The ability of just getting ideas out of your head on to paper weather it be through drawing, painting or in this instance, words, is just a creative outlet to keep us from falling into the doldrums of the reality that surrounds us.  When people see our work, it tends to give it meaning, validation and a feeling of acceptance amongst our fellow bloggers and professional counterparts.

Recently I was offered a great opportunity to expand my creative wings when I was accepted to write for TalentZoo.com on a weekly basis. The idea that their client base would now be reading my random thoughts on creative professionalism, is a very exciting proposition since I am not a writer by trait. It is not that I do not write, but more that I do not write for their size viewing audience as frequently as I will be.

So, as a designer, what can be gained from such an experience? Well I am sure it will have a variety of positive effect, the first being the ability to further develop my copy writing chops. In a time when employers are asking for a laundry list of skills to join their creative teams, being a solid copy writer couldn’t hurt, just check David Ogilvy’s thoughts on the subject.  It will also help me to become faster at developing my ideas through text as opposed through graphics. Not that I would ever abandon that aspect of skill set. Most importantly though, it will expose my ideas and experiences to a new, boarder audience I would not currently be able to reach on my own.

The value of that can be seen in the bigger picture. Creative expressionism that gets seen, tends to spawn new ideas for both the creator and participant. It is my hope that I can share some experiences that TalentZoo’s readership could relate to, and connect with them on the subjects I cover each week. Since blogging is just the long-form extension of social networking, I look forward to interacting with readers and other writers on our professional experiences so that we all can advance towards our aspirations together.

I hope to see you all on TalentZoo.com in support of this new endeavor, and sincerely than you for reading my ramblings!

Everyone can click to leave, just as easily they currently click to terminate.

Since I have started living in NJ, I have tried to keep myself occupied with a bunch of different things because I always seem to have a lot of extra time in the evenings. Some stick, and some just don’t. Most of what I get engulfed in can be directly related to my career. Why not use your free time to get better at those things that are constantly evolving? Over the past few years I have been tackling Social Networking and I have made it a point to try every new trend, in an effort to think of ways they could be marketed.

Companies like facebook and Google+ have more than enough critics and seriously, my opinion would just be one more in the trillion that are already out there. I do have accounts for both though and even with all the complaints I hear about them for one short coming or another, they are services that are more successful than any other that had existed before them, and that has to be worth something. I have had a MySpace, twitter, Deviant Art, Picasa, Four Square, WordPress and LinkedIn accounts over the years and I have noticed that although we are progressing on technology, we are regressing in other areas.

About a month ago, I started photo-sharing account on Instagram. At first I was honestly not into it. Not because of the technology, but because chances are if I don’t know you, I am not going to be interested in seeing your cat laying around the house or your kid making a mess with his cereal.

However, as I dug further I noticed there was real art to be found, and it started to inspire me. My account was a public account, in terms of it being visible to everyone. For the most part, it was filled with a bunch of abstract images. Simple things like lights, trees, neon signs and bathroom fixtures. I know, it doesn’t sound very exciting, but as I got used to using the medium, I found it was helping me to see things in a more artistic light. There were no images of people on my account because I did not want to fall into the category of just another proud parent, even though I am. I wanted to use the service as an art enhancer. A tool to make me be able to compose faster/ better, because the more you do it, the better you get.

Well, all was going good and I was actually getting people following my work, which was flattering. I could actually see a change in the way that I was visualizing shots after 3 short weeks.  Compositions were coming to me a lot quicker, and on a conscious level I found the service to be very useful.  Just as I started to really enjoy it, my account was deactivated!

At first I thought it was a mistake on my part. I tried several times to log into the service to no avail. So I did what anyone would do, I researched the error message on the company website. It was there that I found out that my account was disabled for a violation of terms. Which include posting images that are copyright protected, nude images or harassing other users. Again, all I have are abstract images, of various objects, and the only interaction that I have with people is to tell them how much I like their work or thank them for following

The conspiracy theorist in me (and others) thought that my images were flagged as in appropriate by someone, since they were all accessible to anyone at any time, but upon further investigation, I have found that although I can not login-in to the service to post new images, other people can still see my account, and I can make modifications such as update my profile information or change my password, which leads me to believe that my account is not actually disabled. It could just have been a glitch. It did get me thinking though, if someone wanted to, they could easily take down my account just by saying that they were offended by my content. Which is a scary thought!

Just by having an option to flag an image as inappropriate, you have given the ability at the individual level to censor the web. How we could have come so far on a technological level, but still give the ability to allow personal beliefs to muddy the waters of personal preference, is a hard concept to realize. Working as a designer, one of the most subjective jobs on the planet, I have learned that people are not going to like everything that you do, but what right do they have to censor your work for everyone else? Especially through a FREE service! If you don’t like something, just don’t partake in it.

Again, this thankfully is not what happened to me (from what I can tell), or no one would have been able to see my account. Were the frustration stems from is the automated response I receive from the support team after inquiring about the incident, which was as follows:

We’ve received your request. Only users whose accounts have not violated our Community Guidelines and/or Terms of Use will be reinstated. Thank you for your understanding.

