The unOfficial BS Guide

2009-11-13T20:11:00.003-06:00

Hey BSers,

Sandwiches this Monday, November 16th from 12-1.

Why?

Town Hall Meeting.

Featuring?

Presentations by three fabulous people...

Michael Simon
Valerie Carpender
Caitlin Nolan

See you there.

BS Seminar this Monday!

2009-10-16T16:43:00.000-05:00

On Monday (10/19) we have a BS seminar with two presenters.

Zach Schloss and Ruth Sauvageau

440-12:00

BE THERE!! SANDWICHES!!

The Prez, on Science.

2009-10-08T12:33:00.003-05:00

"Because the truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources- it's about protecting free and open inquiry. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It's about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient- especially when it's inconvenient. Because the hightest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth, and greater understanding of the world around us."

-Barack Obama, December 20, 2008

Go BSV'ers!

rare bird, gets frisky.

2009-10-01T14:01:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY

Samso... Check it, Check it out.

2009-09-30T20:22:00.003-05:00

A line of wind turbines off the southern tip of Samso Island located in the Baltic Sea.

100% of the electricity used by the island is produced through these ten windmills and eleven more located on the island.

In 1997, Samso won a government competition to become a model renewable energy community. Before the competition the island was entirely dependent on oil and coal, both imported from its mainland, Denmark. Samso continues to remain a renewable energy island.

Nobody

2009-09-29T13:27:00.005-05:00

Hi all!

This Thursday the premiere of Nobody a film directed by Rob Perez will be showing at the State Theater.
(805 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis)

Nobody was filmed on the campus of your very own, MCAD. . Last summer.

The entertainment begins at 7:3o.
Red Carpet entrance by the cast.

Email brett_smith@mcad.edu by noon on Wednesday for tickets.

See you there.
R.S.

An after party available for those of age.

Tokyo

2009-09-16T10:56:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,
We just got word from Chris in Tokyo, Japan..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8MavVuJwDk&feature=youtube_gdata


Maybe YOU will be next BS'er in the city that never dims its lights...

BS Seminar this Monday!

2009-09-13T13:10:00.003-05:00

Hello All!

A mention of events for this coming week..

There will be a BS/ADV Seminar this Monday the fourteenth of September held in room 440.
Lunch will be served. . . Jimmy John's
Entertainment provided. . . Louisa Fry, Taylor Olson, and Suzy Martin, sharing their recent internship experiences.

The fun begins at 12:00. . Come gather 'round people!

This Thursday...The annual freshman welcome event will be held from 8-9:30pm.
More details to come, save the date.

2009-09-08T00:39:00.006-05:00

Hi all,
This is Ruth Sauvageau writing, the new intern for the Bachelor of Science Visualization and Advertising Department at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I am very grateful for this opportunity and excited to be your event planner! . . .Make sure to check your email in the coming days as all enrolled students in both the BSV and ADV programs will be receiving invitations to the department’s annual Freshman meet and greet.

The first BSV/ADV town hall meeting has come and gone, along with that, some important information has been shared with the community.. The fallowing is a recap of the event.. take it as you wish.

It was noted that Ben Kjos, SAC (Student Advisory Council) representative for the department will be concluding his term this December, the program is sad to see him leave as he has been the voice of our community for the past year. The Student Advisory Council meets every Wednesday, holding public meetings every other week. If anyone is interested in taking over Mr. Kjos' position as part of the student government beginning this spring semester please contact him or Kristin Anhorn for more information.

There was a revelation of exciting news at the Town hall gathering this past week. Jerry Allan, Prez of the BSV/ADV department informed us that the program is going to be joining forces with GreenTeam of New York City. The environmentally conscious agency will be collaborating with MCAD to develop an in-house student agency. The class will be cataloged as ‘Integrated Marketing’ and is planned to focus the majority of its attention to the collaboration of individual creative specialties and environmentally considerate solutions to a real-world problem.
There was also mention of a full time In-house agency to be constructed similar to the already established DesignWorks of MCAD. This agency would act as a third branch of GreenTeam, the other two located in New York and Australia. The difference however would be the clientele, as the MCAD branch would only cater to non-profit organizations.

The agency will be hiring a Project Manager position open to BS Viz graduates begining in the fall of 2010.

During the meeting Jerry gave a brief statement sharing his excitement for the MIMA student council. He explained how the President of the Association is placed within the department along with former president Matt Wilson. MIMA events are often recognized to be very accommodating to MCAD students in the past. MIMA events offer interesting presentations with exciting discussions afterwards. Oh, and I heard they cater the events too.. might want to check em’ out. Student memberships are free, visit www.mima.org

Nikki Crozier, Katie Bode, and Megan Baxter presented the beginning stages of the anticipated Spring 2010 opening of the Advertising student and alumni gallery exhibit. Early details of the show consisted of the experience becoming more than a curated gallery show, but also incorporating events such as portfolio reviews and mini-conferences.

The group informed us that they will be collecting process work for the show, a drop box is located near the advertising studios on the second floor of the main campus building. Comments for the show should be directed to the project coordinators.
nikki_crozier@mcad.edu
megan_baxter@mcad.edu
katie_bode@mcad.edu

A sign-up sheet for internship lectures was passed around throughout the crowds at the town hall meeting. Anyone who has completed an internship in the past few months is encouraged to provide a brief synopsis at an upcoming town hall gathering…

feeww, this got to be a long post . . .
Until next time. .

Take care,
Ruthie

Summer Hiatus

2009-05-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

Well, as any of you still checking this blog out I'm guessing you know its been a while since I last posted. Don't worry its only a hiatus! Summer will be busy for me, but don't worry Ruthie will be taking over in the fall. Good luck with all your summer adventures!

Roadtwip!

2009-05-08T16:28:00.001-05:00

Many of you like traveling and many of you like Tweeting correct? Well, why not combine the two?! That's what the team of three at Road Twip are doing. Kurt Daradics, Jolie O'Dell and Jonathan Dingman are traveling to 8 different cities in 2 weeks to show what social media can have to offer even to the offline world. They will be stopping at BIGOmaha, a conference in Omaha to get people together and show that there are cities other than LA and NYC that can contribute to the social media movement.

They're also doing this to show the impact and importance of including IRL in social media. Not only should you Tweet and befriend people online, but you should meet up without laptops on occasion. There can be a lot accomplished in real world chit chats that can be missed when its just text on a screen.

Check them out, its an interesting little endeavor / experiment I'll be keeping up with them to see what they have to say.

Piggy Backing Ads

2009-05-06T21:55:00.005-05:00

Lately I've been noticing a trend of one company piggy backing off another company's already established advertisement. BMW and a paint recycling company, RONA, have billboards that either counter a competitor's or plays off an already well establish company. We're getting so green now that we're even reusing ads.

BMW played off of Audi's billboard who taunted BMW saying, "Your move BMW". Apparantly BMW took it seriously and made a big move with its much bigger ad with a sly reply.

RONA did something similar without the aggressiveness. They took an already well established ad, iPod Nanos, and used it as an extension of their own ad. I wonder if there are rules for that, if not I could see lots of interesting possibilities.

Financial Aid Troubles?

2009-05-03T15:15:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking about creating a supplementary book / pdf for the study abroad one elaborating on the financial aid aspect of it. Where to find financial aid, explanation of the different kinds, ect. I've had some people say that it should be more in depth and I'm wondering what kind of information people are looking for specifically. If you could look at the financial aid section of the BS Study Abroad Guide and let me know what else you'd like to know I'd really appreciate it. Even if you haven't looked at it, what information do you look for or have trouble finding when considering financial aid?

Oops Monday Meeting Recap - Sara Mavec

2009-05-03T12:24:00.002-05:00

My sheet from the Monday meeting got recycled shortly after by accident so this recap is a bit late. I only managed to get info on Sara Mavec's presentation so I'll direct quote her on what she had to say.

I talked about my internship with L'etoile magazine, it has been ongoing
since September 2007. Mostly I participated in creative discussions and
attended MN fashion week events (doing various odd jobs) most recently I
was a production assistant at the Laura Fulk fashion show. L'etoile has a
lot of connections with MCAD (I heard about L'etoile from a fellow
student, and Laura Fulk is an MCAD alumni) it was fun to get my hands a little bit
in everything, but sometimes wished there was more for me to do.

Sara Mavec

More Internships! And Parking?

2009-04-27T08:04:00.002-05:00

Hey all of you out there its that time of the week again! Internship presentations in room 440 at noon with Quiznos. I know Jake, two others and I will be presenting our internships, but I'm not positive on who the others will be at the moment. This time of the year I find these meeting extra useful since more often than not my whole day is booked with school work and these allow me some break time a long with food I would otherwise have to pay for from the cafeteria.

Oh and I was wondering if anyone happened to catch that Saturday meeting on parking? Would be nice to know what is happening with MCAD even though it doesn't effect me much at all.

