Missing in Action

…or rather, INaction. 

I used to blog incessantly, about every little thing, no matter how trivial.  I was constantly amazed that anyone at all visited my blog but somehow over the years I attracted a following of people who, for whatever reason, found my relatively mundane life interesting.

Then I joined Facebook and I slowly stared posting trivialities about my mundane life there instead of on my blog.

Oddly enough, I constantly ask myself now whether a topic is blog worthy – which I never used to do.  And 99% of the time I answer myself with a resounding NO.  So I Facebook said topic instead which, truth be told, simply bores a different audience!

Regardless of whether my loyal readers miss me, I miss blogging!  So I’m making an effort to come back.  Brace yourself more of the truly mundane!

So where have I been, you ask? 

Mostly hanging out here in the Land of Limbo. 

Although my company Sandcastle Educational Consulting is still alive and well (though a bit dormant at the moment), I am looking for full-time work as an Educational Media Specialist (“I create experiences that engage and inspire youth and families”) with my eye and heart focused on one position in particular with Microsoft’s Kinect for Kids.  Just how perfect would THAT be?!

I’ve interviewed twice and now it’s pretty much a waiting game while that team re-structures and figures out what their needs are and where (if anywhere) I’d best fit.  My fingers have been crossed for so long that I have a feeling they’re stuck this way forever – which is fine, because hope and optimism never hurt anyone.

And if that position doesn’t pan out, I’ll do my own re-assessing.  Unfortunately, Sandcastle doesn’t offer great benefits that allow us to save for retirement, which is really where we need to focus now that we’re ONE TUITION PAYMENT AWAY (!!!) from being done with paying for kids’ college – something we’ve done for the past ten years solid!

So instead of waiting until everything is resolved and all nice and pretty, as I’ve been doing thus far, I guess I’ll blog all the ups and downs and ins and outs of my life – just as I did for five years until I… didn’t.

And hey, guess what?  I’m solidly on the road to getting back in shape and finding a new healthy me – or, as I indicate on the masthead of my blog at My Fitness Pal, “steadfastly clawing my way back from the depths of LETTING MYSELF GO.”  This journey is a tough one and has been where I’ve focused the majority of my energy lately.  After almost 30 years of focusing on everyone else’s health and needs, I am finally, finally focusing on my own.  It actually is beginning to feel good and I am actually beginning to look forward to the endorphin rush that I get each day when I work out at the gym. 

I know – that looks funny to me too!  Me?  Working out daily at a gym?  Yup!  I lift weights (a full circuit!), sweat on the elliptical, and swim.  Something every single day.  Me!  Can you believe it?  And for two months now I’ve tracked every single morsel that’s gone into my mouth – which is so easy using the My Fitness Pal app’s bar code scanner!

So ten pounds down, forty to go.  Ugh – that just looks so daunting!  But I’m taking it one pound, one centimeter , one lap, and one carrot at a time, allowing myself a full year to accomplish my goal.  If nothing else, I should feel better this year (my third!) at the Danskin Triathlon… where I plan to actually jog, rather than walk for the first time since breaking my ankle three years ago.

So yeah, that’s where I’ve been.  I promise not to stay away for so long again… as long as you promise that you won’t mind if I go back to posting the mundane. 

Project, program, and product management – what is the difference?

I’m my own guest blogger!  This is a post I wrote for the blog on my new professional website, here:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At various times in my career, I’ve held the titles of Project Manager, Program Manager and Product Manager.  Although these titles sound quite similar, the roles represented by them are actually quite different — in spite of the fact that even those within the industry sometimes use them interchangeably, which I attribute to a combination of innocent ignorance and actual industry-wide confusion.

So, what’s the difference between a Project Manager, a Program Manager and a Product Manager, especially in the development of educational media?

In my experience, a Project Manager has chronological A-to-Z responsibilities, shepherding a specific product from initial concept through final delivery.  The Project Manager usually has cross-departmental responsibilities, interfacing with, say, marketing, graphic design, engineering, and QA to effectively and efficiently see the project to completion, maintaining a consistent voice, look & feel, and user experience.  It is usually the Project Manager’s responsibility to devise a budget and a timelines for the project (although sometimes they inherit those from other departments), and then to stay within those guidelines throughout the life of the project.   The Project Manager assures consistency and cohesiveness across all departments, which ideally results in a strong, cohesive product.

A Program Manager is responsible for a ongoing (as opposed to finite) projects which combine to address one or more business goals.  These programs tend to be on-going, evolving and changing (hopefully strengthening!) over time and they tend to be less chronological in nature.  As opposed to “getting a product out,” a Program Manager focuses on creating and maintaining ongoing programs that become part of the company business and culture.

