Justin Holder

Presentation 1: Megan Edwards

Bookmarked. I live in a one bedroom and often when I cook there are leftovers that don’t get to the intended destination. With the amount of recipes and the clean arrangement in which they are given I can return to Megan’s site and have no problem finding something fresh to make. Megan said that she planned on adding more recipes and groceries to the list which will keep bringing me back to the already great substance. I feel the blog and about me sections add a great deal of personality to the site and to a degree help you get a sense of what flavors you can expect to taste.

http://www.thesingleplate.com/blog/

Presentation 2: Angelo Fernandez

During the semester Angelo’s site did not seem like one I would visit regularly. However, during his presentation I obtained a new visualization of the educational, networking, and entertainment potential. Having tons of users uploading their own ads for companies or just adding a spin to already existing ads will give companies a place to look for feedback on their marketing as well as some potential employees that will bring a new perspective to the team. The site is looking great and runs smoothly and the future changes (such as the flipping title) show amazing potential. Angelo himself adds new ideas and interesting perspectives on some advertisements showing even the most minute changes can recreate an ad.

http://www.creativityisalive.com/

Presentation 3: William Lanier

William’s presentation easily stood out as it focused on the behind the scenes of his site and not the glitz and glamour of the front end. We got to see lots of plugins and get an idea of the workflow of the site.  We also saw all the trial and error of design and everything William learned during the process. Visiting the site now you can see that the blood, sweat, and tears paid off and that Mr. Lanier has an exquisite arrangement that embodies the inspiration behind the site.

http://www.thecasualgent.com/

CSS/HTML/PHP editing. Drop commenting, search bar, and lots of minor adjustments to the php page to either suit my needs or future updates I have planned but not implemented.

Uploaded same videos and thumbnails. Videos were a pain because instead of loading the carousel on the home page my two sample videos would load one on top of the other.

Set up pages (resume, about me, demo reel, home page) and sample posts (sorted by category and sub-categories).

http://www.soclairian.com/

I think corporate blogs are some of the most varied sites online. Those that are maintained properly are filed with old, loyal brand consumers and those you have heard about said blog via word of mouth.  I don’t follow any corporate blogs myself, but I occasionally visit those of Coke and Disney and a select few other companies to see what the latest buzz is. Most often if I go to a company’s blog it is to see their take on current events involving them. To see how they spin matters to keep consumers from straying. I am a part of a few online communities though. I participate in discussion on some more than others, but I try not to troll too much. Some communities are tough to get in but once you get to know the people (as much as you can online) there is a possibility of making some serious friends. I know of one community where one of the more well known users was having some problems in their life and was sent to his surprise an HD camcorder to record the moments of his new born. From this example you can see that the community ranges from the not so well off to those who are likely living comfortably. On the grey zone of community sites lies Facebook and Twitter in which I have accounts. I use Facebook primarily as a networking and contact spot. I generally keep family off my list, some friends that have a not to professional image and I make sure to keep things tame and upbeat. I don’t have a big presence on Twitter, but I figured I’d grab an account now to reserve my name. I mostly use it to follow professionals in the game industry, but I follow a few others as well. While I’m a part of the Twitter community I can see it clearly in the fan base behind many of those that I follow. Maybe one day I’ll have that same following I can head my own small community on Twitter.

I hit up the wordpress meetup and learned a little, but not as much as I had hoped. The meetup was about designing your site and the steps you should take to get the look you want efficiently. The presenters follow a certain few steps but mostly focus on the why. It was said that with EVERYTHING you had you have to ask yourself why that is being added. You also have to think about real estate (something we discussed in class). I think the most useful bit of thought to me was discussion on competitors. I always planned on making my site just like everyone else’s, but once I started looking around at themes and such I got whole new ideas of what to do and where to go. I had a few ideas for some redesigns for my site. Some I was able to add, other that I may not for a short time. I was a bit surprised and some of the things I added and/or realized my site needed added or removed. As you may have read on the Live Discussion, Openca.mp will be open for business later this year. It’s an interesting event though not for me. Friday and Saturday parties for hotel guests (to pull more room reserves as part of the agreement for getting the meeting rooms), networking galore, and even tutorials and talks based on guests suggestions.

PRESENTATION DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exciting yet frustrating, so many classes ending this week. My site www.soclairian.com (enjoy the plug) is directed at both a wide and narrow audience. My site’s main purpose is to get me a job. Because of this it is directed in more narrows terms at potential employers. On a wider scale however it is aimed at anyone and everyone . . . who knows someone. After going to various meetups, some reading, and discussion I have thought more about the direction/design of my site. It should be accessible to those less experienced with the internet and even those browsing on their fancy phones. I am going to continue to work on matters such as load times, key words, browser compatibility, and possibly some navigation.

As is, my site it set to feature turntable videos for each project posted on the home page via a video carrousel. The title for each video links to a page (post) dedicated to the project at hand and (will) include(s) an image gallery of the project as well as a summary breakdown followed by a detailed breakdown of the project. There is an about me page which explains the work side of me and the fun side of me. I think that’s important because obviously an employer wants to know what your behavior and attitude will be like at work and because my company employees that work long hours have no choice but to befriend each other (or hate each other) so the social section allows employers to  know if I match up with the staff’s personalities. My contact information is on the footer of every page so as it cannot be escaped. Between what I had envisioned for my site based on other portfolio sites and what I learned this semester, my design for the site changed quite drastically. It’s a bit more complicated but I feel it is so much more distinctive and has the detail that employers would like to see.

Come to think of it I also need to figure out what I want to do with my tags/categories on a permanent basis. There are some I’m not happy with; hidden tags that will remain as such till I’m satisfied with them. I’ve made terrible table filled html sites before, but sites today are far more complicated. It’s not a bad thing though. I love what can be done today and hope to make my site the crème of the crop.

Working on image gallery for each piece I post. I upped a sample of what I’m working on setting up, but the one that will be up tommorow is taking time cause its self made via Photoshop and some flash. I also have to set it up to work in some way without flash.

http://www.soclairian.com/sample

After some catching up and with still attempting to fix my home page I upped my Resume and a pdf version. The icon needs to change to match my site, which I’ll have to do in Photoshop and make sure I’m not stealing icons from people I shouldn’t. Also the wording isn’t perfect to me so I may make adjustments soon.

Also i need to clean up the code so the resume can be printed straight from the site if wanted. Might need to condense some things to make sure it fits on one page. Or maybe I want my resume 2 pages. Hmmmm. . .

http://www.soclairian.com/?page_id=56

Riiiight here.