7-11 of MCAD

2009-04-22T21:18:00.004-05:00

Looks like some fellow students have come up with a blog of their own to show us what we can do around town for cheap. The concept behind their blog, MCAD 7-11, is to post up and coming events or places to go within 7 miles from school and under $11. This clever concept has been brought to you by Courtney Celley, Stephanie Polus, Ashley Lemon and Amber Gehrke. Right now they have dance nights, shows, worship groups and they plan on expanding on it throughout the semester. Who knows I could definitely see this turning into something big. I know I still find hidden gems around all the time and I've been here for nearly two years now.

Check out their blog MCAD 7-11!

Monday Meeting Recap - Internships: Tamara McCoy, Zach Schloss, Brendan Bergh

2009-04-21T16:28:00.003-05:00

We had quite a few internship presentations this last Monday compared to most. Tamara, Zach and Brendan all presented on what they took away from their internships.

Tamara was the first one up, she worked with Metro, a magazine based out of Minneapolis. Tamara took on the role with a lot of responsibilities in the production area. She would help make ads for Fashion Fight Night, but wished it would have been more about magazine production. If you're looking for an internship that helps with writing for a magazine there is plenty of that. One thing Tamara did say she needed to do was to ask for work and be assertive. If she wasn't she would have been underutilized and not had the chance to work on as much as she did.

Zach presented on his short internship involving developing the website for the Creating Context website. He focused on the designing of the website while Miranda coded it. Creating the design proved to be difficult seeing as there wasn't a pre-existing design library for it. Zach took what Design Works did for the exhibition invites, banners and hand offs then refined them to fit into a web environment.

Brendan worked at McKinsey in the design department based out of Chicago for a semester. He worked from Minneapolis, but went down there twice during the duration of the internship. While interning there he helped design McKinsey's quarterly and worked on some flash. He said he would like to work for them eventually so if you're interested in interning or working in Chicago and have a knack for design talk to Brendan.

Overall, I'd say this was a very successful Monday meeting. Hearing from people who worked in MCAD, Minneapolis and out of state. Next week there will be more internship presentations, check back for more details on exactly who and what will be discussed.

New Monday Meeting

2009-04-19T23:41:00.002-05:00

Turns out the speaker last Monday spoke a little to long so we're having a new one this coming Monday. Tomorrow, April 20th in 440, will house Tamara McCoy and Zach Schloss. They will be giving their internship presentations. This meeting won't go as long as the usual, probably 12:00 - 12:30 and there will be cookies and fruit so stop on by. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "I've learned at least one thing to look for in jobs or internships in every presentation." So it really is beneficial for you to go.

Stop on by!

Monday Meeting Recap - Cyclopath with Loren Terveen

2009-04-16T12:39:00.004-05:00

Sorry for delay, but its been a busy busy week. Anyways, this is the recap of the Monday meeting on April 13th. Loren Terveen came to speak about Cyclopath. Cyclopath is a geographical wiki dedicated to biking in the Twin Cities. For those of you who aren't in the know, a geographical wiki is pretty much a Google Map that anyone can edit roads / routes / landmarks / ect. to help people find the best way around specifically on a bike with Cyclopath.

He's working through the U and is actually looking for an intern. The intern would be someone who has a strong interest in "social importance" projects. He is looking for someone who can help with the design of the site. Its a little clunky and complicated now so IA and design skills would be key. I don't have Loren's email, but contact Kevin Byrne if you're interested, he'll know how to get a hold of Loren.

Monday Madness

2009-04-10T15:38:00.005-05:00

Come on down to room 440 at 12:00PM on Monday, April 13th to see the presentations from both students and professionals! Anyone who is interested in getting an internship geared towards interface design should definitely find time to make it over. For anyone who can't make it I'll post a brief overview of it that night, but it would be beneficial for you to see it in action. Below is an outline of what is to come compliments of Kristin Anhorn.

Dr. Loren Terveen is Professor of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction at University of Minnesota and is an expert in computer-human-factors. With a colleague he leads an interesting, wiki-enabled bicycling research project at the called Cyclopath, details at: http://mndaily.com/2008/10/19/geowiki-designed-u-brings-path-finder-technology-bikers

There is a summer (2009) internship under his direction at the U. for an MCADer. He needs interface design help from us, best fit seems likely be BS or Design major, upper division; student will have to have demonstrable interface design skills, but little programming.

Professor Terveen will join us at MCAD on Monday, April 13, from 12:00-12:30, to present his endeavor. Location is Main 440. Please join us if you are interested. Time allocation: 20 min. to present, 5-10 min. of Q+A. He will review portfolios, but not that day.

Zach Schloss - Online Catalogue and Alumni Visualization web sites

Tamara McCoy

Financial Aid with Studying Abroad

2009-04-08T20:46:00.002-05:00

When you study abroad you will need to sign a BS Consortium Agreement with the financial aid office. This way MCAD can pay the school you plan on attending while abroad. The way it works is that you pay MCAD the tuition and MCAD gives it to the new school. You will want to talk to Laura Link about this to make sure you fill it out correctly. You can download the pdf from the MCAD intranet here.

Unless you plan on studying abroad in one of the BSV's sanctioned schools (Currently as of Spring 09 only London) then your grants and scholarships directly from MCAD won't apply. You can still receive your FAFSA financial aid though.

Interface Design Internship

2009-04-06T21:12:00.000-05:00

Compliments of Kevin Byrne:

Dr. Loren Terveen is Professor of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction at University of Minnesota and is an expert in computer-human-factors. With a colleague he leads an interesting, wiki-enabled bicycling research project at the called Cyclopath, details at: http://mndaily.com/2008/10/19/geowiki-designed-u-brings-path-finder-technology-bikers

He, Career Services, and I have agreed to explore a paid summer (2009) internship under his direction at the U. for an MCADer. He needs interface design help from us, best fit seems likely be BS or Design major, upper division; student will have to have demonstrable interface design skills, but little programming.

Professor Terveen will join us at MCAD on Monday, April 13, from 12:00-12:30, to present his endeavor. Location is Main 440. Please join us if you are interested. Time allocation: 20 min. to present, 5-10 min. of Q+A. He will review portfolios, but not that day.

Creating Context Opening

2009-03-26T10:51:00.005-05:00

Come to the Creating Context gallery opening tonight! It officially opens at 6PM tonight and speakers will begin at 7PM, but come a little early just in case. The following people will be speaking:

7:00pm - Vince Leo
7:05pm - Lester Shen
7:15pm - Steve Candy
7:25pm - Shanita John
7:35pm - Jerry Allan

Many of your fellow BSers have worked incredibly hard to pull this together so lets get a big turn out for this. The event will be deliciously catered by many of the students who have a Bachelor of Science concentration in Culinary Arts. If you want a little preview of what's to come check out http://www.mcadcontextcreated.com/ for the online catalog that goes along with the gallery opening.

See you there!

Oh PS its been dead here because of my busyness with the gallery opening, but I have a few things to put up so check back within the next day or two.

Marketing With a Beat

2009-03-20T19:54:00.002-05:00

Check out this neat little video I found at Adrants. Its a video of a flight attendant from Southwest Airlines rapping the normally mundane PSA style pre-flight announcement. I think we should incorporate this methodology into more of our marketing if we want to continue to be successful.

Original article

Jamba Juice Fundraiser!

2009-03-18T12:10:00.003-05:00

Jamba Juice is all good to go. $4/each - 150 juices. They will be premade and set up on the round table in the student center on Wednesday from 10 - 2pm. But they couldn't do the previously arranged flavors for fund raisers. Here are the new flavors:

strawberries wild
pomagranite paradise - vegan
carribean passion

Come support your program and buy one or two or three! 20% or the sales will go to the Creating Context budget and we need more money to really pull this exhibition opening off like it should be.

Town Hall Meeting 3/16 Recap - Making What You Can of an Internship

2009-03-16T14:23:00.006-05:00

Today Keavy Mangan gave her talk on both her internship and externship.

Her internship was at Eden Prairie last spring I believe where she got to go off and pretty much do her own thing. She had the chance to help shoot a dvd all about puppies playing. Naturally any video aimed at kids with puppies would be fun to create. Doing the research and picking the breeds to use were some of her responsibilities. In the end she ended up being billed at production assistant which was a pleasant surprise. She also had a role in an online component Eden Prairie was working on independent of the dvd, but the name escapes me.

After the internship she hopped in her car and headed for California. Upon arriving she started her externship at ABC where she quickly found out she was labeled as "the intern" so she needed to take the initiative. By presenting ideas, asking to do work, constantly sending out emails and networking she eventually took a hold of her internship and made it much more than those who sat back to and I quote Keavy, "sit back and read Perez Hilton". She was involved with http://www.abcinnercircle.com/ where she helped with the research end of finding out the best content to put up for polls and other resources for the die hard ABC fans that the site is geared towards.

Immediately after Keavy commented on how she turned her ABC internship into more than it could've been I knew that would be the most important thing (or at least top 5) I took away from it. Presenting ideas, asking to do work and contacting people in an internship should be one of your top priorities. Not only will this teach you more, it will open up opportunities for future careers or externships.

Monday Reminder

2009-03-16T11:26:00.002-05:00

This is for all of you subscribed to this blog. Don't forget about the Town Hall Meeting in 440 at 12:00PM. Free Pizza! Look at the previous post if you'd like more details on who is speaking and what is going to be talked about.