—

If your account has been disabled but you didn’t request to have it removed, it’s likely that you have violated Instagram’s Community Guidelines and/or Terms of Use.

Users with an account found in violation of the Community Guidelines will be permanently removed from our service. There are no exceptions to this policy.

All of which is completely understandable, their service, their rules, but if I did not hunt down their support teams contact information and make an effort to rectify the situation, I would have been shut down based on someone’s complaint. As the owner of a personal account, it really was not that big of a deal. But what if I were a business and someone had accused my account of being in violation of the terms of services, and my business site was now shut down?

This whole occurrence coming off the PIPA/SOPA debate, which did not just happen over night, I have actually been following it for months. Have we become unaware of the fact that censorship is not just a government act, but rather a right bestowed upon pretty much all of us in the digital age? Government is an entity, which we can at least point at and shout, “you did this”! Whereas an individual, you may have never met, possibly not even living in the country, has the power to just say “I don’t like it”, and with one click can kill content.  Have we in an effort to become more understanding to peoples emotions/ needs, destroyed our individual rights?

I do look forward to getting my account reinstated as I very much enjoyed the service, and have a bunch of new photos to post. I only hope that companies, especially ones that deal with various areas of “creativity”, come to terms with the fact that people do not need to be given the power to be judge and jury. Everyone can click to leave, just as easily they currently click to terminate.

If you have an iPhone and you want to check out my shots, my account can be found under the user name TomRoarty. If I get the account turned back on any time soon, I’ll be happy to share even more!

Usually, I personally complain in what I would consider a confessional format, where I will find one unlucky person who I will open up to and start spewing out my toxic message, after which I could go back to getting on with my life. I am honestly growing tired of complaining though, especially about those things that which no matter how hard I try, I cannot change. There is not one particular event, which brought me to the dark mood that I am in the middle of while I write this today.

Maybe it was an article I read on INC.com (http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/9-things-that-motivate-employees-more-than-money.html), which was the catalyst for this posting though.

I know ever gig has its ups and downs, but when the downs start to outweigh the ups, it does make you start to question your abilities to be the best you can be where you are. The INC.com article mentioned above (which I highly recommend reading if you are, or ever plan on being a successful leader), talks in length about small things that employers can do to keep their staff happy, with out gouging their budget. Simple things such as:

• Be generous with praise.
• Never criticize or correct.
• Make everyone a leader.
• Share the rewards—and the pain.
  • And More…

So why is it, the more corporate the business, the less of these practices you will find? Is it that big business has helped to develop insanely inflated egos, or is it just ignorance that breeds lack of respect?

I am a firm believer that everyone is a specialist. Some people may have more than one skill that they can bring to the table in any given situation, but a team concept is usually a winning strategy in any professional environment. However it seems the bigger the company, the more dictatorship policies are implemented. Having worked for small businesses to large corporations, I have come to believe that this “management style” is more of a company-instilled preference, than a personal/conscious choice.

Have you ever worked in a place where you prayed for new leadership, only to get it and find out nothing has changed? This is because your employer sought out these personality types for their leadership positions. Do you honestly believe that recruiters, HR Managers and anyone else who has a hand in the final say of a poor hiring decision, was so bad a judge of character, that they couldn’t tell that the person that they chose to lead a team was not a team player themselves?

Speaking strictly from a creative perspective, the development and cultivation of people friendly designs, is to work in a people friendly environment and although you cannot always choose your clients, you can choose your team, even if that means you may seek out a better career fit. 

One day when the budgets cannot be cut any more, and there are no more monetary rewards to give, it is the employers that respect and inspire, that will attract the true talent, allowing them to become tomorrows innovators over today’s corporate giants.

Thank you to TTS Personnel for sharing the INC.com link this morning on Facebook. My mini-rant is complete.

Just before the speech I gave on Social Networking.

On Saturday, October 1, 2011, I had the privilege of speaking at Pratt Institutes 125^th Anniversary Celebration on Social Networking. Having graduated form Pratt nearly (dare I say?) 25 years ago, it was an extreme honor to be asked back.

For those of you who were there, thank you so much for listening. For those of you who were not, below is a copy of the speech that I had delivered:

Good afternoon everyone, I’m Tom Roarty graduate in Graphic Design and Advertising class of 89. Although this is a social networking lecture, I thought I would give you a little background on me and how I was privileged enough to speak in front of you all today.

I was fortunate to I attended Pratt just when the Manhattan campus started to offered computer graphics training. After graduation, I worked for a number of publications doing layouts and past-ups.  Sometime after reaching the Art Director level, I decided it was time for a change. So, I made the move to the much broader world of Advertising.

Agency work allowed me to be more creative off the printed page, which helped me to design for a clients needs, as opposed to the confines of a story, as in my previous positions.  While working for the agency, I absorbed all that I could in regards to various medias, spanning from print to radio and Television.

One day I was in the lobby of my building at a small newsstand, and I saw a magazine called “The Net”. Right on the cover was a story about “How to Make Your Own Website”.  After flipping through the article, I thought it would be cool to give it a try, so I made the $5 investment.

While following the tutorials at my desk, my Creative Director came by and asked what I was working on and I told her I was just playing around with this new thing called a “web page”. This all took place when the web was just blooming mind you. There was not really a lot of design on-line at that time, so anyone who could make a site look half way decent, had the potential of standing out.

