Director, Cossette Interactive, gave students an overview of the process that takes projects from “concept to finished product” at Cossette. Lina explained that the process begins with brainstorming ideas, to mock-ups, storyboards and wireframes before going on to the design process. In an agency environment, maintaining and supporting a clients brand both in an online and print environment is important to keep in mind. A client’s print advertising should leverage the online branding and vise-versa. Lina showed some client work and how this end result came about through a creative process.
Ann Corrigan, Business Start-up Consultant, gave students a background in running a small business and the issues surrounding small businesses. “Networking your brains out!” is the key to success in any business. Knowing someone or knowing of someone who can “coach” or “mentor” you during the start up and continuation of your business. Getting clients and getting customers to switch to you as important to business success as is capital and cash flow. Skill is a “dime a dozen” but building up the network and relationships are cornerstones to success. Some people have the personality to run a business, while others don’t. Change is a constant necessity of growing and developing a business. Brainstorming is often the best means to finding creative solutions to business problems.
For further inquiries please contact
imm@sheridanc.on.ca
Like this:
Like Loading...