The Town Hall Meeting

2009-03-14T01:34:00.003-05:00

There's a Town Hall Meeting coming up this Monday on 3/16 at 12:00PM in 440. As usual there will be pizza for lunch and free food is always good. Keavy Mangan will be giving a presentation on her internship and externship. There are openings for this meeting if you're looking to present your internship or externship. Like I said in my last post the presentations have a lot to offer when it comes to deciding on your own internships. It helps a lot with knowing what kind of characteristics you'll look for in your own internship.

Check it out I bet your 12-1 block isn't going to be as productive as this meeting will be. Oh and the Creating Context Exhibition for the BS program is coming up on March 26th so mark down in your calendar.

Internship Presentations

2009-03-12T02:19:00.004-05:00

Don't forget, if you had an internship last semester or have one this semester you need to present your experience during a town hall meeting. Being able to present on your internship really allows you to look back and see what worked for you and what didn't. The whole point behind internships is for you to get insight into whether or not you want to pursue a specific career after you're done with MCAD.

There's a lot you can you talk about too. Whether or not you got paid can make a huge difference in how well you're utilized within the company. The specific position could be completely different from what you expected it to be or it could be spot on. Even the size of the company you work for has an impact on the final result. The biggest thing for me in the internship / externship presentations is the group dynamic within the company. How well you were able to adapt to the office politics of where you worked; some places are really relaxed and promote comradery while others focus on the individual. Tell your story and you will be fine.

Contact Kristin Anhorn in Academic Services to schedule your presentation, the available dates usually go until the end of April. This year the dates available are: 3/16, 4/13 and 4/27.

Keeping Active to Keep on Time

2009-03-10T15:01:00.004-05:00

I recently gave a presentation for Jerry's Creative and Critical Thinking class and he recommended that I post it on here to help some of you with stress and time management.

The basic goal of my presentation was to show that being physically active even in these cold months can really help with stress levels and time management. When we exercise the connection between your neurons are strengthened making it easier to process and store information. The endorphins released 30min after you begin a physical activity will give you a euphoric feeling because the pain receptors will be blocked. The combination of these two events will lower your stress level and clear your mind.

Even though it doesn't give you anymore physical time, the time you have available to you will be utilized more effectively. Research has suggested that as little as 30minutes of physical activity a week will lower your stress and make you more resistant to something that would normally stress you out.

Stress and time management is something all of us deal with; if you can do something to help yourself with either of those you should take advantage of it. I created a mini-chart for anyone to keep track of how often you're physically active and your general stress level over a period of a week. I promise you'll be more relaxed and clear minded if you really go all out with this.

I work out two or three times a week and ride my bike five miles to and from work and I can honestly say I'm much more happy than I was when I was hunkered down in my apartment or school 23 hours of the day. Use the workout equipment at school or do some simple stuff at home, but if you keep your body active your mind will follow.

100th Post

2009-03-05T20:04:00.004-06:00

Happy 100th birthday to the BS blog! Its been a long time coming, but it feels good to make it to 100. 200 here we come!

Who here is feeling swamped? I know I am! Study abroad essays, Creating Context exhibition, presentations, work, school and everything else in this crazy life seems to be colliding into March. Don't forget those scholarships are due in a little over a week.

Congratulations and I bid you adieu

2009-03-04T21:20:00.006-06:00

Congrats to Ines, Nick and Abbey! These three individuals were accepted into the London study abroad program for next semester. They work hard and definitely deserve the trip. I found a website with hundreds of British Slang so read up, and good luck!

Oh and here's one I found especially interesting...

Snog - to kiss, usually with tongues. A childish word, mainly used by teenagers ("Cor, Sally got a snog off John after the disco !") or humorously by others ("Fancy a snog luv ?").

"Snogging" sounds so much worse than kissing.

Creating Context Exhibition

2009-03-03T18:57:00.002-06:00

Hey gang,

I'm forwarding this message on to you from Lauren so we can get some final touches to our now 3 week away exhibition!!! A couple of you were in my media class and some of those stop motions were memorable; Courtney's stop motion about lawn nomes comes to mind.

Greetings!
The BS/AD Creating Context exhibition team is requesting the following:
-Entertaining humorous videos created in school (stop motion, marketing etc.)
-Team manuals (prefer final copy)
-Volunteers for catering, installation, etc.
Also, check out the splash page for our exhibition website. Bookmark it
and check in soon for the full website!
http://www.mcadcontextcreated.com/

Questions?
Ask Lauren Schaefer, Miranda Rensch, Jamie Otto, Alison Welwood, Derek
Klamerus, Chris Havranek

Documenting Your Work

2009-03-02T10:56:00.002-06:00

I along with a lot of the rest of you have never really come up with an effective way to present our work. Jake Szymanksi put on a presentation for his Creative and Critical class addressing just this. Although his presentation was much more elaborate than this post I hope his template can still help you. Jake designed a simple and intuitive template to fit any of your works into. Being able to show what your final product is and the process of how you got their for job or internship interviews is key. However, you must keep it brief enough to keep their attention without glossing over it to quickly.

Jake's template can be downloaded here and doesn't need to be "followed to the T", but I find it incredibly useful when considering how much space I should dedicate to each aspect of documentation.

New URL

2009-02-25T22:34:00.002-06:00

Oops my mistake, uploaded an old version of the guide, but I have since fixed it in the old post.

For those of you who don't feel like scrolling....
New BS Study Abroad Guide

Official MCAD Study Abroad Pre-Departure Checklist

2009-02-25T15:52:00.006-06:00

If you're planning on studying abroad there is A LOT you need to consider. Everything from finding out if your credit cards will work where you're going all the way to getting your laptop registered with your insurance company in case it gets lost in Rome on your way to Berlin.

Alexis Akagawa is in charge of all study abroad applications both to and from MCAD. She has put together a very details checklist to make sure everything is taken care of before you leave. This checklist should be used in combination with the Study Abroad Preparation Guide specifically for the BS program.

Pre-Departure Checklist pdf

Study Abroad Preparation Guide

2009-02-25T15:23:00.006-06:00

After fighting with all the red tape that is the MCAD server. With help from Nick Dahl and several faculty, this pdf has been put together to help you study outside of MCAD. This guide will walk you through:

Finding a school
Steps after finding a school
Finances
Housing
What to do when you're there
What you can do after the study abroad is over

The BS Study Abroad Guide pdf is meant to make studying abroad much more accessible to the BS students. We are quite often left in the dark with how to pursue it or if its even possible. If you follow this guide that I put together in the process of setting up my own study abroad plans for Tokyo you can supplement it with the Official MCAD Study Abroad Checklist.

This pdf can also be printed off and turned into a booklet if you're the type of person who likes something physical.

Oh Snow!

2009-02-21T18:02:00.004-06:00

Hey just thought I'd throw this out there. As of 9PM tonight I wouldn't park on the snow emergency routes. Here is a little FAQ on the snow emergency parking rules.

MIMA - Inbox Insanity Recap

2009-02-20T14:38:00.003-06:00

For those of you who missed the MIMA event on Wednesday I posted a recap of the talk on my blog. Figured I would link it rather than double post.

Creating a Portfolio as a BS Student

2009-02-20T13:02:00.005-06:00

I along with a lot of you out there have been working on creating portfolios for jobs or internships. I've been struggling with how to put an entire marketing plan in a portfolio and how do you do it without looking like you were responsible for the whole thing. I talked with Christine Daves in career services and she gave me some helpful hints. I'll be brief so not to post my entire conversation.

Create case studies of your marketing plan or website design

Goal
Research
Solution

Keep them concise, like websites people don't read portfolios they skim them

Use visuals instead of explanations when applicable

If you have any hints or tips for others out there (and me!) feel free to post them or let me know and I'll throw them up on the blog.

Its a Plane, its a Bird, its NOT Another iPhone Ad

2009-02-17T21:15:00.002-06:00

Check this ad out. Its a LG ad for their new Arena phone. Call me crazy, but this has an awfully familiar feel to it wouldn't you say? Who knows, maybe it'll be like the Creative Zen was to iPods, ultimately better, but never takes off. One can hope...

MIMA - The Future of Email Marketing

2009-02-17T10:56:00.004-06:00

Oops this one is a bit late, planned on posting it right after yesterday's Town Hall Meeting. Anyways, tomorrow (Wednesday @ 7AM Carpooling from MCAD) there will be a MIMA get together focusing on the future of email marketing. All of us have been the recipients (or victims) of email marketing so where is it heading now?

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Branding / creative services
Interactive marketing
Market research
Public relations

You'll walk away knowing more about:

The latest email marketing best practices
Emerging technologies
Future trends in personal, one-to-one marketing

The event details page has everything you need to know about the event and you NEED TO REGISTER for the event on that same page. If you're not already a MIMA member its free to become one if you're a student.

Monday BS Town Hall Meeting

2009-02-14T03:39:00.002-06:00

Don't forget boys and girls there is a meeting Monday at noon in 440 discussing everything important about the BS program. ADV students are really encouraged to come as well seeing as we are a family now. Three students will be presenting their internships and from previous experience I really have learned what to look for in internships and most importantly what to avoid. There will be ample food and if anything motivates us, its food!

