ZekeArtZ

Despite the heavy rain this morning causing traffic to come to a crawl, I felt joy, peace and happiness knowing I was going to work, doing what I love and it is a whole lot of fun.

The weather outside looks just perfect to take time off to enjoy the outdoors. Perhaps it would be a good idea to encourage that at work.

Have a great Wednesday!

Some of you already know that I have recently resigned from my present job at Agenda Solution… and I have been asked the same questions a whole lot… so just to clarify, I’ve decided to post it here. I will be joining a game development company called Titoonic. Here’s their site: www.titoonic.dk

1) Why am I leaving?
I have to say that Agenda has been the best place I have ever worked since I graduated… so I’m leaving not because the job is torturous or have insane working hours. I have learned so much from my bosses and if I ever decide to come back to the digital marketing industry, Agenda will be at the top of my list. My main reason for the move is simply because of the work that I will be doing. I have always wanted to do animation and games… and finally the opportunity was presented to me. Paul Tinsley, the creative director and my boss, has been just wonderful and extremely understanding. As I’m not going to another agency and the fact that he knows this new opportunity is what I am passionate about, he has wished me well and did not pursue to propose a counter offer. He is definitely the most amazing person I have ever had the privilege to work with.

2) What will I be doing there?
My offer letter states my official title as Senior Flash Designer. I will be responsible for hiring and training people under me. Apart from that I will be leading a team of frontend developers. We’ll be creating some really amazing games with great stories and artwork. Naturally as I have always been a Flash programmer, I will still be heavily involved in that area… but now I can work on developing my creative and artistic abilities… which is just fantastic. Having tonnes of books on art and animation with loads of theory… and I can finally put it into practice.

3) Does that mean I will be working in Denmark?
No, I will still be in Malaysia. Reason is because Titoonic will be expanding operations here… and I start when they being operations.

4) How do I feel about all this?
I’m just very excited about this new opportunity. Bigger role and more responsibility plus moving into an area that I’m passionate about. I’m sad, of course, that I will be leaving Agenda. The people here as very nice and fun to be with. I will especially miss my lunch buddies where we always have a good time during that hour.

5) When will I be starting?
I’m supposed to start in July, but now I’m unsure as I have been offered a buyout as well… so thats in discussion now.

Ok, I think I’ve covered the FAQs. If anyone else has any other questions… leave a comment.

Today marks the 3rd week since I’ve started this new venture. Things have been going really well. My initial 2 Flash e-card projects are done. The first is for the Michael Jackson’s Thriller 25th Anniversary album and the second is for the IG & Lil DP’s “Tip Witcha Boy” album. These projects have been such a success that my client has requested to do a third e-card!

So what’s next? I received a new contact via my good friend, Mark Hayden, whom I worked with previously. The new potential client wants to do a revamp for 2 existing websites and have it redone entirely in Flash. Things are getting really exciting as I did not expect projects to come in so soon. Ideas are pouring in that I’m really excited about and I’m really looking forward to see where all these opportunities will lead.

On a side note, I recently received 2 new job offers. One of which I have already turned as the role would not be a good fit for me. My official title was to be Senior Project Manager. While that sounds really great, the scope of work involve doesn’t excite me… in fact, it terrifies me. I would basically be in charge of company operations dealing with development teams and liaising with account servicing staff. Very big role… very big salary… very big headache.

While the 40% increment in monthly salary sounds very tempting, this is not something I want to do. Their client base is in Dubai and while not required, it would be recommended that I go there every now and then to better understand the client. Being a newly wed, I do not want to leave my wife at home while I’m off somewhere in the world for several weeks.

The other offer I received sounds more like something I would do simply because it would be so much fun. I would be involved in making Flash games. How cool is that?! I’ve seen some of the company’s work and I know it is something I would very much love to do. I have gone through two interviews already and I’m currently waiting for a response from them. More details as things unfold.

My first project has gone live! Check it out here. I’m very happy with the results and the client loves it. Now on to my second project! Also, I will need to start looking for another 10 potential contacts to keep the ball rolling and the projects coming in. Thanks for dropping by.

