Summer Events Are Here!

My third quarter is almost coming to an end in a few weeks. It seems kind of quick, but I just have two left to go. The Summer quarter is probably going to be pretty brutal since they squeeze 10 weeks worth of content into 8 weeks. Isn’t stopping me from taking two. Looks like I’m in for The Health of Networks and Transmedia Production & Distribution. I’m a little interested to see how it goes. Both descriptions were rather broad. I really don’t have a solid sense of what the transmedia class might entail, but I started looking into work by the professor and he and his work sound interesting. We’ll see. The other class, I know will be reading/writing/discussion intensive – which I’m liking quite a bit.

Other than school, there’s work of course – which is taking off in a million different directions. I have the full-time job at CampusCE, and then was asked to start getting into another project that is semi-related. Then there’s the freelance stuff. One third with Creative Circle (a creative staffing agency), one third doing my own thing, and one thing starting the beginning stages of a partnership with an IT/networking company back home.

When I’m not doing that, I’m going to make the most of exploring and events. Starting next weekend we’re going to a tribute Queen concert by the Seattle Rock Orchestra and two Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) events. The first SIFF event I’m going to is being put on by the MCDM program, The Fusion of Film and Gaming in the Pacific Northwest. The second for next weekend is the movie Hooked (Russia). The two following weekends I got tickets for The Whistleblower (Canada) and Third Star (UK, North American Premier). There are so many movies at SIFF – a few hundred at least. I narrowed it down to three – one a weekend. Not only are they an expense that could add up quickly, but we’re getting close to finals. I’d go to see every movie if I could.

Surfaced

I spent the entire weekend buried deep in case analysis writing for my marketing class. I’m glad that’s over. Now I just have two more to look forward to writing this semester. John made out better than I did. He spent Friday night on Whidbey Island at his friend, Jason’s, house. He said he stayed up way too late, but was happy to get out and visit and to see the area – which he said is much closer to home than Seattle is. He got back on Saturday afternoon and then spent Sunday with a new friend (who he met through Jason). I’m not really sure where my weekend went – all I know is I’m going to start the next case analysis much earlier (I had no idea what I was getting into when I started).

Things are going well. We’re both looking forward to seeing Georgette and the boys when they come to visit next month. There are so many sites that we have yet to see (which will make good sites to see with them). It looks like Nancy and Linda might visit one after the other in March. It also looks like Winn and then Jenett and Zeb might come out in April. I can’t wait for Spring and Summer weather – especially for the cherry tree blooming (the campus is covered with cherry trees).

The MCDM program is awesome. My classes this quarter require a significant amount of work compared to last quarter, but I’m managing (somehow). One class is basically a media theory class which requires a ton of reading, but is very interesting. Our final group assignment is to take a technology/media and show the history of it and future uses. My group picked motion-based user interfaces (e.g. Kinect) and we’re thinking of doing a user manual that looks like it’s from the past (as in someone from the future is reading it). Hard to describe, but it should be really fun. For our individual final projects we have to choose a technology/media and predict where it will be 2, 5, and 10 years from now. I have no clue what I am going to do, but I want to make it gaming related. Other than that, I have a marketing/branding class and an analytics class. They’re both great classes, but the media theory class (evolution & trends) is one of my favorites so far. I can’t wait until next quarter – I’m going to take a gaming/virtual worlds class and another mobile class.

It seems like I have somehow acquired a lot of clients here. So between clients from home and new clients from Seattle, that’s also keeping me pretty busy. Most of the time I wish I had as much time as John to play Call of Duty. *** Just got interrupted by a call from an agency I submitted a bid to. I quoted a job at a quarter of what another guy did (I was quoting how long it would actually take me) – I guess I should at least triple my usual numbers for work around here. UPDATE: The agency called back. Guess the client enjoyed talking to me on the phone and really wants to work with me. So… they asked if they could double what I quoted. Now I just have to find the time for the additional hours needed to put into it.

Quick Praise for Facebook

The more I talk to a greater variety of internet users, the more I hear varying takes on Facebook. Some just don’t see a use for it, others think it’s for “young people”, some think that they won’t find anyone on Facebook to connect with, most are concerned with privacy, a few are so paranoid they won’t use it for much of anything (but have an account), some use it for business (but through personal pages), a mix use it for games/apps, a large group of peers love it, love connecting, and won’t go a day without checking in. I’m sure there are many other categories and situations I can’t think of or am bothering not to list, but that’s the general idea I get from conversations. Personally, I love Facebook. I used to have it completely open to the public and once privacy controls got more specific I close portions of it off to my friends. I find it hard to discuss privacy controls with paranoid users because they seem to be repeating mass media horror stories, and not actually checking out the privacy settings for themselves. In some cases they don’t even use Facebook, but seem to be sure of what is and isn’t possible for settings. I think I’ve reached a happy medium with my Facebook account. I limit exactly what I want to limit and open up exactly what I want to open up to the public. Is a large portion of my information out there “somewhere”? Yeah, I’m sure it is, but I’m also sure that it was there before Facebook ever came about – I’ve used MySpace, set up my own sites, and used countless other social sites for years. Is Facebook using my information and sending it to advertisers? Definitely. I’m guessing that a good majority of sites, apps, and store loyalty accounts are doing the same.

I would like to praise Facebook for connecting people, and connecting them better than other sites currently can. In the past few months I have been in touch with a half-brother I never knew, had my first conversation with an autistic mute whom I’ve known for years, felt connected to a group of people I just met, and stayed connected with family and friends that I’m currently over 3,000 miles away from. Facebook isn’t the only way that I could connect with these different people, but it’s a common site through which everyone is a part of and everyone is familiar enough to reach out to each other. I know there are many stories of family/friends connecting over great time and distance, and that’s great. Did it happen before? Of course. Did it happen as easily? I doubt it. My half-brother, Brad, initially was able to reach my Mom through more traditional mediums, but Facebook allowed my sister and I to get in on the conversation, see photos, etc. The contact, although across wires and timezones, felt like connecting through Facebook with any other friend I’ve known for years.

Could an autistic mute connect without Facebook? Sure. But did she? No. She discovered Facebook, and through Facebook, she discovered her voice – and I think it’s incredible. Imagine being excited about connecting with 17 people. I think I currently have over 500 friends on Facebook, and yes, I actually know all of them and have met all of them face-to-face. I don’t hold conversations with all of them all of the time, but I think it’s safe to say I connect with at least 17 people a day. These 17 people this woman was excited to connect with were the first 17 people she’s connected with in years. I think that’s exciting.

Through Facebook I can share photos of Seattle with family and friends in Vermont. I can keep in touch with everyone and get teased for my geeky posts. I can see what everyone is up to and stay up to date with businesses back home through Facebook Pages. I can connect with new colleagues and coworkers and stay on top of workshops and networking events. I can even keep on top of Playstation and Amazon updates without having to login or go through every one of my RSS feeds. So to that, I say, thank you, Facebook, and bravo!