PS thanks for everyone responding to my blog inquiries

BS Exhibition Work Days

2009-02-12T14:17:00.003-06:00

Friday 02/13 and 02/20 will be work days for anyone who has work going up in the BS Exhibition. It is truly to your advantage to use this time since Lauren Schaefer will be there to help you make sure your prints and work fit within the guidelines. There are sign all over the 4th floor, but I'll post more details when I get them from Lauren.

Update From Lauren

Details:
Friday 13th afternoon (noonish) and Friday 20th all day
in room 420
I will be there to help with specific projects and answer any questions
about the exhibition and will be looking for volunteers to help with the
final execution. Some of the others on the team will be there too.
There will be snacks.

Hey You! Do You Blog?!

2009-02-11T23:38:00.002-06:00

Zach and Jake came to me with a good idea for the blog. There's a new gadget for blogger that allows you to share links of blogs that you'd like to share with others and I KNOW that BSers blog and tweet and all those other fun time suckers out there. Go ahead and send me links / titles to your blog and I'll be sure to update the list as they come in. We need to stick together, we are vastly outnumbered by the BFAs.

Oh and the study abroad PDF is done and ready for uploading / handing out, but I need somewhere to host it. Any ideas?

Bloc Party? More?

2009-02-09T19:46:00.002-06:00

I'm thinking about creating some sort of new contest for the blog again and I'm wondering if anyone has any bands they're looking forward to coming to First Ave. I usually don't get to much feedback on the blog so I'll ask around. Some bands coming up are...

Bloc Party
M.S.I.
Cloud Cult
Animal Collective
Ect

Hold a Meeting!

2009-02-04T13:49:00.002-06:00

Compliments of Nick D.

Town Hall Recap

2009-02-03T13:03:00.001-06:00

First on the agenda was the What We Do Show:

We are currently looking for a couple more pieces and if you know of any projects please let Lauren Schaefer know. We will be inviting over 4,500 people, both alumni and employers so its only to your benefit if you have your stuff shown. If you have your work up you will have 4 process sheets and a final product area. We really need some more process work too, it can be on a napkin with ketchup stains, we don't care. Anything work related should be directed towards Lauren Schaefer

Next on the table was our new BS SAC rep:

Lauren Baier has stepped down and now Benjamin Kjos is our new SAC rep. He will be aggregating ideas we have for next years all school project (this year was Dear President), it will be much more student influenced rather than handed down from the top. Wednesday Feb 11th with the next SAC meeting where the What We Do Show will be discussed in regards to getting SAC money. So come on down and support the BS program getting us some cash money.

Study Abroad came up last:

On Febuary 4th in 434 there will be a speaker discussing all about studying abroad. This will be extremely beneficial to anyone considering studying abroad especially when it comes to the tricky world of BS study abroad. On another note, the study abroad information I have been putting together to help make studying abroad as a BS student more accessible should be ready to go live in the next week or two at the most. So keep an eye out for the meeting and packet / pdf that should be showing up soon if you're interested.

Caling Town Hall

2009-02-02T10:48:00.002-06:00

This is a reminder to all of you who read this before their studio classes. The Town Hall meeting is going on in 420 at 12:00. We will be talking about the upcoming 10 year Exhibition and the upcoming semester. According to the posters there will be a pizza monster in some form at the meeting some come see what that's all about.

I'll post a brief summary of what comes out of the meeting within a few hours of the meeting for those of you who can't make it...

Time Explosion?

2009-01-28T18:56:00.003-06:00

Anyone else find it difficult to manage all 15 of their obligations with school and work these past few weeks? I completely missed an appointment that I was really looking forward to on Tuesday because my brain and iCal told me it was the same time, but Wednesday. Part of me thinks its because I'm over loaded and the other part thinks its just getting used to having more than zero obligations from winter break. I think I'm going to have a 2nd "traditional" calendar at home and use my iCal to update it and keep me informed on the road.

I'll see if that works and report back when I find out how that works.

Creative and Critical Thinking

2009-01-26T14:44:00.002-06:00

If I had to pick one class that I have the most hope for on a personal level I'd say it would be Creative and Critical thinking. This seems like one of those classes that you will come out of with a new perspective on either what you want to pursue or more likely how you will pursue your ambition. Applying this class to personal and professional life is something I'll be looking forward to.

Viz Studio is another one I'm excited to be apart of. It was fun (and different) working with Kris Knutson's class last semester. Actually being in the class this semester gives me a new perspective than I normally would coming into it. The fact that I played the role of the client before the student gives me some insight into how they feel. It was difficult in ways being the client that normally wouldn't be the case though; being a classmate with the group members then turning around and being their client 30min later had it's challenges.

Town Hall Meeting

2009-01-23T13:50:00.002-06:00

Looks like we are kicking this semester off with a Town Hall Meeting on Feb 2nd in 440 12-1PM. Topics of discussion include but are not limited to: What We Do Show (BS 10 Year Exhibition), this semester and any questions or comments you have.

We would like as many people as possible to especially come to this one. We have some up dates and questions for you concerning the What We Do Show. There will be lots of prospective employers viewing the work up so its only to your benefit to come hear what we have to say.

And as always there will be PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA

Ski Trip?

2009-01-23T01:06:00.003-06:00

Just a heads up, Jake proposed a ski trip so keep an eye out for it. I haven't skied since 7th grade maybe? So this could be a trip for those looking for a nice get away from school or comedic relief.

Quick Tip

2009-01-22T01:18:00.002-06:00

I promise I'm not getting anything out of this, but Netflix is a great alternative to cable right now. Instant watch recently came to Macs in November which has a TON of TV episodes and documentaries that you can watch through your Mac as long as your connected to the internet. Its only $9 a month for 1 movie at a time with no limit per month. That's less than 2 movies from Blockbuster a month. I had a few people over and watched "Man on Wire" about the french guy who tight rope walked in between the twin towers a couple of decades ago illegally and I'm catching up on Heroes and 30 Rock...

Can anyone think of a contest or game that could get people back into the BS blog after the break? I usually have about 15-20 people go to the blog a day, but lately after the winter break its been about 10 give or take a couple...who knows if you help me out maybe I can get you into a show at First Ave...

First Day!

2009-01-20T12:25:00.003-06:00

Today is the day and I know we have all be looking forward to it. This semester will BS Exhibition. Everything from finding speakers to getting the catering menu down takes a ton of work and problem solving so if you see Jamie, Alison, Lauren, Derek, Miranda or me give them a great big hug and tell them it'll be OK.

On a side note, how about that inauguration huh? I'm glad that someone who seems very capable is running our country now. Our problems won't be fixed over night or over the next year most likely though. I'm definitely optimistic for the next 4 years (8 if he does a damn good job) and hoping for an improved economy somewhat by next spring when I will be set free from MCAD into the real world...

Introducing Jack Randol

2009-01-16T14:29:00.003-06:00

Jack Randol is in a land far far away, but don't worry we can still keep up with his daily happenings. He's in Spain right now doing study abroad and he will be blogging regularly to keep us up to date. His Blog is entitled Esplendor en la Yerba (Bonus points if you can translate the title). So with my efforts in getting the study abroad info out to the BS students this works out perfectly with someone actually doing it. Either check back here or subscribe to Jack's blog to get all his adventures beamed to you over the internet.

And Here We Go Again

2009-01-12T16:44:00.003-06:00

The time has come and we're all on our way back to Minneapolis for school once again. I've potentially (fingers crossed) started class in 15 minutes assuming I can get signed in even though the MCTC ECON class is capped out. If anyone ever plans on taking a MCTC class that MCAD doesn't offer or for whatever reason PLEASE start the process about a month and a half or two ahead of time.

One thing I'm hoping to get done for the blog and BSers soon is the study abroad information. All the content is done I just have to make it look pretty for print and online. I think I'll have the booklet master himself work on that part if he's available. If not I'll probably be making a call out to the rest of you

The Shining, Director's Cut

2008-12-31T11:28:00.001-06:00

Looks like they're redoing the Shining...

HolidayZzz

2008-12-21T11:20:00.002-06:00

I'll try to keep this blog periodically updated through the holidays and if anyone has an event or story they would like to share with the rest of us please let me know @ chavranek@mcad.edu. Nothing too exciting has happened here yet other than getting pulled over on the way home by a Wisconsin cop for "A dirty windshield", he said he was going to give me a ticket, but his printer wasn't working. Last time I checked tickets were hand written...

Anyone else have interest trips home?

Two Shows You Need To Go To

2008-12-08T13:28:00.004-06:00

First one is tonight at the 7th Street Entry with STOOK!, Invincible Kids and Military Special. My Marketing / PR class is getting the chance to our final presentations at First Avenue and have 3 of the 4 bands we worked with perform afterward. Tickets are only $5 and it starts at 8PM so it accommodates even our tiny wallets. You should come, it'll be like a MCAD concert at First Ave.