After showing her a few samples of things I had learned from the magazine, she asked me if I could build a site for one of our national clients. Two weeks later I was on a plane to Chicago to help present the proposal for the first website I ever designed. My job as the creative token at the meeting, was to listen to what the client wanted, supply some quick sketches of what it would look like on the fly, and promise we could deliver everything. Before our plane even touched back down in NY, the project was green lighted.

The problem now was, how do we deliver what the client wants? At the time there was little reference on advanced web techniques that were not geared towards programmers. I was lucky enough to find a group in Manhattan called the World Wide Web Artist Consortium. They would meet once a month in various locations and talk in a language that, designers could understand.

Looking back, this was my first encounter with Social Networking. Although it wasn’t online, it was a group of people meeting in a social setting to discuss ideas pertaining to their shared interests. Which is basically what Social Networking is today in the digital world.

After leaving the agency, I had a variety of jobs, and a few years ago I was hired as a Multimedia Marketing Manager at a casino. While with this employer I suggested the implementation of a social networking presence. My boss, being a firm believer in technology agreed, but for different reasons than me. His reasoning for entering the social networking arena was, most companies are moving towards that direction, and our competitors did not have a social networking presence. So we should be the first. Both were valid reasons but when I asked the question “What kind of content was you thinking of posting”? He did not have an answer.

I guess that is the same dilemma for most companies, or even individuals when starting a new social media presence.  My thought on the medium, is that it is a means of free promotion through the exchanging of common interests, very much like the World Wide Web Artist Consortium meeting I had attended in years past. The experience would become the model for which I would base all my social networking projects.

The idea was to make social networking exactly that, social. Trying to force content in any aspect of a social setting eventually becomes a turnoff. People will tend to follow their friends and give them a little leeway while they search for their online identity, but those same people are not so tolerable when it comes to companies doing the same thing. For most, sites like face book and twitter are an escape, during which time participants do not want to be burdened by “The Hard Sell”, which is a pitfall many businesses face.

The next question for my boss was, “what do we want to gain from our social networking efforts”? The answer to this was immediate–­ “followers”! So of course the next question became, “For what reason”? This time the answer was not so apparent, and we found ourselves back at the default answer of, because our competitors do not have a presence yet.

My line of questioning was not to try and prove or disprove the success of social media, but to get an idea of the direction senior management would want to take in their approach in building our social media efforts. So, with no guidance, at the time when there was not a lot of data on successful social media tactics, I decided the following. We will pursue loyal visitors through their interests and act as a compliment to their online experience, as opposed to a stand-alone advertiser.

Our rules for making this happen were as follows.
We do not post anything unless it can inspire conversation.
We reward our loyal followers with items that THEY are interested in
We monitor our sites throughout the day and interact with our followers whenever possible
We do NOT censor our followers (unless they use foul language or abuse other members)

By following these rules, we formed relationships with our “Friends” which lead to more followers and a larger captive audience, whom looked forward to our posts. Even when negative comments were directed towards the business, it gave us a chance in an open forum to defuse a possible negative situation, which we may not have been aware of if the medium was not available to us. In instances where we posted content that was not generating a lot of buzz, we would drop it, and move on to a new one, rather than force a subject that was not accepted by the masses.

We successfully cultivated both Facebook and Twitter accounts. I measured our success not so much by the number of followers we had, but by the interactions we had with them. Which helped in many cases with the direction of valued business decisions such as the types of contests people liked best, concert preferences, and daily specials. In essence, our social networking sites became a 24 hour focus group covering every aspect of our operations.

What many books will not tell you is that although once you are friended by a fan of your brand, you basically have a captive audience, most people friend businesses out of consideration and their loyalty to a companies offline presence. A business social media endeavor is usually an untrusted element mixed amongst personal thoughts, photos and ideas.  It is my belief that in order to truly succeed as a business through social media, you must take the time to interact and show not only a commercial value but a personal value as well.

As far as my experience with social networking on a personal level, I have found it very useful for my career, not related to my current employer. My last job was found through social networking on LinkedIn. The professional contacts I have made over the past few years through my professional social networking efforts will probably be a large part of what lands me my next job. Because it is not about what you know any more, it is about who you know.

By friending people in your industry, on LinkedIn and Twitter, you potentially have access to valuable time through their news feeds. I have also found that Blogging, will keep you on a potential employers radar, while keeping them updated on your skills. It is sometimes not easy to take the time out of you’re day to update your life online through various sites, but it is the people who do that will have a competitive edge on the open job market.

With all that said, weather you are using social networking for commercial or private use, it all leads to this­– human interaction. The more emotion and personalization you can bring to your posts, the more success you will have. I do not believe that social networking and social marketing has come close to reaching its full potential, but I do know that even when it does, it will never replace a social setting such as this.

Experts say it could be years before we recover financially as a country, if at all, but for those who take a step back from the chaos, some things are getting better. There is not an endless supply of jobs for creative’s these days, but there never really were.  As creative’s, we work in a in a very subjective field, so maybe that has something to do with the struggles we face when looking for new positions. It could also have something to do with, in an effort to save money, companies have been consolidating job titles, thus eliminating Account Exec’s Designers and Programmers and making them one all encompassing position. Or, it could be that the line between being creative in ones job search is being blurred with complete unprofessionalism.

