Posted by: Fred Boyle on Thursday September 4, 2008
I… am… BATMAN!
In reality I’m Fred, the newest nGeneer.
I’ve joined the team as the Grease Monkey, which means I help with production tasks such as assembling sites from design elements, setting up Expression Engine, and generally tying things together.
Joining nGen Works has been a great experience, even prior to my first day the team has been extremely welcoming and helpful. My fellow nGeneers have been a great help in my adjusting to a new environment. The cage they keep me in is rather comfortable.
They’ve also been great in showing me the way things work on the inside of nGen Works. Catching me up on the process, procedures, and thought processes behind the various tasks. This helped me get down and dirty very quickly, things are organized and it’s fairly clear as to what needs to be done.
Many of you have seen or heard about the nGen Works process. Things are as advertised. What is preached and presented is indeed the way things work here. It’s not just smoke and mirrors discussing the ideal situation. Everyone is a resource, and everyone supports each other. It’s an open forum where all have a voice.
I’m thankful to be here, and now that I’m starting to slowly settle in I’m looking forward to kicking ass on some great projects with a brilliant team!
1 Comment(s) Filed under: nGen News
Posted by: Joey Marchy on Friday August 29, 2008
Update
In response to community upheaval, Jquery has decided to pull the rockstar illustration. Read more about it here: Death to Javascript Rock Stars
The new jQuery site dropped yesterday and it’s looking mighty fine. Our very own Varick Rosete created the illustration you see in the site masthead, and screenshot above. We use jQuery here at nGen Works almost exclusively so were excited about the opportunity to contribute something back to the jQuery community.
13 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
Posted by: Carl Smith on Monday August 4, 2008
At the beginning of the year my fellow nGeneers and I sat down and talked about things we would and wouldn’t do in 2008. One thing we struggled with was pro bono work. Historically the pro bono projects we started were always on the verge of greatness, but then fell apart. Each one had good intentions but could never come through with the necessary resources to achieve the potential of the idea.
In addition, many organizations asking us to donate our time “pro bono” didn’t seem to really be doing services for the people. Instead it was for the good of one group or in some cases the organization itself. Interestingly, at one time the phrase “pro bono” was actually “pro bono publico” which meant “for the good of the people”. So basically society has dropped the reference to “the people.” Which makes this is a sadly accurate description of modern day pro bono work.
Instead of letting past frustrations cause us to turn our backs on doing good deeds, nGen Works decided to choose the pro bono projects we donated our services to. We turned the standard pro bono process on it’s head by approaching clients before they approached us. That would give us equal footing in determining what the project would be and how it would run.
So we’re happy to announce our first pro bono client of 2008, Jacksonville’s Sustainable Future (JSF). JSF seeks to provide information and connect others who are promoting and practicing sustainability in the Jacksonville area. This is a cause that all nGeneers are passionate about. Taking the project was the perfect opportunity to help not only JSF, but the City of Jacksonville and the publico who live here. We’ll keep you posted on the projects progress in the upcoming months.
2 Comment(s) Filed under: Business, Interweb
Posted by: Travis Schmeisser on Friday July 25, 2008
To stay relevant and truly solve the problems at hand we always have to evolve. Examining your process and refining it is something every company should constantly do. That said, a good framework for process helps everyone involved. There are less questions and confusion when everyone knows where you’re headed.
Agile software development does this and is a great methodology to apply across your projects, but not just for software. It’s sister (or cousin?) method Getting Real gets a lot closer, but still focuses mostly on software. Anyone currently practicing modern web design knows these practices. What we need to do is let them spread across our process and client work. They need to infiltrate how we think about every step.
Your content process may not make sense to a certain client. Your design process may not work for every project. Learn to tweak your process, change as you go and roll with the punches. I like to call it “playing jazz.”
If we stay flexible in our process, we can deliver what our clients need no matter what point of the project we’re in. I think that makes us “Getting Really Jazzy.”
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Business, Process
Posted by: Varick Rosete on Friday July 18, 2008
HOLLA!
With the slew of work we’ve had, Travis and I have kept ourselves pretty busy designing and sh*t, but we found some time to get back into the Danger Room to get our creative muscles pumping again, too. So in honor of today, ie. Batman: The Dark Knight movie premiering – YES!, we’ve released a couple of additions to the Danger Room.
Check it out!
0 Comment(s) Filed under: Interweb
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