The 2nd one you should go to is at the 7th Street Entry, but on Tuesday the 9th. Claire Taubenhaus is playing with The Forest and Mages. Price is also $5 and doors are at 8PM. All of the bands have First Avenue employees in them, I've heard Claire sing before and I truely recommend you come to this show. If you have to pick between the first show or this one, I'd say go for Claire's show. She describes herself as Neo-Soul / acoustic and honestly I'm not too into that type of music for the most part, but her voice is damn good. Watch out American Idol here comes someone new!

I'll be at both the shows so come join me and relieve some of that finals stress.

Larsen and Best Buy

2008-12-05T11:55:00.003-06:00

Today Lousia, Jake, Lauren, Miranda, Andrew and I went over to Larsen to brain storm for their client Best Buy. They are working on a website @15 with the intentions of giving teenagers between 13 and 17 a voice in causes that matters to them.

Larsen was actually a pretty neat place; we got the chance to walk around and see the place and how they have it set up seems like somewhere I would want to be. The office is in south Minneapolis occupying the bottom 2 floors of an office building. Their layout is free form, not confining similar positions to specific sections around the office. The cubicles aren't much of a cubicle, more like a mini studio where they allow their employees to setup how they please.

We brain stormed with David Molanphy, Bud Snead and Jennifer Parks all of whom were incredibly fun to work with. We tossed both big and small ideas (though most were major changes) around the table on how to better target their audience, keep them coming back and convey the message without misinterpretation. All of us really enjoyed it, coming out of it Lauren mentioned how she wished she could have a job like that comparing it to the girls in Minority Report who were submerged in goo and thought of things for their whole life.

Thanks again to Kevin Byrne for bringing this up to us and you can definitely count me in if something like this comes up again.

There's Time for Sleep When You're Dead

2008-12-03T08:04:00.004-06:00

As promised I will divulge the secrets of how to easily go what is now 25 hours without sleep and I'm aiming for 36 if I time managed correctly. If you want to find out what works and what lacks the early morning perk you've come to the right place.

I use Red Bull at work a lot which works OK, but it just forces your eyes to stay open you don't actually feel awake unless you drink obscene amounts.

Monster and Rock Star both have the same effects as Red Bull and you can pretty much assume anything else in a can does the same unless there's some new secret ingredient.

Good old fashioned coffee worked like a charm for me last night and today. Make it a little bit strong in a french press and you're set. Unfortunately it worked a little too well and I was forced to skip my planned 4 hour nap this morning though.

One thing that has always worked for me and as promised doesn't include a crash afterwards is that 5 Hour Energy Shot. They don't quite last 5 hours, its more like 3.5, but there is no crash unlike coffe after repeated use and normal energy drinks. Its main ingredients are something like 2,000% of your vitamin B6 and B12 so I guess you could consider this a more "natural" alternative to the traditional energy drinks.

Falling Down

2008-12-01T19:54:00.002-06:00

I along with 97% of the rest of MCAD feel like its hard to keep up with all 5 classes equally without letting a few of them slip between the cracks. Not only do I have 5 classes, but I have an internship, MIMA (sometimes) and a job so time management is a big issue with me especially when it comes to time for myself.

One thing that works for me is to take 30 minutes or so and write down absolutely everything you need done for the next two weeks. Order them by priority and due date then stick to the list. This helps especially with my ADD on school work. I find myself being a busy bee on one assignment then think "Oh that would be a good idea for this other assignment!" and bounce from assignment to assignment not getting nearly as much done as I would sticking to one. If there is something that you really don't want to forget just use sticky notes on your mac (or in real life for those of you that occasionally close your laptops) and have one for future ideas.

Tomorrow I'll post reviews on my favorite pick-me-ups for this time of the year.

Guest Speaker: Josh Youman

2008-11-27T13:33:00.002-06:00

Josh Youman, of Youman Resources LLC, possesses 18 years of management and human resources experience within large and small companies here in the Twin Cities, continues as a business-entrepreneurial consultant specializing in talent acquisition (recruiting) and talent management (HR) programs.

Josh comes to the MCAD BS program as a guest on Monday, Dec. 1.

- From 11-12 Josh will jury final presentations by seniors in their Seminar course.
- Then from 12-1 he will offer bag-lunch seminar attendees his encapsulation of some of the key “career planning” topics of interest to us all, specifically how to present yourself to a business or institution when pursuing and finalizing upcoming internship/s. There will be Q+A opportunity.
- Location is 440 Main.
- Kristin promises us lunch.

All BS/Advertising -- and interested BFA’s -- cordially invited to either or both events.

Two countries divided by a common language...

2008-11-26T09:22:00.004-06:00

and a serious lack of good breakfast.

So I've been here, in London, for a little over two months now and
definitely feel that I have acclimated to the surroundings and culture. I
now call my sneakers/trainers, the elevator/the lift, the bathroom/the loo
(no wait... I still say bathroom) and my stocking cap is a beanie. I no
longer go pee, I go wee and all girls are birds. I can successfully
navigate the tube and the buses after the locals have poured 300 beers and a shot of Sambuca down my throat and I can put the hurt on a plate of fish and chips.

When I first got here I couldn't understand a damn word anybody was
saying, especially when they got drunk. It sounds like they have a
mouthful of baked beans, which in fact they probably do.

Since being here I have learned that the British have an unnatural
affinity for Heinz baked beans.
I guess a can of Heinz baked beans goes with every type of food, at any
time of day and is even a delicious meal all by itself.

On more than one occasion, I have seen students at the University happily
eating an entire can of cold baked beans for lunch. Feeling bad for one of
these poor unfortunate college students, who was actually a friend of
mine, I offered to buy him lunch. He gave me a confused yet satisfied look
and said he already had lunch and then offered to buy me lunch as he
smiled and pulled out another can of beans from his bag. I respectfully
declined and decided to save the cold bean eating for the next time I'm
out camping and am really drunk or for when I don't have any money and
haven't eaten in like three days.

For seventy-one days and counting, I have been waking up slightly past
noon and venturing out into the grey, wet, urban, breakfast barren tundra
that is London in search of anything that might resemble an omelette or a
pancake. I have since discovered many a breakfast phenomena that will
haunt me in my sleep for years to come. Here is a brief list of my
findings.

Heinz baked beans on toast.
Need I say more?

Egg sandwich with bacon.
Sounds like breakfast right? Well the English are a slippery breed of
people. I have ordered this meal about 13 times now in hopes that I will
get a breakfast sandwich but am deceived every time. Pure disappointment
when I am given an Egg Salad sandwich with bacon strips in it. I don't
even like Egg Salad sandwiches much less as my first meal of the day.

The Traditional English Breakfast.
If I wanted to end it all and have a massive heart attack this would
definitely be my silver bullet. About six different types of meat ranging
from bacon, sausage, ham, steak, ribs, mutton and what ever else they can
chop up, out back. Accompanied with a couple eggs, potatoes, mushrooms,
tomato (pronounced tomaaaaato), and then covered in ketchup.

Thick cut strips of bacon with melted cheddar on top.
Ok, this isn't really breakfast, but one day I was out on my quest for
breakfast and decided to ease my brain and stop in at a sports pub to
watch some NFL. Famished from not eating breakfast in like three years, I
took a peak at the appetizer menu and was accosted by this monstrosity.

Anyway, I have started to get the feeling that my mission is doomed and
think I'll have better luck trying to find the Abdominal Snowman or giving
The Queen a piggyback ride.

Cheers to everybody back in MPLS.
r
Brought to you by Rick Hundley

Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-25T10:15:00.002-06:00

Turns out I did make it to the Thanksgiving feast. I'm glad I came an hour later to avoid the giant line (I started all the way back in the sky way last year) with zero wait it was much more enjoyable. The only complaint I had was the lettuce was wilted a bit. Other than that the mash potatoes and stuffing was as good as ever. The 12 foot tall fire kept the room more than adequately heated, but the lack of pilgrim music left a little to be desired from the ambiance of the room. I wasn't surprised to see nearly the whole school there seeing as the one unifier between BS and BFA students is free food.

I'm going to traveling back to Chicago today, but I'll try to keep the blog updated with fun family antics and other adventures I have away from Minneapolis.

Good News

2008-11-24T15:56:00.002-06:00

Good news, it looks like Rick Hundley will be posting a couple times all the way from London. Apparently he has some good stories from his studies abroad. Everyone has heard stories from students abroad and they're usually pretty interesting/eventful/unusual/crazy/ect. So stay tuned for some of those.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to Turkey Time tonight so if someone wouldn't mind posting a review of how it was that would be greatly appreciated.

I'm Sick of You

2008-11-20T18:46:00.003-06:00

Sick of being sick that is. I did have a lot of time to work on the study abroad packet which was nice but missed 3 classes in doing so...
I feel like this blog has been lacking content lately so I'm going to look for a fresh voice for the next post or two. If you're interested in posting on the BS Blog let me know @ chavranek@mcad.edu. You can post whatever you want be in MCAD or something personal you think people will find interesting.

Free Haircuts!

2008-11-19T11:00:00.002-06:00

Who doesn't like free things?! Especially free things we all need even though we all don't get them as often as we should. Come join me and the rest of the school for Spa day. You can get: haircuts, massages, hand-writing analysis (who doesn't want to know their future?) and snacks. 6pm-9pm in the CC.

