Saturday, February 26, 2011

Wk 4 Project

What a week. My only free time this week will begin as soon as I publish this blog! I had started creating my presentation using the Quantel editing software we use at work. I wanted to be able to utilize a software I was very familiar with and that could do more than Keynote could. But then I found out we needed to use Keynote or Power Point so I had to quickly redo everything!

I finished that and got my wonderful critical friends to spend their time being presented to.

My only concern going forward is that most of these business conferences charge a lot of money to attend as a presenter. I'm talk a grand or more. I don't have that kind of money so we will see how this goes as next month's class starts.

THE LAST CLASS!

Wk 4 Publishing Leadership Project

I plan on trying to attend a regional conference/expo here in Connecticut. There are a lot of media and insurance companies here in CT so this could work.

My second option is something from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) as so helpfully pointed out by Jacqueline.


http://ctbexpo.com/index.php

http://www.astd.org/content/conferences/


https://files.me.com/antosb/8c5sy4.key.zip


My only concern with these things is that there are steep, steep prices to attend. I don't have a thousand dollars to spare for something like this. It concerns me going forward.

Wk4 Wimba (Presentation Feedback)

I was not able to attend any Wimba session due to work, so here is my blog post about it. Firstly, here is a link to my Keynote presentation:

https://files.me.com/antosb/8c5sy4.key.zip

Secondly, here is the feedback Erin and Evelyn gave me:

Evelyn: My main suggestion to Bryan was introducing himself more at the start of the presentation. I think it’s good to learn a little history about someone first. Bryan sent me changes the next day and I like what he added!

Erin: The first thing I noticed with presentation was the color scheme. I though it had a catchy pastel feel to it. I really liked it. We discussed whether or not they were too simple. I know Bryan as an editor and I know sometimes he prefers things clean and sharp. I suggested maybe adding some of the pictures from his website, but we talked how it might be distracting.

I thought it had a good length and seemed to encapsulate his project very well.


Thank you to my critical friends, all who have helped me throughout this process.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Wk4 Response to Blogs

@ Gregg

That is fantastic that you have found some very apt journals to publish your paper! I am beginning to question my choice of doing a presentation as there seems to be very few places for me to showcase it. On the other hand, there are dozens of business journals out there if I had went the paper route.

Did you look at places to present during any of this? If so, I was just wondering what your search tactics were...



--- and a little patience gets me:


@ Jacqueline

I haven't checked any of the links yet, but you are amazing! I have been having trouble finding places to showcase my presentation, and your blog could possibly be a huge help!

I've never had to represent my company before, so it's a scary notion.

But I will exploring the links in your blog as soon as I get out of work tonight!

Thanks!

Wk4 Reading

I admit I am skeptical person, and a lot of people I know would say I’m hard-headed. While blogging about the book The Art of Possibility, I have questioned a lot of the tactics as they do not always align with my personal theories.

But I really liked the section on “enrollment”. That is something that I think can be helpful in any person’s life, including my own. While I’m not sure about the terminology and associating it with college or a yoga class, I fully support the idea of being excited about things, especially in the workplace. While people may not adopt or agree with your ideas, the concept of offering your excitement, to put it out there, is a wonderful idea.

As the book says, they may not always be receptive, but the possibility is there that they could be receptive. And at what cost to you? Very little. Maybe exposing some passion you have for you job? Big deal. That’s a good thing. And sincerity goes a long way. Maybe they won’t be receptive the first time, but upon seeing numerous, sincere attempts on your part, you could whittle away at any barriers.

In such a busy, stressful time for me, this was a nice closing section to reflect upon.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Wk 4 Present or Publish?

This is an easy choice for me: I am going to present. The reason for this is because I'm a video editor by trade, so I speak visually all the time. While I have been using iMovie all year, I can't stand using it. It's such a clunky piece of editing software. So I am going to create my video on Quantel. It will still be a presentation, but controlling fonts and graphics are so much easier for me in Quantel, and I think it will come out much sharper.

Wk 3 Project

Writing 120 words has never been so hard! I started off with a metaphor, which I thought was helpful in understanding the problem I was addressing. Other than that, I wrote what I thought needed to be in while also trying to keep it short. I came out to 127 words and then had to get creative with deleting unnecessary words. After some tinkering, I ended up with 119 words. Perfect.

Now I'm off to worry about my assignment for the next week...

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wk 3 Wimba

After reading and responding to Gregg, I guess I just want to ponder about why most other people seemed to have gotten a lot out of The Art of Possibility.

Maybe I'm just skeptical, hard-headed, or too much of a realist, but remote possibilities don't interest me that much. Sure, it's possible i could become CEO of the company, but I would be better off with my self-imposed limitations and working on achieving more realistic goals.

I don't even like the question "Where do you see yourself in 5 years". I've never answered that questioned when asked. And that's because there has never been a point in my life where if I looked back 5 years, I saw myself where I was. So what's the point of even thinking about it?

So that's what i got out of Wimba (besides freaking about signing up for a presentation or something!). I was curious to see such across-the-board positive responses about the book.

I really hope I can attend the next session but there's only like a 1% chance.

