Archive for May, 2009

Guilds of Steel

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Promo shoot for the upcoming run at Gnap! Improvised “Role Playing Game” comedies. Makeup by Jason Vines.

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What a Day… Again!!!

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

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Whew! Wowzers. I haven’t told many folks this but I have taken on a new job as creative director for local software awesomeness, Orgsync. They develop what they call “Collaborative Software for an Online Campus”. It’s essentially a localized version of Facebook with 1,000 more practical features such as sharing calendars between student organizations to paying your fraternity dues online. Pretty cool eh? Saves tons of paperwork, time, and makes it easy for a student to consolidate all their college happenings into one single package. My job is redesign the interface. It’s been a great experience so far. I’ve made huge leaps in designing for 508 Accessibility standards, advanced usability, and working with Ruby on Rails (fallen in love, madly). On top of that, I’m working to revamp the front end and bring the site home to a full scale presence bursting with networking and integrations.

Unlike previous companies I’ve worked with or for, Orgsync’s appetite for innovation is insatiable. They’re not just concerned with having the best and coolest features, but using the best methods with agile development to get there. I remember the days of wanting to change things and not being able to due to old school developers. That’s out the window. We all call the shots on a daily basis and we all are there to catch each other’s shortcomings, rather than pointing fingers. Pretty cool environment, I must say. It’s a lot like a good improv troupe (but anything can be compared to improv).

This is becoming a long post but eff it. Today I did the following madness:

7:00 - 8:00 - Worked on a friend’s site

9:00 - 10:00 - Did some Orgsync stuff at a coffeeshop

10-11:00 - Did passport photos for a friend / associate

11:00 - 2:00 - Worked on Orgsync

2:00 - 3:00 - Food lunch time with my good friend, Clinkenbeard

3:00 - 7:30 - Orgsyncing at the library (had enough coffee that day)

7:30 - 8:30 - Foodage at East Side Pies

8:30 - 9:45 - Awesome improv jam at the New Movement Theatre

10:00 - 11:30 - Spoke with great friend, Luke Eddy, via phone

11:30 - 11:45 - Wrote a worthless blog post explaining what I did today, as if folks cared… (meta)

Easy to forget…

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

I hate this feeling. I feel so disconnected from important people from the past. From art teachers, grandmothers, cousins, and neighborhood friends. I wish it wasn’t so awkward and difficult to stay in touch. I wish I could magically implant knowledge into the minds of people and let them know I still care and appreciate them. How quickly we forget things.

New Hideout Owners & Management

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
(L to R): Roy, Kaci, Mike, Kareem, Andy, Jessica

(L to R): Roy, Kaci, Mike, Kareem, Andy, Jessica

There is one new location in my life that will eventually surpass Marietta College Theatre’s record for “most non-residence time spent in”. I’m referring to the lovely, Hideout Theatre on 7th & Congress, downtown Austin. Three of my favorite people have taken ownership, while the remainder (also favorites) will continue/take over management. This is very exciting as I’m looking forward to devoting time, talents, and energy to making it a better place. I’ve already completed a prototype for the new website (which will have functionality out the who-haw). I also plan to do tons of photography and hopefully performing in it. Keep your eyes peeled for some new stuff for it.