We Want You!

2008-11-17T15:24:00.001-06:00

Hey EVERYBODY, we want YOU to participate in the upcoming BS exhibition!
Please give us YOUR process documents! This can be proposals, rough
drafts, mind maps, sketches, etc. These DO NOT have to be polished final
work. We want to represent the ideation and process that occurs in the
program. There is a turn in box in 420 that says Give us your process
documents.
Questions? Ask Lauren S. Jamie O. Suzy M. Derek K. Alison W.
Thanks!

Brainstorming with Larson Design

2008-11-14T13:49:00.002-06:00

Last call...

To get on board for a brainstorming session with Larsen Design and Interactive.

Eligibility: BS student, with interest and at least some skills in Interactive and/or Games – UPDATE: Paul Wharton, MCAD ’79 and VP Creative at Larsen, initially asked for lower division MCADers, but revised things and told me to invite all of you.

What: Brainstorming session led by Larsen Design and Interactive. Their client is Best Buy. Audience of eventual product/s = teenagers.

When: Friday, Dec. 5, morning slot exact hour TBD, max. time will be 2 hours

Other: Paul will offer each participant an honorarium, $ TBD.

Respond: To Kevin, by Friday, Nov. 21, > kbyrne@mcad.edu

2:30AM

2008-11-13T02:27:00.003-06:00

I'm up and thinking of a lot...

I don't normally do these but check out this online petition for baby wolves it struck a chord with me
Check out Games for Good these concepts are up and coming or so I hope
Take advantage of what you can at MCAD its our last chance before the real world
Change.gov here's to hoping the president catches up to the rest of the world. If anyone can Obama's online marketing team can.
Contrary to what I said above, don't take school to the extreme. Make sure you take care of your indulgences (thank you futures) it helps I promise.
Mad Men check it out. Its actually really good

Web Content Seminar Summary

2008-11-12T12:52:00.002-06:00

Today I along with 7 other students woke bright and early at 6:30AM to go see Ginny Redish talk about web content. A lot of what she had to cover was what we already do, but it was nice to see it being conveyed to people who are in the business now. Some key points she went over were....

Don't write long winded paragraphs keep content short and concise (bullet points like these)
Find what people are looking for and keep the terminology consistent with the content
When applicable put information links in question form, but don't make your site a FAQ

The possibility for networking was there, but most of the students who came felt like it was much less of an option compared to the official MIMA socials where you can "at least comment on whether or not they're drinking beer or wine", paraphrased from Kevin Byrne.

MIMA Breakfast

2008-11-10T13:33:00.004-06:00

For anyone interested in web content, you really should try to make it to this MIMA breakfast. I know you've seen the posters around and maybe even the email sent out, but I want to really drive it in that this will be a good opportunity to see whats going on out in the real world.

You can register here
Then register to go to the breakfast @ Event RSVP
Then meet us at 7AM on Wednesday 12th in the main gallery for
carpooling

Ryan pointed out that some people are having problems registering for the event after becoming a MIMA member. If you follow the above process you should be fine, but I'll copy Ryan's workaround just in case.

"This is the link we were using in class to work around registration problems.

If you are registered as a student, and the MIMA site keeps bringing you
to the "Purchase" page when you try to register for the November 12 DO NOT
give your credit card information.

Instead, manually go to this URL:
http://mima.org/events/register.asp?eventID=126

This is the "RSVP" page (which is what students, who attend free, are
supposed to use.) You may have to log in again when you get here, but you
should now be able sign up for the event with no charge.
If you return to this page, it will now show that you have RSVP'd and are
registered for the event."

Recap of BS Exhibition Meeting

2008-11-06T12:58:00.002-06:00

For those of you who missed the meeting today I'll do a quick recap.

Jamie and the crew presented on what they have planned so far and honestly I'm pretty impressed with where they're taking it. They plan on starting in the hall with student work then moving to the gallery in 148 by showing intern / extern work followed by work prior students are doing in actual jobs. They plan on having the gallery setup like one of those innovative offices you hear about like IDEO has setup where its a very casual and relaxed environment, but still retains the professional feel. One way they'll accomplish this is by planning on having a large island in the middle of comfy couches to relaxe and look over everything thats being displayed.

Kudos to you team What We Do (made that name up for blog posting purposes) we still have a while to go, but I'm excited to see how it turns out.

BS Exhibition

2008-11-05T19:00:00.002-06:00

Gather in room 440 at 12pm tomorrow for our meeting on the upcoming 10 year exhibition of the BS program. We will be discussing the show and asking for input both on what you want to see in the show and what you think of the show itself. Bring anything you have that shows your process. Mind maps, sticky notes, sketches, napkins with doodles or whatever you prefer as long as its process and you want to see it on the wall bring it in. This is a chance for you to show the school, alumni and possible future employers what we do so make it count!

Dear Mr. Obama

2008-11-05T00:57:00.002-06:00

Looks like we can address those projects to Barack Obama! Here's to hoping for more affordable schools, better job security and a more sound economy. It won't be an easy journey and wouldn't have been regardless of who was elected, but I know if anyone can Barack Obama can.

A Boy and His Story

2008-11-04T11:39:00.002-06:00

Well as some of you know Nick Dahl won the Girl Talk tickets and this is his story...

A sea of young hipster girls binge drinking, dance their brains out and
passing out on the floor. The experience was priceless. Really, I didn’t
pay anything to go. Upon arrival at the Venue, we had arrived in time for
the second opener Death Set. The groups drummer entered the stage with his
half bottle of grey goose vodka, ensure the promise of a solid beat and
steady rhythm right? Or not, I think the combination of hard liquor and
dance beats works for their music, kids just want to have fun. The group
consisted of two vocalist guitar players and a drummer (drinking grey
goose). They had a little help from a i-pod playing the DJ portion of
their sound.

Then the stage got cleared and set for Gregg Gills, the main floor was
packed, and the pushing began. The lights dimmed the smoked rolled and
then he appeared on stage. The man the legend the one and only girl talk.
Soon I was overt taken by a sea of sweaty girls that just came to dance.
Some dude spilled his beer on my favorite hoodie, but I had been warned
about what I was getting myself into. So there I was beer soaked and all,
but I stood my ground and fought off bright teen boppers. Earlier in the
night when I saw two drunk girls fighting and one passing out on the
railing before getting hauled outside, it knew it would be a long night.

The beats began the crowed flooded the stage, it was nuts. Then girl Talks
alien accomplish began shooting the toilet paper with a leaf blower. I’m
pretty sure they went through two 24 pack s of charmin double rolls
through the duration of the set. Gregg gillis has a great talent for
mashing a wide variety of music genres into one solid sound. He is up
there doing what he loves. The set went on, he lost the shirt and just
rocked out to his laptop. His set up of two mics, a sampler and one lap
top was simple yet effective. The night went on, the kid danced, I left at
before it was over, because I got up at 6:45 am to go vote!

Recap of Todays Seminar

2008-11-03T15:43:00.005-06:00

For those of you who missed out on the meeting we discussed a few things...I'll keep it brief so people actually read it.

1. Study abroad information is currently being gathered and reviewed by me to implement into the blog so BS students have something to refer to when preparing their own study abroad plans

2. "The What We Do" committee is having a meeting Thursday at 12:00 in room 440 to help determine what pieces we will be using for the BS 10 year show next semester. You should bring anything that shows your process to be included in a collage style portion of the exhibit. It doesn't need to be a finished piece of work and if you want it to keep please make a copy of it. This would be extremely beneficial for you to attend, who knows maybe someone up in the corporate tower sees what you've done during the exhibition and one thing leads to another giving you an internship.

3. Kevin Byrne is looking for freshman / sophomores to be involved in a Best Buy consulting type of meeting. Best Buy is looking to do something new with interactive media specifically online target people your age. He isn't sure on the exact date, but it will be on an upcoming Saturday. Don't hold me to it, but I think I remember him saying you would get paid for helping. Email Kevin Byrne for further information.

4. There will be a MIMA get together centered around "Web Content". It will be an early morning meeting and car pooling is available at MCAD. I'll be sending out an email regarding it in the next hour or so.

And the Winner is....

2008-10-31T13:15:00.005-05:00

Nick Dahl! Runner up was Jamie Otto. I had an independent judge pick the winner (Kristin Anhorn) so don't worry about me rigging it. Kristin picked Nick because she thought he put some extra effort in his with photoshop. Making it quick and jumpy like Girl Talk. So have fun Nick Dahl and Jamie don't worry I'll think of something for you.

PS BS Seminar is this Monday at 12pm. We will be discussing our BS 10 year show (What We Do Show) and if you want to be displayed in th exhibition you should come and make recommedations. Oh and its a make your own sandwhich event so don't worry about lunch.

1.5

2008-10-30T09:47:00.001-05:00

1.5 days left for the contest so get on it! I've had about 7 entries so far so your chances are pretty good.

Whats your Girl Talk Face?

