Today was my first day at Visual Lizard and I have come to the conclusion that I have a lot to learn about this new highly-technical, constantly-changing world of modern web media.
Julian and Doug have hired me as a part-time writer to work on a few of Visual Lizard’s current projects, including the Canadian Tumour Repository Network website and it’s related applications. A significant portion of my responsibilities here will involve writing for Visual Lizard’s web page and web projects which require quick, accessible built-in documentation for users. I will assist in writing business proposals and will occasionally write blogs and post updates for sites such as Winnipegfirst.ca.
Presently, I have to say that my technological prowess is pretty ordinary. I have been using computers since I was 10 years old (I’m 27) and although I use my laptop on an everyday basis, it is usually to check my e-mail, surf social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and use basic programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
I recently graduated from the two-year Creative Communications program at Red River College with a major in Journalism where we used programs like Final Cut Pro, Pro Tools and to a lesser degree, InDesign and Photo Shop so I can at least say that I have a working knowledge of various video, audio and image editing programs.
However, Visual Lizard is involved in complex website development and the software and language is all new to this guy. Content management systems, encoding, core framework and Google Analytics are all terms that are alien to me at this point, but I’m sure that in two weeks time I will be telling you all about how I wrote some mad documentation for the metadata repository (I really don’t know what that means).
So I’m excited to learn more about the world of web design and development even if it is not what I went to school for. I am lucky enough to be working in a modern new office environment on a 20-inch iMac with a group of six awesome people that were willing to take me on as a new employee, even if it’s only on a short term basis.
I look forward to learning how to explain how to use web applications and databases to users as it is a new and challenging experience for someone with my limited experience. I am also eager to work with a great group of people who will have to be patient with someone who doesn’t know a lot of computer programming terminology or how to navigate Visual Lizard’s Catalyst Content Management System just yet. I am not worried at all though as everyone seems to be willing to give me enough time to grow, listen, absorb and learn, even if that means that I might trip over myself a few times along the way.