The other day I asked my friends and colleagues on LinkedIn “if you apply for a position, and if a few weeks later that same position is reposted, should you apply for it again”? I asked the question because I was always taught over the years that if your work is fit for a position that you apply for, you have a shot at getting at the very least an interview. The last thing that you want to be is a nuisance to a hiring manager, which could be able to help you in the future if they are unable to help you now. So, is sending multiple submissions for the same job a good idea? I do realize however, that since there are a whole lot of people out of work, you do have to do what you can to get your name noticed in a non-intrusive way if you want to be seen, but where is the line?

I have read all the articles I could find about what seems to have worked for job seeking designers in the past and what “solutions” really translate to pitfalls. For those who look, there is an overwhelming amount of information available. Although there are things that work when looking for a new job, chances are the majority of your competition is using the same tactics, thus leaving you in what one might call a “good pile” of resumes, but it is still a pile. In order to stand out, risks have to be taken, and as with any risk, comes the possibility of disaster.

The general consensus in regards to my question was, if you apply for a position, and if a few weeks that same position is reposted, you SHOULD apply for it again. Reason being, resumes get lost in the shuffle, maybe more details were giving by the hiring manager or maybe the first 50 resumes that came in, did not match what the employer was looking for.  I believe the key is to follow up in a creative way. Social networking makes this easier than ever. If used in a professional manner, employers can get a good idea of your skill set, ability to communicate and personality through even the simplest posts.

I have a twitter account, a LinkedIn account and a “personal” facebook account. These tools have been an incredible asset to me in regards to finding the right people during a job search. However, when using social networking to… um… well network, it is important to treat a new relationship as exactly that. A relationship.  No one wants to become your friend, if all you want to do is ask him or her, “What can you do for me”.  No relationship is going to last for very long with that attitude. You have to be able to offer something to your new friend in order to make them “want” to help you. Show an interest in what they are doing, we are after all made up of the same interests, just on different levels. Offer help if you want help in return. Try to be engaging and entertaining. We’re all busy during the day, but if by chance we have an opportunity to sneak on a social networking site when no one is looking, we do so with the intent that it is an escape to break the day up a little. We do not put comments out there to listen to the sounds of tapping on our own keyboards. We all love to get feedback, so why not give some?

I think I am particularly interested in the social side of social networking today, because I feel as if I am really getting the hang of using it in a professional way that is finally starting to pay off for me. With that said, I cannot say the same for all people.  Just yesterday I had a semi-quick conversation with a person who I did not know through my work email. I believe this person found me on LinkedIn, a site that I love to visit for a variety of reasons, but it is also a place where my work email is NOT listed. I have reached out to people who I do not know on LinkedIn myself to expand my professional network. I learn a lot from the people I follow, and I am always respectful to them. I believe that if someone grants you access into his or her personal and/ or professional world, it is a privilege, not a right. However, I did not receive the same courtesy from this person. Although I have removed their email address and last name, I am posting our correspondence below to give you all an idea of what NOT to do when reaching out to a new friend.

————————————————————————————————————

Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 11:29 AM
Subject: JOB

Tom

i recently saw an ad for a Director role at pfizer madison nj. do you know who this person would report to?

i’d like to make contact directly with a hiring manager. thank you.

————————————————————————————————————

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 11:42 AM, Roarty, Tom

Hi Kevin,

I am not aware of any such position at this location. Where did you see the posting?

Tom Roarty

————————————————————————————————————

Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: JOB

it’s true in addition to a package design spot. isn’t there anyone else in creative solutions other than yourself i can contact?

————————————————————————————————————

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 11:46 AM, Roarty, Tom

Hi Kevin,

Where did you get my contact information from?

Tom Roarty

————————————————————————————————————

Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: JOB

when you help me, i will be happy to let you know.

————————————————————————————————————

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 11:49 AM, Roarty, Tom

I am not sure I can help you. If you saw a posting for a job at Pfizer Madison, I think you should apply through the posting to get your resume in the right hands. I can tell you that at this time our department is not hiring, but best of luck in your job search.

Tom Roarty

————————————————————————————————————

That was exactly how the conversation went down, spelling/ grammar mistakes and all. I am not even in an HR position and this annoyed me. I don’t know how you guys do it on a daily basis. I think what may have annoyed me the most was not the fact that this guy didn’t care enough to check what he was sending me, but the fact that after his incoherent ramblings, he didn’t even have the courtesy to say thank you for the information.

Again, it is true that it is not easy finding a job these days, but this is what you are going against people! If you have the opportunity to get the ear of someone willing to help you, have pride in what you are sending them, and be thankful for their time. I am sure it is interactions such as this one that makes hiring managers cringe at the idea of 1,000+ candidates for one position. As one creative to another, please for the sake of all our futures, use courtesy and common sense when representing our industry. Otherwise, were all going to suffer.

I strongly believe that with each experience comes a new set of skills, weather it be coping with people, situations or things of a technical nature.

