The end of an era is nigh :'-(

On 01 September 1997 I joined a startup multimedia c0mpany called SHiFT Interactive Communication. Their aim was to "Revolutionise the way people and businesses communicate."

Having come from a print-focused DTP / reprographics background, the idea of joining a company that produced interactive multimedia applications & media-rich audio-visual applications was a real carrot on a stick & no brainer decision for me to make. The reason behind this is that I believed that there was no more room for me to grow my talents or experience in the line of work I was in. I really felt like I had reached the ceiling and that there was nothing left to learn and nowhere that I could progress to.

Here's a bit of background about the motivations of the company & what drew me to it:

• The interactive media division will be SHIFT’s main development focus. Digital technology has created a new media type in its own right, and we will strive to exploit this by creating innovative and compelling content for this medium. The production facility will have to be created from scratch and will rely on a solid base of appropriate technology to produce the type of products we believe will find an immediate market.

• One of our main priorities is to establish a programme to employ and train at least two new staff members to a level where they can work as a fully functional production team within three months.

This is when I came into the picture.

When I first joined I was what my boss called a "worker bee". My basic role was to do overflow graphic prep work, stuff like deep-etching, redrawing logos, and pretty anything that was required (like making coffee :). As the years went by I realised that there were gaps in the skill set that was required by the company and that my time was not beeing fully utilised. We simply didn't have the resources to fulfil certain functions. This is where I believe that my career really began.

The more projects I worked on the more I started realising that I had a keen eye for detail & an uncanny knack for catching bugs in the software. That, coupled with my passion for music, was the next step in my evolution as a "SHiFTling". Before long I had implemented certain processes & procedures in the software development process that allowed me to track & log all the bugs that I could find. At the same time I was also responsible for sourcing audio for background music, button sounds, book & record voice overs, do audio mixes for videos, etc. At one stage I also quite keenly involved in the shooting of QTVR's (interactive 360º movies) although that would quite quickly become outdated, unoriginal & a bit boring. Somehow I still don't think we really exploited it to it's full potential.

As time went by I got better at what I did and thus it would take me less time to do what I needed to do. It was then that my boss told me that I needed to come up with a training schedule that we could use to teach the newly-graduated staff that we were hiring. As most people are aware, people who finish school and then do 3 month "courses" in design & photoshop, illustrator etc generally think they know everything and that their work is really great. Because of the high-standard of work that SHiFT produces, the newbie designers needed a bit of 'advanced' training to get them up to speed. This was a new addition to my reportoir of responsibilities.

As technology evolved and we got better at what we were doing, the products we were producing became a lot more complex & thus the testing & quality assurance aspect of my job required a lot more of my time. It is for this reason that we had to build an audio studio & get a guy in to handle the audio side of things to aleviate the pressure on me. Also, once the newbies had been trained up to the right standard, the training component fell away as well, allowing me to focus on what became my so-called 'core competency' - Quality Assurance.

The job title of Quality Assurance Manager isn't really an accurate reflection of what I do these days, because I am also involved quite heavily with Information Architecture, Software Usability, Research & Development, coming up with campaign strategies for new, existing & potential clients, as well as assisting with general Interactive Production. Our audio guy decided that it was time for a change, sold everything he owned and moved to China (weird!!), so for the last 10 months I've been doing the audio as well.

To conclude this rather lengthy post I'd just like to say that I've spent the last 8 years of my life unwaveringly dedicated to this company, and to be honest, it's been the focus of my life. Everything I have done has been for the good of the company and it truly is sad that this day has come. We've worked on some really prestigious accounts, created intensely immersive & exciting projects, won numerous awards and made some truly magnificent products that I will be proud of for the rest of my life. Since I started working here I have gained a plethora of invaluable knowledge & have been priviledged enough to work with a team of exceptionally talented individuals in such disciplines as design, motion graphics, programming and audio engineering. They are an exceptional bunch of people and I have learnt a lot from them all. I wish them all the best of luck.

Although this may sound contradictory to what I've just said, but personally I'm looking at this juncture in my life as a potential blessing in disguise. There is so much more in life to learn and do, so I'm going to grab this 'opportunity' with both hands and go balls-to-the-wall. Because at the end of the day, who knows what's going to happen next?

Catch you on the rebound.

Over, and out.