Wk 3 Responses to Blogs

@ Pamela

I agree, Prezi was a very cool discovery. While I love structured, straight-to-the-facts bullet-points, Prezi was visually cool.

I think it's awesome you already have an idea where you want to present. I'm super scared about mine since I'm not really a face of my company and I like it that way (I turn down offers to be on TV for bit parts all the time).

While I was a Toastmaster in high school and have no problem speaking in public, I was always just representing myself...


@ Gregg

For some reason, I really want a Crystal Pepsi right now... Haha, right now... Also, you should have asked me to take a picture of my Back to the Future skateboard! I even used in some embarrassing assignment earlier!

I understand thinking you have a choice, but how much freedom do you really have there? I know at work, I don't have a lot, and from what my girlfriend tells me, it's hard for her to implement a lot of things because of a stubborn principal or whatever.

The Art of Possibility didn't seem particularly grounded in reality. I am a "just the facts" person, but recognizing limitations and working within those is a more common practice for me. We send out ideas every single day: show ideas, guest ideas, topic ideas, editing ideas, etc... and it's up to people above to choose to produce it or not.

I have no doubts that you're an awesome teacher, I've seen examples of it all year (it's been a year!). But I know I would continually be disappointed if I kept thinking I had a choice or trying to see what's possible yet rarely be able to execute that idea.

But again, I'm not an optimist, I'm more of a realist because I function better that way. I guess it's just easier to accept something and find the little wiggle room rather than pump myself up for a big letdown.

Man this long. Will probably make this my Wimba post as most of the class seemed to have gotten a lot from the book while I was very wary...

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Wk 3 Art of Possibility Chapters 5-8

I started out as a PA at my company and then switched over to the edit side, the Yin to production’s Yang. So I loved the first chapter which seemed to be a lot about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes or using your knowledge to help someone else. I was one of the first PAs to ever make that switch and in just my first year as an editor, I was cutting the Super Bowl. That happened because we have intense, pressure-filled deadlines and if I’m editing with production in mind, it makes the whole process easier for everyone. I know what they want and I know what things slow them down.

However, “remembering rule #6” would not be a very useful mantra where I work. A major problem (especially for people coming in from another company) is the amount of intense hostility and shortness at times. You can’t just remember to not take yourself so seriously, you have 60 seconds to know whether or not you have video coming up. You can’t be relaxed. You have to be short, curt, and effective. Facts only. The difference here is that after that incident is over (or more likely: the show is over) you talk with the people involved and tell them no hard feelings. A good producer will work to rebuild after an ugly incident. But most people understand that it’s very serious, and the information has to be transparent and related quickly. Joke after the show, not during.

Not everybody can perform under pressure like that, and it weeds people out. I think that pressure is a good thing most of the time. You are working on instinct and it’s amazing what you can get done in a short amount of time. Now, I’m not like this in every facet of my life, but I am at work, and I am proud of that.

I will say, I did like the story about the two business partners…

The parts about nothing really being good or bad was very intriguing to me. I would say I’m an environmentalist, but when you think about it, what does that really mean? It’s really out of human selfishness. The same with NOT being an environmentalist. When you think about it, millions of species have become extinct. It’s the way of the planet. Greenhouse effects have heated the planet before. It’s the way of the planet. Is it bad for the planet if water levels rise? Not really. It’s bad for humans who have settled near those waters. I’m not advocating one thing or another, I’m just pointing out what book tries to: that good an evil are a human invention.

If anyone reading this hasn’t done so, I highly suggest listening to Bach’s Suite No.2 in D Minor as Chapter 8 talks about. It really is a beautiful piece of music. I suggest listening to Mischa Maisky’s version!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Wk 2 Free Post

While a free post, I'm still going to talk about my AR site. It's been a pain for the most part! Why did I choose a black background with white writing? Everything I copy and paste in is black so I have to change the color!

It's been a struggle getting audio files from my critical friends. I was told I could just copy and paste emails, but I want people to hear their voice, and I want to take advantage of the technology.

Anybody have any suggestions of a way to sweeten the pot? Maybe bake them cookies or something? Ha!

As nervous as I was last week, I like seeing the AR site coming together. I'm going to try and get ahead a bit and do the reading for next week today, while I have the time.

The roof in our apartment keeps leaking from all the snow, so I might find myself on a roof pushing snow off... Perhaps that's why I decided to do the reading for next week today!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Wk 2 Comments on Blogs

@Jonnika

I like how you are able to pick and choose what you found useful. I'm glad to see what you got out of it and what theories you were resistant to.

You say that no one gets an A because they should always be striving for more, but then you also say the grades are forgotten and we judge people on their ability to apply the knowledge (which I love). So what is the harm in giving that A?

Interesting read. Thanks for sharing!


@ Scott

Although I had problems with the concept of writing a letter from the future to your professor to explain why you deserve an A, I like what you did with it. Or maybe I just like that you spent hours talking with someone about their problems.

While I have trouble accepting and implementing a lot of what is in Zander's book, it's good to see other people taking it to heart.

Thanks!