A Product Manager tends to be the most confusing of the three titles (in this arena, anyway) it has come to mean just about anything having to do with the creating and or marketing of a product!  I have held the title of Product Manager for  positions both solidly in product development and solidly in marketing!  But I think that a person with the title of Product Manager should ideally be focused on the marketing message of a product and on outreach to potential customers (as opposed to on the creation and development of the product).  One way to think of it is that the Product Manager works with the Project Manager (and others) once the product is ready to be marketed.

I’m curious to know what you’ve encountered in your career regarding the use of the titles Project Manager, Program Manager, and Product Manager. Leave me a comment (on my professional website) and let me know!

Work, play, friends, social media: it’s all connected

Yesterday included work, play, friends, and social media – and as I crossed the Puget Sound on a ferry headed to Poulsbo for a design brainstorming meeting for the new game I’m working on as an independent contractor, I realized how completely connected work, play, friends, and social media have been in my life during the past few years.

Six years ago, I started this blog on a whim.  I had no idea what I’d write about; I just wrote.

Five years ago, a woman named Lynn left a comment on my blog. It seems that we had much in common, most notably our passion for and experience in developing educational media for kids.  Whereas I was on the content and project management side, she and her husband were graphic artists, having designed some stunningly beautiful visuals for textbooks.

Eventually, Tom and I did meet Lynn and John (who live in Poulsbo… getting the connection?), and we had a wonderful time together, visiting their beautiful town and then, a few months later, touring wineries in our town. Then Lynn and John introduced us to their son, Dax, who is an amazing and talented musician who has worked on music for Disney and Nickelodeon, as well as a bunch of kids’ computer games, and even toured with InSynch!  Lynn, John, Dax, and I talked about how great it’d be to eventually work together on a kids’ media project, and we had confidence that someday that time would come.

So that’s connection #1.

Four years ago I joined LinkedIn and have been fairly active in that arena ever since, establishing, renewing, and  nurturing professional connections, joining groups of like-minded professionals, and exploring various people and companies.

The company I am currently freelancing for found me on LinkedIn.

So that’s connection #2.

I was hired for at least one previous job (and possibly more) based primarily on my knowledge of and passion for social media and blogging, and that involvement and inspiration has been more instrumental to my career than a paper resume ever was!  For everyone who doubts the power of social media in career development, you only have to look at my experience to see its influence.

And now, just because I feel like it (and because you know you want a “Seattle break” from your own work, right?), I’ll take you on a trip across the Puget Sound on a beautiful, crisp Seattle day.

Yay!  A ferry ride!  Yes, Seattle-ites still get excited about them!  (Well, unless they’re part of your daily commute.)

What?  You’re wondering how giraffes and elephants (look carefully!) and palm trees got to Seattle?!  So am I.

This photo was taken as I got onto the ferry in Edmonds.  That was after the nice ferry woman (not fairy woman – though she seemed like Tinkerbell to me because she performed magic when I most needed it) jumped my car because I’d left my lights on in line.  I missed that ferry, dummy me.

See those big windshield wipers?  They use those. A lot.

The Olympic mountains!  Aren’t they gorgeous?

It’s a short 30-minute ride from Edmonds to Kingston.

This photo is dedicated to Allie, my former co-worker at The Gottman Institute, who wrote this on my Facebook wall this morning: “I dreamt last night that I watched a news report about your new project and there were a bunch of colorful woodland creatures involved.”  Seriously – she did!  I took this photo of woodland creatures yesterday right after I got off the ferry in Kingston because they cracked me up.

I know – weird, right?!  Allie and I are connected!

(And gas prices are ridiculous.)

This photo was taken after I parked in front of Lynn and John’s house.  Yes, that’s how close they live to beautiful Liberty Bay!

And this is just a little stream that winds through their neighborhood…

…and even through their backyard!

We worked all day, brainstorming this new project we’re designing.  But pictures of people brainstorming aren’t that fascinating, so I have no photos for you of that.  I do, however, have photos of our walk into town to grab lunch.

This intersection cracks me up.  I really need to send this photo to “Uncle Harry”!  Tom’s cousin is married to Harrison Ford’s brother, Terrence.  That does make him Uncle Harry, doesn’t it?  Even if we never met him?  (Which we haven’t.)

Ah, the quaint and adorable Scandinavian town of Poulsbo, Washington…

…so charming!