As of a few weeks back, I have been in the midst of a whirlwind of change. After making a commitment to becoming a more valuable designer in my mind, I packed up and left Pennsylvania after almost a dozen years in that state to come back to NJ, in a strategic effort to someday return to New York City. As a designer, our worth is measured by how WE view our accomplishments. Although I feel my past employer did not fully utilize my talents, mainly because they didn’t know how, they had helped me to expand in other areas over the years.

The truth of the matter is, I never really planned on staying with my last employer, and I knew that full well going in. I had just gone through some major life changing events, the employer I was at previously, did a great job of promising the world to increase productivity, but delivered nothing in return. I just knew it was time to leave there.  The plan was to move back to New York, an environment which I was much more familiar and comfortable with. On the suggestion of a friend, I inquired about what I thought was going to be a temporary position (temporary in my mind), and wound up staying in PA for another three-plus year tour.

After giving the position a chance, I remember coming in every day and being grateful for that job.  Every time I saw my Vice President, whom I reported to directly, I thanked him for the opportunity he had given me. However, like every perfect situation, it changed. About 6 months after being hired, the industry fell on hard times and as a result, sacrifices had to be made. In an effort to keep as may employees as possible safe from layoffs, salaries were cut, bonuses and 401K’s were lost and the hours just seemed to get longer by the day. There always seemed to be an uneasy feeling as if every day could be our last, which would affect everyone’s work over time.

It wasn’t long after this transition that my Vice President had left and the organization and attention to detail once expected from our department, had gone with him. His replacement was an awakening to how things can go from bad to worse with very little effort (I promise to do a blog on sexual harassment at the senior level soon)! After that circus, we had quite a long stretch and eventually wound up with a more suitable Vice President from a personality standpoint, who just had a hard time grasping the concept of what we were trying to do and did not have the vision to steer us in a different direction, leaving us in virtual limbo. For those of you keeping count, we went through three Vice Presidents in three years, and that is not a sign of a stable environment.

Because most of the people were so great there, it dulled the blunt of our sacrifices. As time went on though, the necessity of personal economic stability became very evident. It was getting impossible to maintain the cost of a house, child support and the debt I racked up trying not to fall behind on bills. We all waited for times to get better and it was a long while before they did. It was literally years before our salaries were returned to what we were hired at, but the days of bonuses and retirement packages were long gone. For me, by the time I was making what I was hired at again, three years had passed and I was already in too much debt to recover.

I think the thing that bothered me most about the situation, wasn’t that we had to sacrifice to keep our jobs, but rather when the business started to do good again, EVERYONE had gotten a “raise”. Even those people that did not take a pay cut. For those of us who did take a cut, it took two raises to get us back to even. For everyone else, they were actually making more. It had become an issue of major unfairness, but the company and all of its employees knew that alternate jobs were few and far between in the area, making the advantage all theirs. There was also the thought that even though our business was getting back on track, our parent company was struggling and because of that we all feared that our jobs would be sacrificed to save theirs.  It was the combination of all of these events, which made me decide it was time to move on.

It is strange, when I was in my 20’s I would never have a problem just picking up and changing jobs. I feel I was way more adventurous back than, and it was that free spirit that really helped to get me the talent and knowledge I have today. I strongly believe that with each experience comes a new set of skills, weather it be coping with people, situations or things of a technical nature. This recent move felt far more risky. I am not sure if it is because I have had a position where I stayed for an extended period of time, or if age is just catching up finally, but I feel as if I still have a lot to offer and with the recent move, I am eager to start working at a high level again in a structured environment. Is this my last stop? Probably not, but the important thing is to make the best of this situation while I am here. I am less than 50 miles from my desired geographical goal. I have the skills and ambition to work in the pinnacle of the design world and I will make it back there again, but for right now, I am dedicated to here. New York will still be there and when its time for me to start working over the river, I will come baring even more experience…

No matter what you do to leave your mark on a previous experience, usually the negative impacts fade leaving you in anonymity. Where as positive actions become adapted by those who follow you and solidify your place amongst the pioneers who set the standards of excellence within an organization.

While working as a staff designer at a pretty high profile company, I was introduced to a woman who wanted nothing more than to be a creative. She was very pleasant, eager to learn and was with the company for a much longer time than I was. Because of her previous position in the HR Department of that company, she and I had dealt with each other on many occasions and we got along very well. After being in my position for about a year and a half I heard that Kay’s position was being phased out. At the time, my department was blowing up and I had been asking for help for months at that point. It seemed as if the stars had aligned… finally!

Kay was hired into a position that would have both myself, and another manager as her supervisors. Since she did not get along with the other manager (that’s a story for another day…), I got to spend the majority of time with her. Although Kay had basic design skills, I taught her more advanced Photoshop and animation techniques using After Effects. She learned very quickly and it did not take long for her to start seeing her work out around the property.

Things couldn’t have been much better at the time. We were two people getting the work of sixteen (literally 16 people had done our same exact job at our parent company) done, and it was looking really good! Than, as one would expect, the manager who I was suppose to split Kay with became upset that her relationship was not as strong as the bond Kay and I had. On a side note, I view any of my co-workers as an extension of my family, because I am usually with them for more time than I am with my family. However, I did understand the other managers concern and started to limit my time with Kay.