Day 10 is here and I have good news. The reason for my lack of updates was due to getting my first freelance job. Besides my full time job, I have been busy communicating with a client over the past weekend and I have finally completed my first job on day 9. Things have been great so far and the client is happy is my work. So much so I now have a second job that I am about to begin. Both jobs involve creating Flash e-cards. I will share the results of my work after the official launch.

I have been invited by Aral Balkan to be part of the Singularity team as the Malaysian ambassador. Singularity is the first ever worldwide large-scale online web conference involving the top web visionaries, developers, designers, thought leaders, and celebrities throughout the world. This conference is scheduled to run from 24-26 October and this will be THE web event of 2008 so stay tuned! More details to come as the conference draws nearer.

On another note, I have also been invited to be one of the panel judges for the Blog-It Returns 2008 competition organised by Metropolitan college. The competition has 5 categories: Blog Writing and Blog-a-thon, Blog Design, School Blog, Photo Blog and Video Blog. I will be part of the panel judges for the Blog Design category. The Blog Design category competition runs from 31 March to 30 April.

The potential lead I had yesterday went cold. The company I was in contact with suddenly stopped replying my emails without any explanations. However, I also identified 8 other companies and 3 individuals yesterday to send emails to. So far I have received replies from 3 companies… 2 had just got someone to do the job, and 1 looks like a very positive lead. So far so good. If things work out well, the income earned will be reinvested to set up a more professional website. It would be a good idea to separate my personal site from a professional site. I have also figured out some ways to add value to the services that I will be experimenting with. Things are getting really interesting now. More to come!

I have yet to receive any reply from the company I was negotiating with for over 24 hours. Worst case scenario, I won’t get the job but thats ok. A very strange thing happened as a result of pulling the trigger. My mind seems to have gone on overdrive as I find myself coming up with more ideas on how I could generate income and starting businesses. Weird how God made the human mind to work. I have identified a few other companies yesterday and I was thinking of offering my services to revamp their existing site to create a new Flash site. However after thinking things through, I realised what I really need is a long term strategy that will result in recurring business. So here are my next actionable steps:

1. Identify 5 companies that have ideas and need my skills to make it a reality.
2. Identify 5 designers who needs a Flash developer to bring their ideas to life.
3. Send emails to those people describing my skills and services offered.
4. While waiting for a response, identify 5 more individuals and companies.
5. Create a 20 questions form for companies to fill in to better identify what they need.
6. Figure out how I can provide other value added services.

Time to take some action!

To get started, here are the deliverables that I have come up with so far.

1. Clearly identify goals and project requirements.
2. Information architecture planning based on project scope and requirement.
3. Develop UML diagrams and documentation.
4. Develop architecture for all Flash assets with specific naming conventions.
5. Compile all assets within Flash.
6. Programming navigation skeleton to visualise project flow.
7. Programming transition effects between different pages.
8. Programming form features such as text fields, check boxes, radio buttons, etc.
9. Programming customised features such as mini-games, drag&drop, clock, visual effects, music controls, etc.
10. Add tracking / analytics feature.
11. Local platform testing and debugging.
12. Optimize content for different browsers and user bandwidth.
13. Upload project to staging site for testing and debugging.
14. Make final amendments based on feedback.
15. Upload project to live site.

I drafted out an email to send to potential companies briefly explaining what I do. I separated my portfolio into 4 categories: Personal work, games, banner ads and websites. Initially I included a tonne of links but decided to reduce it to my top 3 projects in each category. Depending on the nature of the business, I added up to a maximum of 5 links for that particular category.

Next, I started off by identifying 2 companies and I just sent out a plain text email as suggested in Christine’s book. Less than 12 hours later, I received an email reply from 1 company. I did not expect to receive a response so soon. I’m not sure if my first contact will lead to closing a deal but it is very exciting to see things moving forward. I’m currently in the midst of negotiating my rates. Even if this doesn’t go through, thats perfectly fine, because suddenly my mind has been blown wide open to new ideas and possibilities. I’m feeling energised, excited and I can’t wait to close my first deal. Onward, to find a few more potential companies! Thank you Christine for your wonderful book!