Ch-ch-ch-changes!

What a year 2011 has been so far.

The big news, which I may as well announce here, is that, after 3.5 years, I'm leaving ADi. March 17th will be my last day. I think I'll freelance for a while until I figure out my next step, and am really excited about some of the opportunities and conversations I've had in the past week. I mean, yes, nervous about money and stability and all that, but I honestly think that it will work itself out.

In other news, we're planning the next BeTween and want it to be bigger and better than last year.

Sven has started a NW Animation Festival, which is now accepting entries over at http://www.nwanimationfest.com/. As many of you know, I've been agitating for something like this for a long time, so I'm really glad he's doing it, and will probably volunteer in some capacity or another.

The ASIFA chapter has got some great ideas and events in the works. I think that my initiatives about reaching out by open board meetings and increased social media presence are starting to pay off, and I hope that they continue to do so. We need more board members in order to reach our potential and serve our members, but we've got a new treasurer, new website, new bank account, and finally have the ability for people to join and renew online. Everything is coming together a piece at a time, and the future looks really good.

And the ASIFA chapter is supporting a network that we've dubbed OSNAP. It's a group of independent animators who want to support each other and contribute to each other's projects. A lot of the organization is happening on facebook and email so far, so I'd watch the asifa website for more info.

I'd like to blog more about networking and job searching, since I have SO much experience in this area. And who knows, I might have a lot of time for that kind of thing now. ;-)

Finding a creative job in Portland

I end up being asked for my insights from time to time, so here they are, in my official jobhunting in PDX post. I'll edit this post periodically as I think of new things.

Firstly, tweet tweet tweet. Portland is one of the epicenters of Twitter use, and every interactive agency, ad agency, creative company in town is on Twitter. So get yourself a twitter account and follow anyone at any company that looks remotely connected to what you want to be doing. Participate in the community: ask questions, share insights and information, and help people out. There are a bunch of good blog posts on Twitter use and etiquette, I'll edit them in here as I find them. Short answer: Get on Twitter. Lazy answer: search twitter for "jobs Portland" Better answer: Get on Twitter and participate.

Which leads me to: blog. Twitter is a great place to share your blog, so you can keep a blog about your personal and professional work/insights/challenges, and then tweet your posts. Keeping a blog creates a larger context around your resume (which you will also have on your blog) and your reel (which you will also have on your blog), and gives people some sense of you as a person. Portland is a small town, so personality matters (see participate in the community above).

I guess before you do any of these things, get interested in the kind of work that's being done here. There are a ton of interactive and advertising agencies in town, so get familiar with who's here and what they do, which means doing some research. Also, because it's a small town, sending out your reel and waiting is a poor strategy. Be proactive, be visible, be accessible.

Also: PDX mindshare is a great job posting and networking resource. LinkedIn is a great place to form and maintain professional connections.

That's all I have for now. :-)