It didn’t take long for Kay and the other manager to start clashing as they had in the past and things started to get tense for everyone. Instead of talking about the trafficking of upcoming projects and design ideas, we were usually talking about the latest battle Kay was involved in. It became a distraction quickly and helping to maintain the peace became a full time job in itself! One of the biggest problems a manager can face in any business is balancing kindness and discipline. Kay’s work started to become affected by her conflicts with her other manager and when I tried to help her get back on track, she took at as an insult.

After a few months of this shaky relationship, Kay and I had a talk about her future with the company. My suggestion was that if she wasn’t happy she should find another position, and although I wanted her to stay on as a designer, I did not want to do so at the expense of her happiness (or mine for that matter). I explained that I would help her with her portfolio and resume and that I would coach her in getting a new design position if that is what she wanted. All I asked for in return was that she tried her hardest until she left to keep peace and maintain the quality of work she delivered before the conflict with her and the other manager started.

Kay agreed to get back on the professional track that got her to where she was, but something just didn’t seem right. Every night after work we would develop her portfolio and resume, all while still honing her skills in design and development software’s to make her skills more valuable.

It wasn’t long before Kay had started getting interviews and she was definitely ready for them! Between her former HR experience and newly developed design skills, it seemed as if she was on the fast track to leaving. After getting the offer she wanted from an outside company and giving her 2 weeks notice, Kay became a little full of herself. The job that got her where she wanted to be was suddenly way beneath her, and she made it known.

With about a week left before her exiting, she was fully checked out and things were piling up. The mood became tense within the department and everyday seemed to bring a new argument. I pride myself on being a problem solver, but this had become a situation where conflict was thriving. After hearing Kay make a few comments as to “how she would like to see the company crumble when she left”, I knew it was time to go to my Vice President and bring him up to speed on the situation. He called Kay in and had a talk with her, and than reassured me that she would be fine and that we are once again all on the same page. Still not feeling comfortable, I asked if we could back up all of her work, an idea that was shot down because of lack of time resources.

Kay stayed away from most of her co-workers and her final week seemed to go by fairly quickly. On her last day we had a going away party for her, which had a less than stellar turn out because of the bridges she had burnt in previous weeks. With all of our recent differences aside, I was happy she found a place to start over and wished her well. Upon her departure, a stress that had been built up over the previous months had left with her.

Going into work that Monday felt great! Sure there was going to be a lot of extra work, but it was worth the struggle until we hired a replacement. The day was going fairly smoothly until I was asked for a file that Kay had worked on. It was at that time that I realized that I could not remote into her computer, a task I was always able to complete in the past. I went over to where she used to sit to investigate the situation, and found that her computer was off. Quick fix right? Well, not exactly. The computer wouldn’t start up. So I called our IT department and asked if they could take a look at it.

It wasn’t long before they realized that the machine and all of her recent files were destroyed. They determined that an object, such as a pencil or pen might have been jammed into the fan area causing it to fail, thus melting down the machine. The one thing I was most worried about had come true!

It took weeks of coming in at 9:00am and leaving at 11:30pm to recreate all that she had destroyed, all because we couldn’t spare the few hours to back up her work. No one had seen or heard from her, but that was probably a good thing since the inconvenience of her actions had affected MANY people within the company. After a lot of hours (thankfully for the company I was salary), we were back on track and up to speed again. In time the anger and memory faded and the experience appeared to finally be over.

In the months to follow we did get some much needed help in the form of one of the most talented women I have ever had the pleasure of working with. While setting up her computer, we ran into yet another problem directly related to our former problem employee. All the graphics software was missing, which was last seen on Kay’s desk. For those of you who have not worked in a corporate environment in the past, getting the money to replace software can be difficult, but it is usually nothing compared to the wait it takes to get the software approved by a committee and installed by IT.

In the end, the computer and software was replaced, and the work was recreated. The issues that had spawn from that one individual’s actions was undoubtedly a major inconvenience from a personal and professional perspective, but I guess that leads to the moral of the story which is, everyone is replaceable over time.

Being a good manager is a lot like learning a new magic trick. In the beginning it looks complex, but after breaking it down it's usually pretty simple.

Since I have had a lot of time recently to reflect on important things, I find my mind racing through a plethora of topics. For some reason, this morning’s topic was seniority. Kind of a weird topic to have enter your thoughts while in the shower, but there it was none the less. I am currently in a position of upper management and I have been for quite a few years. I have come to learn that my interactions with direct reports are quite different from other managers I have come across.

I believe that most senior level creative’s are there because of luck. It is true no one is handing out elaborate design ideas at the entrance of every interview which you can claim as your own, but art is so subjective, how is one person able to stand out from the next and be placed in charge? We are all talented in our own way so one could argue design style, education and skill set, but at the management level, it is how we interact with people that make us stand out. Case and point, I have a co-worker who I hired as an intern a while back. Because of the workload and nature of our business, this intern would not be a time wasting, filing, lunch order pick-up person. Instead, she would be a designer, copy writer and animator. Because of her major, she was able to jump right in and after only a few weeks of training she knew her job, very well!

