Blanket Week: Let's Meet the Challenge!
We are rallying your participation to help make this ambitious campaign a success. Blanket Week is a 7-day campaign - Monday, March 15 through Sunday, March 21 - sponsored by 10,000 Blankets to collect new blanket donations for homeless shelters, women's shelters, and emergency efforts. Since 2008, this charitable organization has already donated more than 740 blankets to local hospitals, community services, shelters, and support centers whose important mission is to provide direct and immediate services to those in need.
What kind of blanket?
Any kind of blanket (hand made, store bought, baby, quilt, electric), as long as it's brand new.
How do I donate?
- Bring your blankets to a drop-off location or mail them;
- You can order new blankets online and have them shipped to 10,000 Blankets;
- Groups, businesses, schools, congregations can all participate: organize your group to collect new blankets during Blanket Week, and 10,000 Blankets will help you with the rest of the donation process.
Questions?
Find details, a countdown and reminder, plus more at blanketweek.com.
Roundtable discussion at DePaul's Careers in Information Technology
I'm looking forward to meeting up with DePaul students interested in technology careers in a program sponsored by the DePaul Career Center. I'll be volunteering time in a series of roundtable, network-style discussion sessions. I'm always interested to hear the entrepreneurial dreams of students, to share my own story, and share resources and experiences that might be helpful along the way.
What kinds of questions would you have, if you were starting out your career?
AIGA Chicago Mentor Program a great success.
I spent a few hours Saturday at Gravity Tank, learning more about the AIGA Chicago Mentor Program.
Dawn Hancock at Firebelly Design is doing an amazing job, marshaling over 60? 80? people, introducing the mentor program, and breaking people out into small group discussions based on their interests.
Many of the students coming out of art and design programs in Chicago had similar questions, focused on the role of interactive design, web design, and their chosen design fields. It's quite a struggle for print or graphic design students to both master the basics in their chosen field, and also deal with a market place that seems to offer more opportunities in web or interaction design. And both of those fields require, of course, an understanding of HTML markup if not programming languages outright.
We had a great conversation on the role of Flash and Flash programming, Javascript, and ways to prepare for a career in design--regardless of the medium.
There's a Facebook group if you'd like to learn more or come to the next meetup.
Shutter Soul: Chicago based culture and lifestyle website launched
Got plans for the weekend? Check out Shutter Soul to get the scoop on local art and cultural offerings from an insider's point-of-view. Photography and editorial articles shed light on Chicago's vibrant neighborhoods, spotlighting the community talents and places to a wider audience. The new website features an event calendar, blog, and image galleries of Chicago lifestyle photography. Users can purchase and license prints, send e-cards, or contribute to the forum by submitting ideas, sharing what's soulful in their neighborhood.
Merchandise Mart's Art Chicago and NEXT 2010 websites launched
Nothing says Spring in Chicago like the Merchandise Mart's Art Chicago and the NEXT Art Fair. The refreshed websites offer slide shows and media from the 2009 shows with a bright new look. As exhibitors and culture curators gear up over the next few months, stay tuned for more hot news on local and international talent and culture that will be showcased in 2010!
MOCP.org featured in Communication Arts: 50 Years of Photography issue
We are amped about our clients doing what they do best, and making more headlines! A big shout out goes to the Museum of Contemporary Photography for their "Web Watch" column feature in the September/October 2009 issue of Communication Arts: 50 Years of Photography. Search their entire permanent collection of visionary work since 1936 online through their easy-to-use, awesome database of great photography.
Big kudos to the LPCC for receiving two communication awards!
We're happy to announce the terrific news that the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce (LPCC) has been selected as the top recipient in two categories of the Communication Awards program by the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. LPCC's website and quarterly newsletter, The Source, was honored top spots and given state-wide recognition for its excellence in marketing best practices.
LPCC's website is chock-full of valuable tools and content featuring a daily news blog, workshop and events calendar, and directory that serves to highlight business and cultural resources, build publicity for their members, and keep their neighborhood constituents up-to-date. We are proud to have provided an effective website for the LPCC, empowering them to generate more business value for the community... that gets noticed!
"With chambers across the state working diligently for their members, and producing high-quality materials to promote these efforts, we are humbled by this selection."
--Kim Schilf, LPCC President and CEO
An Event Apart 2009
I had the opportunity to attend the An Event Apart conference here in Chicago at the beginning of this week and I must say–this being my first time at their event–I was truly impressed. The presenters were greatly in tune with the advancements and shifts occuring in the industry and I found their insights and expertise really enlightening.
Another successful internship story
Last year's winter intern, Christine from DePaul, wrote this fall with some great news in these challenging economic times:
I am happy to let you know that I have been offered a full time position as Statistical Research Analyst at The Nielsen Company! Thank you very much for your help in providing me with a letter of recommendation. It was certainly a decisive document in the hiring process. The brief time I spent at Neoteric Design has certainly paved my career path.
I am happy to let you know that I have been offered a full time position as Statistical Research Analyst at The Nielsen Company! Thank you very much for your help in providing me with a letter of recommendation. It was certainly a decisive document in the hiring process. The brief time I spent at Neoteric Design has certainly paved my career path.
Congratulations, Christine! You deserve it!
We're hiring: junior web UI developer
Update: this position has been filled. Thanks.
You'll be working in a fast-moving, four-person design shop in the heart of Chicago's design district, River North. Expect to handle multiple projects throughout the day, and interact directly with designers, developers, and clients. We use an agile, iterative style of design and development; expect rapid revisions and implementation cycles using SCRUM methodologies.
Requirements.
Expert knowledge in xHTML/CSS, modern markup techniques, and the major Javascript libraries that make interactive web UI experiences possible. You'll be working with layered Photoshop mockups; all markup is hand-crafted. This position is not primarily a design position; however, you should be able to iterate over CSS design revisions easily.
We're primarily a Macintosh shop; Microsoft skills noted but not needed. PHP/Rails desirable. Experience with CMS systems--Movable Type, Expression Engine, WordPress a plus.
You must provide three examples of your own development work, two references, pay history, and a link to your portfolio site. Interested? Email your cover letter and a resume to jobs@neotericdesign.com. If interviewed, you'll be asked for an hour of your time to demonstrate your JS library chops to the team.
Note this position is on location only: contractors, recruiters, off-shore development firms, please hold your fire. Really! Don't ring us! It's going to waste your time and ours! Thanks.
The fun stuff.
We're centrally located in River North; Ed and Nick bike to work daily, and the CTA is right outside. Within blocks we have dozens of lunch options, and kick out together on the occasion to discuss work, music, the art scene, technology, what have you. Our office is on the small side, open planned, Ikea throughout. We are essentially collaborative: tossing ideas back and forth, brainstorming together, solving problems cooperatively. We iTunes DJ most of the day, or someone will lead tunes for a few hours across the shared sound system; it's a benevolent democracy until Nick plays ragas or something too minimalist or house or Holiday tunes and gets voted off the speakers. We care intensely about what we do; you'll have the opportunity to work with design and usability experts, and grow your skills through seminars, conferences, and the like.
