22 April 2008
Thursday 17th, 6.15AM. My alarm clock goes off. I don't think I have got out of bed quicker. I was so excited. After weeks, months and even a year or so of eMails (maybe 2 years), I am finally going to meet the people that do all of the web-design magic.In the shower, two pieces of toast and nagging dad to hurry up (God these old people are so slow)! Finally we are on the road to Semantic and you guessed it we got lost. We stop to ask someone for directions only to find it's Nick! Dad came in to meet the rest of the team but I can't wait for him to go - he's cramping my style and ruining my street-cred! Look on the bright side at least mum's not here! (only joking).
Nick started me of with some XML which Chris (the Flash genius) helped me with, I've never done any of this before so it was great to learn a new skill. I continually stared at it all day as I really wanted to learn as much as possible, and to generally understand what was going on. When everyone in the office had started talking I stopped. Silence. Looked around to find Nick, Chris and Neil working on their projects for their clients. I said to myself in my mind; this is where all of it happens. I couldn't believe that I was in the same office with the people that make all of those really cool sites.5:00 Was near. We all powered down and went home. I was staying with Chris, which was a great opportunity to annoy the king gentleman with some Flash tips :-)
Day Two
The next day soon arrived. I woke up and thought, this is the life. Waking up every morning, about to go to Semantic, meeting new people, playing un-real tournament at lunchtime, picking up tips from the Semantic team, couldn't get any better than that really could it? Soon arrived at Semantic HQ. Said morning to Nick and Neil and got straight to work. It was great. I was asked to make a change to the Chessington website, add a picture and some text, which I did successfully which was great.
I then had a look at some other Flash that Mike and Chris had done. I looked at one piece of animation and learnt so much like: Attaching a movie clip to the stage in ActionScript, Shape tweans, XML with Flash, Gaming and other animation. I learnt so much just by looking at it. I am using some of the tips and tricks from my two days at Semantic. I have never felt so good about myself.
All too soon both mum and dad arrived to collect me. I really don' t want to leave... so much to learn and I have never felt so happy inside. Can't wait to practice all my new skills.
I've said it before but THANK YOU SEMANTIC YOU REALLY ARE THE BEST.
Thanks to our guest blogger, David O'Hara, for this post... and a very enjoyable two days.
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:15 PM