Wk 2 Wimba Blog Post

It's always fun to hear about Disney and copyrights!

Maybe it's because after writing my previous blog about how I know I'm not the person I could be at the moment, but I really liked the story about getting permission to use a Black Eyed Peas. It's nice to hear that stuff.

The lucky thing for me regarding copyrights in my training is that my company has tremendous access to materials. NFL, NHL, NBA, etc... This makes my job a lot easier. We have restrictions (especially with NBC) so we do a lot of training on that kind of stuff. But we don't get into fair use, etc...

Thanks to all those who attended!

Wk 2 Blog post: Art of Possibility 1-4

Reading the first chapter reminded me a lot of playing Mindtrap with my friends in middle school. It would pose questions like these:

Picture a bridge four kilometers long and strong enough to hold ten thousand kilograms, but no more. A loaded transport truck weighing exactly ten thousand kilograms drives onto the bridge. At the halfway point, a sparrow weighing 30 grams lands on the truck, yet the bridge doesn't collapse. How could this be?

The answer is:


The truck will have used up 30 grams of gasoline by the time it reached the halfway point.

Playing these games for hours upon end has helped me with lateral thinking and questioning what is presented in front you. But the sad thing about society is that from the moment you enter school, you are trained to be part of the group; to follow rules and not question. It continues into professional career as well. People rarely react negatively to conservatism and status quo, but present a radical idea and you suddenly have a lot of attention on yourself.

I don’t get why fierce competition is a terrible thing for musicians but the author is delighted some student had his heart broken. Both instances, losing a competition or a girlfriend, can be sources of creativity. Should the musician take up heavy drinking so he can use that experience in his music? Or kill a man in Reno, just to watch him die? I don’t see the causation of either. There’s a great Mr. Show sketch that has parents depriving their kid of affection as a baby so he would have confused feelings about love and grow up to be a famous playwright. Here’s the clip:

http://www.ifc.com/videos/mr-show-205-brightcove.php

I liked the idea of contribution. The problem with that – for me – is I know I cannot be that type of person when my own personal schedule is jam-packed. The author specifically mentioned this exact thing and how he went to speak to the old people anyway. I know that going to Full Sail has robbed me of some of generosity in the world. I’m a worse boyfriend. A worse friend. Worse at work. I’m just much more busy and stressed out. I know my limitations. But I did like the idea of this…

Friday, February 4, 2011

wk1 prroject post (free choice)

Just finished my taxes. About to edit my Lit Review for the last time. It will be nice having these things out of the way. Good 1st week of a new class at school. Worrying about what's ahead but just have put my head down down and get through it all.

Cooked some homemade ginger ale and am about to drink some. A little bit of vodka might find its way into the glass...

Football is almost over and then work turns into a college basketball love fest. Good thing a lot of networks are HD because I'm a huge HD snob thanks to editing.

Week 2 here I come...

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

wk1 Wimba

I did not need that Wimba session! Or maybe I needed it, a lot. But I got really stressed after hearing all about the AR project stuff and the Lit Review and everything else that is going to be due very soon!

So I was nice and relaxed and now I'm freaking out.

But a kick in the rear to knock you back into reality can be a good thing. I wouldn't want to measure my blood pressure at the moment, but hopefully this steels me and helps me get through the next 60 or so days!

wk1 blog comments

@ Catherine:

Most of the time you will not be able to actually ask anyone. So if you're a teacher and are using it for educational purposes, you should be fine. I know a lot of cases where Disney will go after daycare centers that have any of their characters in it (Winnie the Pooh, Mickey, etc...) but if you show Fantasia in your class to talk about art, you are free to do so.

Don't let being scared stop you from using great copyrighted work! If it's educational and you're making money off of it, go for it!


-- And then I edited the last sentence to make sure it read "not making money" --
'


@ Tim:


The link doesn’t work for me…

But Facebook is doing similar things by allowing companies to reuse comments and likes that people post.

As far as Blender, how do they use people’s work? In what way? As templates in the software? Are they selling stuff to other companies? Are they just examples in the software?

The funny thing is, I bet a lot of the artists would love to give up their work if only they were asked…

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

wk1 reading: copyright issues

Every day I work, I create video for my company that is seen by millions of people. But that video is protected by copyright that my company owns. I cannot post my work on youtube or anywhere. And that's a personal problem as I want as many people as possible to see my work. At the very least, I want my friends to be able to see it.

Additionally, not every piece is saved by my company. The best thing I ever produced (and was copied by Nike and NBA Productions, poorly, except for getting Marvin Gaye's version of the National Anthem, which is awesome) is gone forever. That is sort of devastating to me.

I understand the point of copyright but there will always be pirating. The trick is to embrace the new techniques and create a legal version of that. 5 years ago I suggested making shows available for download and I got laughed at. Every single person laughed at the idea. And now it's one of the biggest priorities of the company.

You just have to wait for the younger generation to get in there and try and change these laws. Like I said in a comment, the musical genius of an album like Paul's Boutique cannot really happen nowadays. That needs to change.

But you really have to give the law some credit. Being able to use any copyrighted work for parody or education is great.