And not full of tourists… today.

And here are our superheroes, Lynn and John!  Doesn’t it look like John is just about to head into that phone booth?

Graffiti, Poulsbo style.

The hours flew by and by the time I headed back home, we’d devised the beginnings of an awesome educational kids game!  No I can’t give you details.  Yet.

This photo is Photoshopped, but only to show you what the evening sun on the Cascade Mountains really looked like.  Had I turned around 180 degrees, I’d have seen the Olympic Mountains.  Yes, this region is that beautiful!

Does this shot remind you of any particular movie?

It’s Official!

Business cards:

And the beginnings of a website:

I am so excited about this new venture!  I am already quite busy with one wonderful client and there are rumblings of another – and that’s before I’ve done any publicity or marketing whatsoever!

They say that when it’s right, you know.  This is soooo right!

This is the sound of the Universe clicking

About a month before I was laid off from The Gottman Institute, I received a call on my “Gottman phone” in my home office.  Since most calls I received on that line were customer service calls that I ultimately forwarded on, I usually let the calls go to voicemail and would triage them from there. 

For some reason that I still can’t pin-point, I decided to answer this particular call.  It was someone from Canada who was looking specifically for me, saying that he had seen my information on LinkedIn and was hoping to contact me via my current employer.  He went on to tell me that he was interested in my expertise as an educational kids’ game designer.

At that point I was definitely listening, as designing and developing educational media for kids is my primary passion and what I consider the primary focus of my career.  As anyone in this field knows, though, something happened around 2001 when many of us were laid off from kids’ gaming companies that were suddenly going under and we ended up taking positions in other industries, such as banking, high-tech, and non-profits.  I ended up first at a few non-profits, developing and managing the development of media, then at Microsoft, managing content development and technical marketing projects, and finally with The Gottman Institute, directing their Professional Development department.  Each job presented different challenges and rewards, but none captured my heart as my position as one of the first five members of what’s now Disney Interactive, or as a designer of the Blue’s Clues computer games, or re-designer of Edmark’s House series, had. 

I longed to return to the realm of kids’ educational media and, when I was stunned by the lay-off from TGI two weeks ago, the first thing I did was begin designing a website for my new company, in which I would “manage and mentor media that matters.” The website is still not complete – mostly because I’ve been busy ramping up for my new gig!  (And also because I’ve been very sick; that’s for another post!)

As it turns out, I did answer the phone that morning and I heard about a game that an established Canadian company wanted to make for elementary school-aged kids.  I told them that I’d happily consult with them for free this time, but that in the future I’d need to charge my consultation rate – especially because I had a full-time job and would have to “squeeze it in.”  I gave them my very honest opinion about their planned game, suggesting that they make some fairly significant changes.  They embraced the feedback and came back for more, which I would fit in early in the day or late at night. 

Then I got laid off and wrote them a “you’ll never guess what just happened” e-mail and… well, here I am!

I’ll be somewhat vague for now in describing exactly what I’ll be doing and for whom, but suffice it to say that I’ll be designing and project managing an educational game about “community” that will focus on my favorite age group, kids in primary and elementary grades.  I expect this to be a full-time gig from home, with occasional trips to Montreal Toronto, and I expect it to last through summer.

Yes, sometimes the universe really does just click!

The Gottman Institute broke up with me

It wasn’t me, it was them.

But still, I’m sad.  I went from Microsoft where I really had no core-level belief in their “mission” (if you can call it that) to TGI, where I had – and still have – an absolute core-level belief in their mission.  What the Gottman Institute does for couples and relationships is astounding, and wonderful, and life-changing, and I am so incredibly proud to have been part of that.

Like many companies that evolve from passion and a deep commitment to a good cause, TGI grew as a business almost in spite of itself.  It grew because John’s sound research and Julie’s amazing clinical ability are exemplary, and because people relate to– and many people desperately need -- what they have to offer. 

To their credit, they didn’t bring in a bunch of MBAs to run the business.  But I don’t think they were ready for me.  I came in with extensive business experience, from product development to marketing to training to project management, and for a year I was in constant “C’mon!  We can DO this!” mode. “Let’s re-brand!  Let’s market!  Let’s offer our trainings online!  Let’s get our products on the front table at Barnes & Noble!  Let’s develop a strong social media presence!” (That, we did, and it is rocking, thanks to a few very passionate people.) 

“C’mon!!”

They’ll get there, but first they had to make some tough cuts.  As much as I hate losing that job, I agree with where they made the cuts – at the department head/director level.  Now they have a core team of people who can go head-down and work hard at building the business from the ground up.  The passion for the mission is still very much there.  But now they have to grow the business. 