2008-10-28T13:27:00.007-05:00

OK well here it goes I'm kicking off the contest today and keeping it simple. All I'm asking you to do is send me a picture of Girl Talk face and you'll be entered to win 2 comp tickets for Girl Talk. Send me a picture from photo booth of your excitement, apathy or whatever emotion you have for getting the tickets. I haven't decided if I'll do a lottery or pick the best so give it your all; the the deadline is Friday at 3pm followed by the announcement of the winner

Submit your pictures through the blog or email me at chavran342@gmail.com

First Avenue is hosting Girl Talk on November 3rd starting at 8PM (show usually actually starts 1hr after doors). Tickets are SOLD OUT so this is the only way to still get them.

BS students only sorry to any BFAs who saw the posters

Check back soon - Girl Talk

2008-10-27T19:23:00.004-05:00

Just a little heads up I'll be posting the contest for Girl Talk at First Avenue on 11/03 tomorrow morning. It will run until Friday with the winner being announced hopefully that day.

Monday Monday Monday

2008-10-23T19:11:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone guess whats going on Monday?! You guessed it, BS Seminar! There will be snacks of course which is an incredibly good incentive especially for you all who have morning and studio classes

There will be several people talking about their experience with internships current and past...
Suzy Martin
Mara Castillo
Lauren Posterick
Elizabeth Schneider

So come meet us in 440 at 12:00 next Monday

So... you need an internship.

2008-10-22T10:27:00.011-05:00

Matt Wilson who is teaching Marketing / PR, president of MIMA and works at Evantage Consulting where he deals with online marketing took some time to post his thoughts on the relationship between students and prospective internships

I get asked a lot by my MCAD students, "how do I get a really great internship doing X?"

You all know the easy answer is to go to the MCAD Career Services office, see what's available, and fill out the necessary paperwork. And while that's a good start, you and your classmates are all competing for the same internships… the one's Career Services knows about.

This isn't a knock on Career Services in the least, in fact, it's really hard work for them to build relationships with companies, identify their needs and place students accordingly. But the simple secret on internships is that they are everywhere... it up to you to find them. And the potential internships you identify on your own mean you have a great chance of landing one… one that you have specifically sought out.

The real reason more internships aren't widely available is because it takes time for companies to idenitfy their needs for a possibile intern. Then, they need to work through various colleges and academic institutions, contact each one's respective Career Services department, then review applications, meet with students and make a decision. And we haven't even factored in the training and day-to-day mentoring time once an intern comes on board.

You see, companies make hiring decisions based on the potential return they will get from that employee bringing their skills (and associated potential revenue) to that position. When you hire a new employee, you incur a series of sunk costs in bringing them onboard; training time, space, salary and benefits (and while the latter two don't appy to an intern, the former two do). With an intern, who will most likely be at the company for six months or less, this return isn't there. At least not in an immediate monetary gain.

Alright... I'm throwing around a lot of seemingly boring internal HR crap... but I write this because it underscores your need to seek out your own position and make the case why their time investment in you is worth it.

You've all seen the news about the current state of our economy and I can tell you that the financial crisis has companies looking to become leaner and to find ways to cut costs. I don't know exactly how much this could impact things like internships, but I would assume it will trickle down to the HR/hiring department who manages internship programs and could potentially make it a tighter and more competitive market.

If you only go through Career Services, you're fishing in a finite pond filled with a lot of other boats angling for the same fish. Expand your reach. Look for other ponds and start thinking about the tactics you are going to utilize to make your lures more attractive to the tightening school of fish currently looking.

Up next, the first two steps you should take in finding your internship.

Moving Blues

2008-10-20T18:31:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I'm in mid-move right now and without internet at home until Wednesday. Other than that it looks like I have a guest blogger who has some influence and knowledge in our marketing world here in Minneapolis. With that he has also been teaching at MCAD, so here's to hoping for this to work out.

Oh PS I'm trying to line up a Girl Talk contest in the next day or two so look out for that.

Outsiders and BS Meetings

2008-10-14T01:07:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking about it and I think its time to get this blog rolling with some new views. I'm going to be working on getting some fresh blood writing in so its not only me. I want to know from the people who frequent the blog who they want to hear from. Would you rather see a MCAD staff, alumni, current student, artist or someone from the professional world? I'm putting some feelers out there so let me know!

New to me this year is the internship and town hall meetings. Last semester I would quite often delete the emails about them and have no interest in going. I honestly will say with no outside influence that I feel like I know a lot more about the BS program and my potential with career after school. Its good to see fellow students talk about their internships, helps a lot with knowing what to look for and what to watch out for. Try it out once or twice just for the heck of it I promise you won't be disappointed and if you are well then find me and I'll tell you why you're wrong.

Student Server

2008-10-14T00:50:00.001-05:00

Every MCAD Student has space on the MCAD Student Server. Upon enrollment at MCAD, the school sets up an account for each student. 2 Gigabytes of virtual storage space are yours to utilize and enjoy. Every time you log onto one of the lab computers, you are accessing your personal server.

This has a number of benefits and uses. You can use the server as extra storage, or as long-term storage, for files and projects you may be working on. You know that big project that you just finished, but your client might want more work on it later? Store it on your server!

One of the great things about the student server is that you can access it anywhere. Need to access your files on a different computer, but they’re too big to e-mail? Store them on your server!

In addition to storage space, your student server has been set up as a web-server. On your server, that is a folder named ‘Sites.’ If you put your files in your Sites folder, you can access them on the Internet! This is a great way to share files with or show work to other people who don’t go to MCAD, like family and friends. Can’t meet a client in person, but you want to show them what you’ve got for them? Host it on your server!

It’s important to note that your laptop also has a folder named ‘Sites.’ That is NOT the same as the Sites folder on your server. Putting things in that Sites folder doesn’t make them internet-accessible. If you use your Sites folder to publish things to the Internet, make sure it’s the one located on your student server, and not your laptop’s hard drive.

How to use it:

The student server can be accessed in a number of different ways, depending on where you access it from.

If you are in a computer lab:

This one is the easiest of all. By logging on to a Lab computer, you automatically connect to your server. Be careful, though! Even though everything on your server is on the computer, everything on the computer is NOT NECESSARILY on your server. The Temp_Storage volume is the hard drive of the specific computer you use. If you save something there, it can only be accessed from that computer. What’s worse is that Temp_Storage is just that: temporary! Store files there with caution or for short periods only, because you may return to that computer a few days later to find the drive emptied, and your files lost.

If you are using your laptop on campus:

When you are on-campus, connecting to your laptop is quite easy, just follow these steps.

1. In the menu bar of your Finder, select Go > Connect to Server (⌘K)
2. Select ‘students.mcad.edu’ as the server you wish to connect to
3. Sign in using your regular Username and Password

This will connect to your student server, which you can access from the Finder, or from the icon it places on your desktop. The default name is your username: first initial last name.
e.g. John Q Student = jstudent

If you need to connect to your server from off-campus:

This way is the trickiest, but still fairly simple. You’ll need an ftp program like Fetch or Fugu. You should have one in your Applications folder if you have one of the MacBooks purchased from the school.

Open up the FTP program you wish to use. Connect to the server: students.mcad.edu
You will need to put in your username and password as normal. Once you are connected, it should be just like connecting on campus.

Accessing files in your Sites folder from the Internet:

So you’ve put a webpage or image in your Sites folder, and you want to show it off to all of your friends back home. What address do you give them?

The Internet address of your Sites folder is this:
http://students.mcad.edu/~yourusername

e.g. John Q Student:
http://students.mcad.edu/~jstudent

Remember! There’s no www in the address, and you don’t need to put Sites in the address bar, either, that address is for your Sites folder; adding a Sites on the end would cause your computer to search for a folder called ‘Sites’ inside your ‘Sites’ folder (which, frankly, is ridiculous). To display an image or access a web page you’ve put in there, you’ll need to add a slash (/) followed by the filename.

http://students.mcad.edu/~jstudent/mywebsite.html
http://students.mcad.edu/~jstudent/myproject.jpg

If you want the root address (just as far as /~yourusername) to be the homepage of your website, you’ll need to name the page index.html

If you do that, going to http://students.mcad.edu/~yourusername will go to your website.

If you have any additional questions about the specific nature of your 2 gigabytes, and what you can use them for, the Computer Support department will be happy to answer them.

-Spencer Ruskin

The Service Bureau

2008-10-14T00:46:00.001-05:00

The Service Bureau is the physical media Mecca of MCAD. Need to scan, print, trim, and bind your projects? The Service Bureau is your one-stop shop for all those needs and more.

There are a few main resources of the Service Bureau, and you will probably use them all a thousand times before you graduate. Black and white prints are free, but most of the other services will cost a small fee. They don’t take money, though, only credits, which can be purchased on a card from the Art Cellar in three amounts.

10 credits for $10
30 credits for $25
50 credits for $40

Because they don’t take money, be careful you don’t get caught without enough credits. The Service Bureau may be open late, but the Art Cellar isn’t. Since only the Art Cellar sells Service Bureau cards, be sure you have enough credits to print everything you need before committing to a late-night work session.