Eventually I got the green light to hire this woman and both of our work has excelled because of it. Here is where the twist comes in. Because of an accident, I had to take some time off from work, and in that time, my co-worker stepped in for me. Not only by filling design requests, but also by attending meetings, trafficking projects and planning future promotions. For both the company and myself, she had proved what an asset she had become in a very short time.

It was this incident which made me realize that my management skills are much different from those managers around me. You see, around a year ago another manager in the same company had to take a short leave of absence. While she was gone, her department almost crumbled due to the fact that her staff was not educated in what it took to run her sector. Most of the employees only knew what their role was at the company and not what the department’s responsibility was and how it had to operate in order to achieve its goals. When the dust settled, and the department head returned, things went back to normal, but what if it happened again? Would her staff be prepared for it?

After recently having a rather lengthy talk to this woman about this particular issue, the answer is no, her staff would not be prepared if she had left again. The reason? Job security. I can assure you this is not the only person that thinks this. Over the years I have met many managers that refuse to teach their employees skills relevant to their jobs because they believe it makes them (the managers) more valuable to the company. But does it really? I believe that you are valued by those people you affect during the day. If you can build a strong team all will benefit. What are the keys to building a strong team? Simply put education, responsibility and respect.

I understand training someone to be able to fill your shoes is a scary though, especially in this economy. However, if your company plans on replacing you, they are going to do it regardless of whether you have trained your replacement or not. By building a staff that is capable of doing the majority of your job, you’re developing a pool in which both you and your company could draw from. Not to mention, you’re also inspiring designers to work harder towards their goals.

In finishing up the conversation with this other manager, the one issue she could not get passed was, if you train your subordinates to know everything you know, what is to keep them fro taking over your job? The answer is nothing. I can say with confidence that my employees can take over my position and do a great job at it. If we all had to get interviewed again today, the only thing that separates them and I, is timing (and experience). I was there at the right time to get my managers position, and luckily, I was the type of manager that taught them what they needed to know in order for them to get their senior level position when the opportunity presents itself.

It is my opinion that just saying you’re a team doesn’t make you one. In order to be successful, a team helps all of those on it to be the best that they can. This is how greatness is achieved.

If a koala bear could be a professional designer, even he would take a beating from time to time.

It is not a new concept but it is definitely becoming a new trend, designers getting ripped off. It seems as if lately more than ever for some reason, clients searching for new media work, goes into a project knowing they do not have any intention of paying for it.

I am quite sure there isn’t an established freelancer out there who hasn’t been ripped off at some point in their career. That first slam to the ego (and bank account) makes us stronger. It forces us to become real professionals. After such an incident we tend to take a hiatus from designing until we build the strongest contracts we can, before climbing back up on that proverbial horse again! Sure it gives us comfort to know we are protected, but are we really and at what cost?

I have been a professional freelancer for over 15 years now and I have worked on a huge variety of clients in that time. I have contracts modeled after those implemented by fortune 100 companies. To say they are good would be an understatement! However, even with such an agreement, there are still no guarantees. I have recently experienced (again), how some people find a way to ruin it for the masses.

I was recently contacted by a company that needed web design work done. Since it was close to the holidays I figured it would be a good idea and submitted a proposal for the gig. After submitting my proposal, the client agreed to the price and started gathering her information. Two weeks go by and I contact the client to see if there was something that was holding up the content that I could assist with.

It was at that time she told me that she was very nervous about our working relationship because she was just burned by another designer recently. Honestly, these people tend to be my best clients over time, because I do deliver on time and within budget, always! To put her at ease, I proposed to her that I design her 2 homepage designs, if she liked them, we continue. If not, we go our separate ways and there would be no hard feelings. This put her at ease and she sent over some more details and asked for a revised contract.

After reviewing the new site details, I submitted a new contract to her and two days later she sent me an email asking me to resubmit a bill with a lower price. I can assure you that I am not expensive. If anything, I am a little low for the experience and abilities I can bring to the table, so this was kind of an insult, but I figured this would be a long lasting relationship and I would make my money back over time. Plus since this woman was uneducated in the new media field and seemed sincere, I agreed to modify my proposal. I worked up a new contract and sent it over to her. The next day she sent me what she wanted to pay for the site, which trimmed an additional $75 off the price. Are you kidding me? You’re going to negotiate $75 off an e-commerce site? That should have been red flag #1, but I wasn’t busy, so I agreed and sent her a contract, with her desired price.

A secret about me is I hate to fall behind on anything I do, and one way I avoid it is by jumping ahead. I designed the two homepage ideas and had approval on them the same day I sent the client the contract. Did I forget to mention that we had a 1 week deadline? So, homepage approved and 13 sub-pages to go before I started working on the 20 plus ecommerce pages. I felt good about the job again, and over the next few days, I started hammering out the sub-pages. Within 4 days, all but the ecommerce section was complete. That is mainly because I did not know what shopping cart solution they wanted to use, or I would have been even further. However, I still had no contract or deposit from the client yet.

