Eye on iMedia

BY MEGHAN GARGAN, ELON IMEDIA CLASS OF 2011

So it’s finally here – my iMedia farewell. While thinking about what I wanted to write I realized that it all came down to one thing: saying thank you. In addition to my parents, my family and my friends (both new and old) that have stuck with me through these last 10-months, I owe a big thank you to those who have made the iMedia experience what it is. Once you’ve been a part of this program (as I’m sure you have all applied and been accepted by now!) you’ll understand why these people deserve the equivalent of the iMedia Oscar.

To Ross Wade who was a never-ending supply of resources, optimism and support while we struggled to figure out what career we wanted and then helped us achieve those goals.  You’re a rockstar.

To Maggie Mullikin who served as our sanity, shrink and, at times, savior. Words can’t express enough how much you mean to all of us and how you’ve helped us grow into who we are today – confident career-going iMedians!

To Brad Berkner who I personally owe a huge thank you to for sitting with me the first two months of fall semester patiently walking me through my weekly Flash projects, you’re guidance and friendship has helped all of us succeed and for that we can’t thank you enough.

To Sang Um Nam who may be the smartest person I know. Thank you for always supporting us and helping us not only gain technology confidence, but showing us that we are capable of solving problems on our own. And, of course, thanks for the amazing Korean BBQ, to this day it’s the best meal I’ve ever had.

To Phillip Motley who made us realize we are all artists and designers in one way or another. Who inspired us and pulled us through that first semester with his classroom chats and explaining to us that we would see the light in the spring. (Amen, brother!)

To Dr. Copeland who gave us the flexibility to run with this program and let us do what we needed to do to make the most of our experience. You always made us see that there was a bright and brilliant future for us.

Additionally, huge a THANK YOU to all the iMedia admissions, staff and faculty. We could not have done this without all of you.

As my final farewell, I’ll leave you with this: the future of the interactive media industry is filled with endless possibilities. When you enter this program you may feel out of your league or that you’ll never gain the skills or confidence to be who you want to be. I’m here to tell you can. Come in here with a vision and have the confidence to see it through. Find what you love, make it happen and everything will work out. This is coming from a student who has been there and seen it all. It now comes from a recently employed, iMedia alum who is ready to take on the world.

So here it is, the official passing of the iMedia baton, which one of you will be next in chronicling the iMedia journey?

BY MEGHAN GARGAN, ELON IMEDIA CLASS OF 2011

With a handful of weeks left until graduation there is one word on every iMedia student’s mind: Capstone.

iMedia capstone projects are the equivalent of a traditional graduate school thesis, except instead of turning in an outrageously long-winded research document, we take our research, knowledge and skills and apply it to an interactive project or representation.

What’s unique about the capstone project is that it challenges us students to think beyond a MS Word document and to visually see and express our findings and discoveries. It’s actually pretty cool.

Right now we are all working against a May 18 deadline, which is when the iMedia Expo takes place. At this event industry professionals, alumni, students and faculty are invited to come learn about what exactly the 30+ iMedia students have been doing while locked up in Powell the last four months (disclaimer: locked up by choice, not by force).

In addition to showcasing our work, the class is also in charge of the event. We are currently dividing into groups to design the invitations, assign and coordinate the space, create social networking channels, shoot and edit a video reel and develop and design an expo site. It’s the first time the entire class is working together in a mini-agency setting with a divide and concur mindset.

Stay tuned to the Eye on iMedia blog for more details on the expo and on the capstone projects. In the mean time, enjoy a few suggestions for when it comes to defining and deciding on a capstone project.

1. Play to your strengths. If you know you want to be a strategist or project manager pick a project that reflects this – you don’t HAVE to code a website. For example, you could team up with a classmate who is perhaps a coding wiz and would like the extra portfolio piece while you do the content and design, same goes vice versa.
2. Take on new challenges. While concentrating on your strengths, capstone is the perfect time to develop new skills or areas of interest. If there’s something you want to learn, now is a great time to do it.
3. Scale your project accordingly. This is your master’s thesis and probably your most important portfolio piece, so you want it to be extraordinary. At the same time don’t bite off more than you can chew. Remember you have four months to complete the project and you want it to be something that shows off your talents. It’s temping to take on a massive endeavor, but sometimes a smaller-scale project done exceptionally well is more impressive than an unfinished or low-quality huge undertaking.
4. Pick something you are passionate about. You’re going to be working on this all semester, so pick something you are genuinely interested in. This project, at times, will consume your life, so don’t develop an SEO strategy or take on coding a website if it’s not something you can see yourself doing professionally. Remember, this is your biggest selling point and you’ve dedicated a whole lot of time to making it great – be sure it’s something you love and that will shine through.