The Life and Times of London Developer Ian Bullock

Ian Bullock - Photo from  IanBullock.ca

London, Canada is successfully attracting, training and retaining talented digital interactive professionals who often have one thing in common: they have attended the DIG conference.

I had the opportunity to chat with one local web developer who relocated to London for school, found a rewarding career in his field and is thriving in the city.

Ian Bullock, web developer extraordinaire at Digital Echidna and I talked about about life, internet and... well... DIG of course.  Ian’s life is an open book; he is active on twitter (@ian_bullock) and generally posts most of his secrets on the feed. A lesser known interesting fact about Ian is that he was a goal tender in hockey for 13 years, playing  in small across Ontario towns such as St. George and Paris. Maybe this info is on Twitter somewhere, but it’s published here now for your trivia pleasure.

Ian was born in London, moved away, then came back and stayed (#YAY). He studied at Western and Fanshawe:  Multi media Design and Production at F-shawe coupled with a degree in MIT at Western. I feel like I can use the abbrev. “F-Shawe”... being a very proud Alumni of the college and all. Ian has worked at 3 agencies in London in both front and back end development, which grants both the inner artist and programmer the opportunity to shine. Bravo internet soldier. 

Ian knew from an early age that his career would focus around graphic design, with interests in photography and painting Ian gets to express himself in his chosen career. Having a strong parental influence in computer science and visual arts, web development proved to be the perfect fit. My homeboy Ian and I bonded over our love of the craft and if you ask us, Code is Art.

Ian’s first web project was a re-design of the Club Phoenix site in college a mere 5-6 years ago. Now he is working on large projects with Echidna for organizations like WOTCH and has witnessed his skill set evolve from the table-design and image-based text in HTML used 5 years ago to the CMS’s of today. The web development world is rapidly evolving and changing, you have to remain ahead of the curve as new technologies challenge the skill set of a developer daily. Ian will not have to fret this November 2012; we have him covered at DIG.

From networking with fellow web developers and friends I have learned that we all have a certain way of computing. With 8 browser tabs open, grooveshark playing Ska and Dubstep and art supplies handy Ian is ready to work, or be stranded on a dessert island in peace. Although Ian was not sure how he felt about Dubstep, I reassured him that “haters are going to hate” and that it is fine to Lub the Dub. 

Thanks to Ian Bullock for meeting with me! I leave you with this clip from our interview where I ask, “What is the best part about being a developer in London, Canada” and hear about Ian’s experience at the DIG Conference.

Katie Wilhelm is a Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the London Economic Development Corporation. The top 3 things she is good at are The Internet, Photoshop and listening to Eddie Murphy’s “Party all the Time.” Follow her on twitter today: @KatieWilhelm

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The Freelancers Guide to DIG : Why One Girl Decided to Attend

Savanah Sewell (JLC) & Katie Wilhelm (LEDC) of 379 Collective at DIG 2010

DIG London is an exciting experience for game and web developers, where us industry folk can come together at Canada’s largest Digital Interactive conference.

As a past DIG attendee, I wanted to share from the prospective of a young developer attending the conference; those questioning whether or not to go, READ ON.

Walking into the busy room, laptop on my hip and pen in hand, I stopped at the doorway to gaze inside the Convention Centre’s grand ballroom. Artists, developers, engineers and programmers walking around tweeting on their smart phones and utilizing today’s top technology in the same room as me. I caught the Networking bug and began shaking hands like a whacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube woman. The contacts made through the first day of the conference not only inflated my twitter followers count, but won me new business and some pretty awesome new friends.

Friendly chatter aside, when it came down to dull the lights and use that pen that I had not lost yet I was instantly glad that I came. The Information and Knowledge about all aspects of industry was something that I did not learn in school. I read a lot of blogs, tutorials and general news feeds but there is something to be said about the social merit in person-to-person engagement. I realized that this human being standing behind the podium knows a lot of things that I don’t, and I have the opportunity to rub elbows and pick their brain. Living off ramen noodles and energy drinks, these chances do not arise often for a college student and “freelancer,” and for such a great price.