They’ll grow again and they’ll need strong leadership… and just like a jilted lover, I’ll be there when that time comes.  

For now, I’m at the very beginning stages of my next venture – and adventure.  I’m going to start my own business!  You’ll be hearing more as my plans percolate, but suffice it to say that there’s a reason that www.carolsnider.com was available!

A peek into the very (very!) early years of Disney Interactive

During yesterday’s cleaning frenzy, I came upon this under Aleks’ bed:

 

This is a relic from my very early career (the early 1980’s)when I designed educational software for a brand new, tiny -- and definitely experimental -- department called Walt Disney Personal Computer Software which lived within the (now defunct) division of The Walt Disney Company (then, simply called  “Walt Disney Productions”) called Walt Disney Educational Media Company (WDEMCO).

Our offices were down the street from the Disney Studios in Burbank, on the top floor of an old worn-down building  with a giant sign jutting from the roof (“HYPMOVATION”!)so passers by on the Glendale Freeway could, I assume, be motivated to be hypnotized from miles away.  There was no mention anywhere on the building of a bunch of young media producers and educators who created educational films, books, comic books, and (get this!) filmstrips for classrooms.

Way back when Aleks was very young, this ancient computer was already very old.  Now it’s positively ancient.  My current resume in a simple Word doc is 30K.  It alone would have barely fit on this computer.

But at the time “32K” was exciting enough to include right on the front of the computer because it was a huge amount of memory!

Here are some more features of this vintage 1982 personal computer:

Wait!  Is that the earliest known emoticon?!

Obviously, this was a personal computer for people who wrote code.  I never was one of those people!

I couldn’t hook this thing up to anything today…

  

…which means that I can’t run the software that we designed for it:

This was “my” game and I loved designing it!  It was for really young kids – pre-school and kindergarten – and taught letter recognition, differentiation of upper and lower-case letters, and very early reading.    And it ran on this software:

Yes, that’s an audiotape – and yes, that’s 600 BPS… which stands for “Baud per second.”  What is a “baud”?  I have no clue, but it was state-of-the-art software back then.  Huge stuff!  Fast!  (Not.)  If you look really carefully, you can see the copyright date – 1983 (the year Tom and I got married!).

It took about 10 minutes for all 600 Baud to load on to the machine, and we even alluded to the long wait time, as well as to the very likely chance of an error, in the user’s manual:

Unfortunately, because the Panasonic Computer never saw the light of day, Winnie the Pooh’s Lucky Letter Game was never released. 

But we also designed for the Apple II and the Commodore 64, and the Personal Computer Software Division (does five people constitute a “division”?) created three games that year:

And the technology has improved by leaps and bounds, just within a few months. Instead of ancient 600 BPS audiotapes, we now designed for this:

A 5.5” floppy!  Astounding!  And instead of designing for a 32K machine, we had loads of room… 64 whole K!

By the time Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood adventure game was released (yes, these games actually hit the market – and did quite well), Elisabeth was almost 2 and sat for hours in from of our old Apple II computer, pressing the up, down, left, and right keys to move Winnie the Pooh around the Hundred Acre Wood, in search of objects to bring to Christopher Robin, and always weary of the Blustery Wind “blowing” her items away, or Tigger over-enthusiastically bouncing her to another part of the forest!

(We partnered with Sierra Online when the company really was in the Sierras.  We'd fly to Fresno and then drive to Oakhust, near Yosemite, where we'd design with Ken and Roberta Williams on the deck of their beautiful riverfront home.) 

Our next venture was the design of Disney’s Comic Strip Maker and Disney’s Card and Party Shop, which we created in partnership with Looking Glass Software.

As ridiculous as it seems now, this was Disney computer art at its finest:

The technology simply didn’t exist to make it any better than this!  Hell, there’s only so much you can do with 12 pixels per square inch!  I remember, in fact, a meeting with the President of Disney’s Consumer Products division (the umbrella we lived under) who sent us away, telling us not to come back until we could make Mickey’s ears perfectly, smoothly round and make our work “live up to Disney standards.” 

It took a bit of explaining to convince him that the technology simply didn’t exist to make Disney characters anything close to the quality he was used to seeing in Disney animated movies!

     

So yeah.  Now I feel really, really old.  But I also feel really, really fortunate to have played a part in the very, very beginning of what is now Disney Interactive – where Mickey’s ears are now, again, perfectly, smoothly round.