Name: Jenn Clore
Activity: Attended PixlFest
Description of Activity: Francis Tuttle Hosted Conference for “creative students across Oklahoma” focusing on Broadcasting and video, Graphic Communication and Web Development
Date(s) of Activity (also include times):
3/23/17 9:00a to 2:30pm
Student Evaluation:
Why did you select this activity?
This was a free conference that featured speakers from local businesses. I selected this activity because it covered topics of marketing and web development and I was able to hear real-world examples and challenges.
Would you recommend this activity for other students? Why or why not?
Yes. Although the other attendees were a lot younger than me and a little rowdy in some cases, if you can get past that, the speakers did offer advice or an insight on what it takes to succeed in the digital focused industries.
What did you like best about this activity?
I really enjoyed the Web Development track’s Industry Panel. The panel had a good mix of in-house and agency developers so they could provide advice on what it would be like to work with different clients or different departments within their own company. I also liked the variety of topics.
What did you like least about this activity? How would you make the activity better?
I was conflicted on which sessions to sit in on. I went between the marketing track and the web development track. I wish some of the sessions were a little closer together, but I was very grateful for the little floor footprints to follow. I think one of the big things to make it better would be to add more descriptions to the sessions. On the website, some sessions had no description at all. I think they all should have a couple sentences about the topic so I could make a better selection on which one to choose.
What is a creative idea/concept you can take away from this experience and possibly implement into your work?
I heard mentioned through a couple different sessions, whether it was Marketing or Web Development, was to find a mentor. Although the conference was more geared to younger students not yet working in the industry, I think the advice could still apply to me.
Some immediate ideas I can implement –
- Use as many social platforms as possible to help with SEO (Marketing Goes Digital 9a Session)
- Be generally involved in the tech community (Life After School 9:35a Session)
- Sign up for web design geared newsletters to keep up to date with the industry (Web Design Industry Panel 10:10a Session)
- Practice and take side or personal projects to help hone in your coding skills (How to Get Hired In Web 12:30p Session)
- Take advantage of all the training opportunists available to me (Entrepreneur Panel 1:30p Session)