Concerned I called her and she asked the progress of the site and I told her all was going well, but that I had not received the signed agreement or deposit at that point. She assured me it was sent and asked to see the work that was preformed to date, which was currently posted on my server. I gave her access to the site and she started to review it. The next day she asked for a slew of changes including 2 animations on the homepage, video editing and a request to recreate a logo that she supplied me with. She wanted it in vector format so she could use it on other materials and keep it consistent with her site. It was at that point I had to tell her that the agreement states EXACTLY what she gets for her money and her requests would be considered outside of the project scope and would incur additional charges.

This did not go over well and I could tell by the tone in her voice that she was going to try and pull one over on me. Again, once you go through that, you never forget what it is like. You can start to see the signs clearer than ever and they were all blaring in her mannerisms. As a precautionary matter, I told her I would rather not continue on the site until I received the agreed upon down payment, which I had not yet received. She insisted it was sent but I stuck to my guns and said as soon as I received the materials, I would continue with the project. A week went by and who would have guessed it? No contract, no deposit. It was time to take the site down completely.

After not hearing from this woman for a week, I received a call the very next day asking where her site went. I explained that since she had not paid for the site, it was not hers. I went on to explain that, once I was paid for the site I would upload it to her server and she can do with it what she pleased. It has now been nearly a month since that encounter and no word from that “client”. If nothing else it nailed home the fact that as a freelancer you can trust no one, no matter how much you may want to.

For me, this was an important lesson relearned. Is it easy to admit a professional beat down? Not really, but it is important to make future freelancers realize hurdles they will face in their career. My advice is, make sure you have a good contract and you get it signed along with a down payment in your hand, before you show your potential client anything. It’s ok to get a jump start on a project, just realize it is a gamble in which you could lose your time, but meeting or beating a deadline is a major key to a successful working relationship. Not all clients are like this, but it seems like the more freelancers I talk to these days, the more stories I am coming across like this. I can say that although it is a sour situation, I’m in some good company! What is it that makes people think they can ask for a service and not pay for it?

The creative field is VERY subjective. All professional designers, wirters, developers, directors, etc have all been trained to not only do their job, but to also be judged for their work.

It may sound harsh, but we as a people have become weak to the point where we are destroying our own foundations. I cannot say I miss the days of brutal truths that were carelessly used in an effort to make clear ones intentions, but at least the intentions were clear. It appears as if we exist to follow false hope and it shakes the foundations of those who guide us, our leaders and our own ideology when we turn on them without remorse. What causes this feeling of gut wrenching anger? The self-guided necessity to conform to what we believe is the right thing to do, compared to doing the actual right thing because it may hurt some ones feelings.

Feelings exist for one reason, to feel. To allow us to know how to act in the face of joy, pain, anger, sadness and rejection. We are designed to comprehend and grow from these psychological states. Being protected from them dilutes the natural order of the process and is not a benefit to anyone. Just because we banned racist remarks does not mean that we have eliminated racism. Nore does the existance of sexual harassment laws stop one from thinking impure thoughts while at work, in class or on the town. Just because we do not verbally make fun of someones beliefs, does not mean that we arent doing so mentally. We are all guilty of subconsically acting inappropriate, some of us more than others, but why do we protect the feelings of a starnger, which will only lead to a more damaging conclusion down the road?

I am not suggesting we start to verbally and physically abuse each other. Being a product of abuse in my younger years, I would never wish that on anyone. I am however requesting that those with the power to control our destinies realize that we are still strong before we no longer have the will to be. Where does this rant come from? Like many of you, I too have struggled with the professional path I have chose at times. The one thing I know for sure is that, I love being creative and because of that I will do whatever is necessary to challenge myself and grow in my profession. Sometimes we fail to meet our goals in the time we allow ourselves to do so. In some cases it is not that we had a lack of ambition, but it is more of a reflection of the fact that we have been beaten down into submission. What can rectify this plague that has poluted so many of us that try reach a goals, which seems further with every passing day? Professionalism under the guides of truth.

The creative field is VERY subjective. All professional designers, wirters, developers, directors, etc have all been trained to not only do their job, but to also be judged for their work. None of us expect to have a 100% success rate at pleasing the masses, because we know it is impossible. We do the best we can and hope. It is the same for all of us, and although we may not like the idea that a client does not appreciate our efforts, we understand and try to reach that goal. It is what we do as professionals. There is not one of us that couldn’t handle rejection in such a subjective field, and if there is one of those amongst us, it is time for them to consider changing professions. My issue lyes with those who mislead something as pure as the creative process in a way which does not benefit anyone. I do not mind driving 3 hours to meet with a potential new client, it is sometinmes our sacrafices that show our commitment. In this day and age my abilities are available anywhere there is an internet connection. When you call me, you already know what my potential is. After we meet there still the lingering possibility we will not be the right fit for one another, and again that is fine. There are so many dynamics to a professional relationship, gurantees are mathamaticall impossible. The best way to cut to the core of someones hopes though, is to promise them a shot while smiling and shaking their hand, without the intention of ever doing so.

This is not the first time that this has happened and I am sure it will not be the last. I know I am not the only one who has faced such situations and I am aware that there are far worse situations some of you may have faced. One thing we could all agree upon though is that shallow promises and false hopes are crippeling our ambitions, hopes and our people. My rant is complete.