ZekeArtZ

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.

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.

I just bought myself a brand new Asus laptop. Thanks to my present company for sponsoring up to RM 5k in installments for my purchase. Its has all the specs that I have been looking for in a laptop. Most importantly a WSXGA+ display. Maxed out all the RAM to 4GB and its runs beautifully. You can check out the reviews here, here, here and here.

Initially it caused major frustrations whenever I worked with Flash. For 2 weeks I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Everything I did with Flash was painfully slow. Even switching between windows took several minutes before anything happened. As a result, my mouse cursor would freeze and I couldn’t even get any work done. However, recently when I was trying to get some work done, the built-in Asus Multiframe software crashed. Didn’t bother checking the manual to see what its for, but immediately after that, everything went blazing fast~! And all this while I thought it was Vista’s fault. So if anyone out there has an Asus G1 and works with Flash, try this out. Remove the Asus Multiframe software from your Programs > Startup menu. This has helped me tremendously and I am so pleased with my laptop now!

I recently discovered that Levi’s Tee for Two campaign I worked on at OgilvyOne has won a Bronze award at the 2007 Asia Interactive Awards! Check it out here under Category 9. Best Use of Illustration. Cheers to the team! I was also part of the team that won the Bronze award last year for the Online Performance Marketing category.

Hello! I just transferred my domain and moved to a new webhost so things are somewhat messy. It will take awhile to set things up again and transfer everything from my previous host but I’ll be back real soon. Stay tuned!