The Black and White Printers (SB_BW_Printers):

The grand poobah of student resources, these babies are the heart of the Service Bureau, constantly beating out prints for students. Prints are free and come in both Letter and Tabloid sizes (8.5x11 and 11x17, respectively). Whether testing layouts in print before you dish out cash for the Epsons, or just to whip out that paper for a class or creative brief for a client, the Black and White printers are easily the most-used part of the Service Bureau (and possibly even the whole college)

As is clearly marked on them, though, they are printers, NOT copiers. Abusing your privileges, such as by, say, printing 20 copies of your 130-page screenplay, is not only irresponsible, but rude, too.

When you send a print to the Black and White printers, your print request gets held in a queue. To claim your hard-earned prints, head to the Service Bureau, locate the old iMac against the wall, find your name, and release your print. To do that, select the name of your print from the queue and press the Process button. It looks like a blue gear, and can be found at the top of the screen, right by the big sign and directions that point that very fact out.

The Konica Color Printer (Konica_Color_Hold):

One of the less-used printers in the Service Bureau, the Konica is a color printer that functions similarly to the Black and Whites. When you’ve sent a print to the Konica, it gets held in a queue behind the desk. To claim your prints, ask one of the helpful and friendly Service Bureau employees to release it for you. The prints come in matte, semigloss, and glossy, and cost 1 credit for a letter-sized print, and 2 credits for a tabloid print.

One of the main reasons the Konica gets less mileage is because of its color treatment. The Konica doesn’t handle colors the greatest, and may print colors that are mildly to radically different than the ones on your laptop screen. It’s great for small test runs and less-important or less-colorful documents. In addition, it prints black and white documents beautifully, and on nice paper. If you’ve got an important document like a resume, creative brief, design document, or the like, printing them on the Konica is a good way to add a little something extra.

The Epson 4800 Printers:

The big mackdaddy printers. These are some serious pieces of printing power. If you need to print a final project for a class, these are probably the way to do it. Unlike the Konica or Black and White printers, the Epson isn’t stocked with paper. If you need to print from one of the Epsons, you’ll need to provide the paper yourself.

Don’t worry, you won’t have to pay for an entire ream to use a single sheet. Paper can be purchased from the Service Bureau.

Printing from the Epsons isn’t instantaneous. You need to sign into one of the dedicated computers hooked up to each Epson, open your file, and wait for it to process. Even then, you’re not in the clear. Prints on the Epson are high-resolution photographic-quality prints, and they take time. This means that you can’t just whip out a print before class. It’s best to do it the day before, or earlier that day, but in a pinch, you might be able to scrape by with leaving an hour for printing (say, lunch). Might. An hour is plenty of time to print, but others are probably waiting until the last minute, too, and there’s a pretty good chance some or all of the Epsons will be in use.

If you want to be sure that the Epsons are ready when YOU are ready, there are sign up books. Check out a time for the printer, and it’s yours during that timeslot. Be warned, though, if you’re not there during your time, others will probably already have swooped in and started printing.

The print protocol is a little tricky, particularly when you add in factors like color correction and paper profiles, but don’t panic. There’s a handy and helpful step-by-step guide to printing on the Epsons at every printer. Just look for the black three-ring binder.

-Spencer Ruskin

4th Floor Mischief

2008-10-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

So I along with the rest of my Bio Sys class had to leave their shoes in the hall (don't ask) and I'm just curious who tied my red sambas together? There will be no penalties I'm just curious who would have done something so heinous! Please if you have any information come forward with it and help solve this mystery.

Slow Internet?

2008-10-08T18:06:00.002-05:00

I've been getting some complaints and one person even asked me to see if I can put something out there about this problem. Lately the internet connection has been shotty at best and even when you don't get disconnected it takes longer than...longer than something that takes to long. I've been asked who we should talk to, but I'm not sure myself since the computer tech guys just troubleshoot laptop issues and the only other tech office has a sign that says something to the lines of "don't ask us questions". Now call me crazy, but wouldn't it be something of value to have a fast and reliable internet connection in a school that has such a digital focus?

Any insight or comments regarding this issue is welcomed; who knows maybe if we find the right people we could have something changed.

PostSecret Exhibition

2008-10-06T20:24:00.004-05:00

There's a new exhibition going on at the Minneapolis Public Library and it happens to be the first and longest blog I've been following. PostSecret is an ongoing project created by Frank Warren in 2005. He asks people to send in their secrets from around the world and posts them on his blog once a week every Sunday. He receives thousands of letters every day and has three books out.

One reason I like the blog so much is it shows a personality (personalities) better than any other blog or site out there. These are the secrets of people who we see everywhere: neighbors, classmates, siblings, ect. It doesn't get anymore personal than this.

The Exhibition goes from Oct. 4th - Nov. 30th and is hosted at the Downtown Library.

Some Things on YouTube Do Make Sense

2008-10-02T13:08:00.002-05:00

Apparently there are some videos out there on YouTube with some relevance.

The first one is relating to politics that Barbara sent my way. Now I know we're yelled at everyday to vote and give a damn about the election, but sometime it can be entertaining and/or engaging to watch the ones that aren't on TV.

The 2nd is a bit lengthy at 55min, but I skipped through it to find interesting segments. If anybody is interested in how YouTube was and is being utilized to infiltrate almost any and all segments of our culture should peek at this. Even if you're only interested in how viral spreads and integrated media check it out.

MIMA Reports on Marketing Progress of Twin Cities

2008-09-30T14:02:00.003-05:00

MIMA has put together a report documenting the Twin Cities progress in marketing. I think this is something that every BS student should read whether they plan on working in the Twin Cities or not. The survey had 345 from both MIMA and Evantage Consulting members. Those surveyed included people on the agency side and client side. There are numerous conclusions drawn from the survey; there seems to be a move to more data-driven marketing and there is a disconnect between those who analyze the data and those who manage the team.

Please give the survey a read I promise its worth your time.

Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future

2008-09-26T16:44:00.004-05:00

I recently was turned on to Eero Saarinen (thank you Stacey) and after taking a look at his work I thought it would be good to mention it here. He does architecture and furniture design, but I like his architecture a lot more. He has an exhibition going on at the Walker going on until January so no rush, don't let it slip by though. You can see some of his work at the Walker site and Eero Saarinen's site

Oh and can anyone tell me how to pronounce his name?

Experience This

2008-09-23T01:23:00.003-05:00

Anybody interested in experience design or new digital media should definitely check out Superstruct. The idea behind it is that its 2019 and the world is new serious problems and we need to figure out how to save humankind from extinction. Through blogs, videos, forums and anything else user-generated people post how it effects their lives and what they're doing about it. Superstruct starts Oct. 6th technically, but there are some mini events they're doing starting yesterday.

Ten-Year Forecast developed it and it looks like they have some more plans like this for the near future.

Figuring out BS

2008-09-22T18:38:00.002-05:00

I want to "figure out BS" because as of lately I've been hearing a lot of the same. Even when I've talked to alumni who've spent all 4 years in the BS program I hear that they have the same problems explaining us to prospective employers and friends. Some say its business with art and others say its art with business, but they agree that its difficult to put it into words. Maybe a little from column A and a little from column B? But I want to know what you think the BS program is. Tell me in a word, sentence, paragraph or write me a paper (please no books). Part of the What We Do Show coming up in April will be to show BFAs, alumni and anyone else interested in us "what we do" and hopefully have all of us walk away from it knowing a little bit more about the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Bachelor of Science program.

Thanks Ya'll

2008-09-19T22:21:00.002-05:00

Thanks for everyone who came and a big thank you to Miranda, Ben, Susan who put a lot into it. I'm sorry if I didn't include you in that list, but I'm writing this as fast as I can so I can finally have a Friday night out for the first time. It was a lot of fun overall and the only thing I'm upset about it not having any food to take home you vultures!!! Oh well I forgive you all and I'll see you Monday.

PS anyone who took pictures please send them to me @ chavranek@mcad.edu or at least let me know you have some so I can track you down

GO BS!

Party Like a Rock Star

2008-09-18T00:35:00.001-05:00

PowerPoints, food and iChat thats what the BS program is about right? Come and find out tomorrow at the BS Welcome Party 7PM.

For all you big kids (people who didn't just become a BS student) show up at the lounge at 6PM if you want to help setup decorations and such.

If you come you have the chance to walk away with $$$ for Spyhouse, iTunes, Target or Electric Fetus. You will be treated to Fujia, Galaxy and Evergreen. You'll have all your questions of the mysterious BS answered (I need some answered myself) and let's face it its going to be plain old fashioned fun.

Last, but Not Least

2008-09-15T16:02:00.003-05:00

Amber Gehrke is the final winner of the little contest we had here. She and a friend get guest listed for the show this Tuesday compliments of First Avenue. I'm particularly a fan of this picture I mean how could you turn down a face like that?

Coming up this Friday is the BS Welcome event. It will be in the BS lounge with TONS of food and fun to be had. Rock Band 2, sushi, pizza, pasta, food, food, food, prizes, and maybe a song or two. Please try and make it, its not going to be anything long (7pm-8pm?) and it'll be a good way to find out whos who.

Oh and I'm going to updating the blog more often now that its becoming a little bit less hectic with job/internship/school. So check back more often who knows what will be coming next.