Needless to say, I returned the following year with a slightly better computer and a brand new pen that I had picked up from an exhibitor booth because obviously I lost the other one. Having a decent pocket of contacts and new friends attending with me, I was able to spread my digital wings and Explore the conference. A room filled with wonderment called DIGX showcasing interactive workshops caught my A.D.D. in the best kind of way. Travelling from exhibitor booth to exhibitor booth I was able to share my witty banter with more industry professionals and win even more business. Score for the Katers.

Surrounded by new friends and peers at the DIG After Party, I wound down and buckled in for my wild ride into fun-town, I had a non-refundable one way ticket to party-ville with a purpose: to Connect on a personal level with all these geniuses I just heard speak. I ran out of business cards and left feeling pretty special.

Here we are, going into another year of DIG and a familiar feeling is stirring inside of me. Now I am helping to spread the word about DIG and working with the amazing group of people who put this thing together. I have never been a bigger fan than right now of this conference and know that I still have a lot to learn and a lot of hands to shake.

Young and seasoned professionals alike, trust me when I say that you are going to “DIG” this year’s conference on November 14, 2012. Too much? Maybe I can improve my stand-up act this year... J

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Katie Wilhelm is the Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the London Economic Development Corporation. She enjoys gold nail polish, graffiti art and a good RSS feed.
Connect with her on twitter? @KatieWilhelm Pin It

DIG and the Olympic Athlete Symbiosis

With the hype around the London 2012 summer Olympics abounding I had a Eureka moment recently: Olympic athletes and digital interactive professionals are extremely similar performers. Farfetched you say? Then read on young computer jockey.

Specialization and the Mere Mortal

Each position in the digital production world suits a different individual, just like each sport suits a different athlete.

A runner is not going to do gymnast training, and an artist is typically not going to be proficient in programming. Of course there is the occasional cross-over, but that person is a machine and a god among mortals. If you are one of these people, let us know because we’d all like to praise you. 

Trying to do it all usually results in the infamous burnout. The metrics of trying to do 4 things at once delineates to 25% of your effort to each thing.  Specialization is a good thing and will have you playing with the big dogs at expert level eventually, with some help from our next point...

There is No Spoon 

Focus and dedication: uncompromised, unconditional and uncanny. As Dr. Marco Cardinale, head of sports science and research of the British Olympic Association puts it, “What separates Olympic athletes from the rest of us is their mind set and dedication.” And really, what other professional has no problem staying up for 24+ hours working on a project?  We are amazing.

A clear mind accompanied with hours of training and fine tuning to the industry skills creates a gold medal winner, hence why DIG pulls the best of the best to coach and share their knowledge.

Stay Fuelled

This just in: without proper nourishment the body and the mind cannot perform at optimum levels. Both Olympians and desktop athletes are versed in this principle. A level of fitness is required to do any task no matter how small, and being free of injury permits the creation of the good stuff. A balanced diet, fitness regimen and adequate rest will go a long way in making sure that you are running at full speed: keep your head in the game!

GOOOOOOOAL!!1

The feeling of scoring a goal in any sport is the adrenaline rush that a completed website or game creates in digital interactive gurus everywhere. The ultimate score and the end goal is to improve performance, that may mean honing skills and earning some medals before levelling up or just becoming stronger in general within a defined field. 

To be the best, you gotta train with the best and ally yourself with the people who have scored game winning goals and are giving out the medals.  At the DIG arena, we put our attendees through rigorous training and hours of physical and mental activity that is currently unmatched in this country. Just kidding, it’s not that rigorous, it’s just plain fun and that’s why we have the best jobs in the world.

So when you are watching the 2012 Summer Olympics this July I hope you have the same eureka moment as I did and realize, “hey bud, we aren’t so different you and me.” While the Olympians may have the bodies of Adonis’s  the strength of Hercules we can stand to learn something and affiliate ourselves with the key points that keep us all close to the flame.

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 Katie Wilhelm is a Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the London Economic Development Corporation. In her spare time, she enjoys producing electronic music and working on her tan. Follow her on twitter today: @KatieWilhelm

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