“Professional development is too expensive.”

“You never learn anything you can apply in your day-to-day work.”

“You can’t be away from the office for that long!”

How many times have you heard – or said – those same excuses for not allowing yourself or your team to attend professional development training?

That’s right, those are excuses, not reasons. Those statements have nothing to do with reason.

Reason dictates that when you proactively plan your professional development training, the rewards are multi-fold. Learn a new skill, discover best practices, improve processes, increase efficiency – all tangible items that save you and your employer two of the most important factors in any business – TIME and MONEY.

The problem? Many companies look at training as an expense, rather than an investment.

Note the key word used earlier – proactively. More often than not, training is done haphazardly at best. You see a flyer or an email and think, “Oh that’s interesting, maybe I’ll take that class.” But it’s crucial to plan professional development to get the most out of it. Is there still risk in spending time and money on training? Absolutely, but by proactively and strategically planning your team’s development, you can minimize that risk and return even greater rewards than initially expected.

We’d like to share a few ideas we’ve learned from both our clients’ feedback and our own experience.

Questions to Ask Before Signing on Any Dotted Line

1. Take the time to discuss training with your team. What are they looking for versus what do you think they need? The answers may surprise you.

2. Do skill-set assessments to find out where there is room for improvement. This is not criticism, but honest evaluation of what skills may be lacking, and where you should focus your training dollars.

3. Set goals. Why we are making this investment? Improving efficiency in your workflow, increasing individual and team productivity, learning a new skill or creating a new product/service that can broaden your target market are all measurable ways to track ROI.

Once you have these answers, you can start to look at the available options.

Hands-On, Textbooks, Online, OH MY! How Do I Choose?

There are many resources available for training. You should consider and compare options before making a final decision.

1. Look for programs that fit your team members. Not everybody learns the same way, so a training option that offers a combination of hands-on, interactive and traditional methods is most likely going to give the best results.

2. Find companies that are certified or authorized by the software manufacturer. This usually means their instructors go through additional training and/or verification to maintain that status – which keeps you on top of the latest and greatest application updates.

3. Look for companies that have been around for a while and can provide stable, long-term partnerships. An established, relationship-oriented firm will help you determine what options are best for you, rather than just selling whatever they can get you to buy.

4. Set an established training schedule. Individual online training is great if you have the discipline to stay focused. Unfortunately, for many employees, training keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the to-do list because of on-fire projects. Getting out of the office means that you’re focused, attentive and not being interrupted by phone calls or the office “pop-in.” A good training partner will work with your schedule to maximize your time out of the office, or create an in-house workshop to cover exactly what your team needs.

The more time you spend working with a provider, the better they will understand your objectives and help you in the planning process.

It Costs How Much?! How to Make the Most of Your Investment

1. Establish a budget. Think of it in terms of not only how much you spend, but on how much you will get in return.

a.  An annual training budget in the range of just one or two percent of an entry-level salary per team member allows them to take one new class per year. Across a team of ten, that investment can result in increased efficiency and productivity that easily repays the cost of the training.

b.  A five percent budget allows for advanced training that allows your sales and marketing teams to hunt for new opportunities that were previously out of reach because it was beyond the scope of your creative team.

c. A ten percent budget moves into the realm of being able to do full team skill and workflow assessments, identifying and closing gaps in knowledge and creating a far more productive team overall.

2. Track your goals by setting specific, measurable targets. How much time has been saved in your workflow process? Can each team member do something more efficiently, allowing him or her to complete more work in less time? Set and track these goals on a weekly, or at most, monthly basis.

3. Continue to assess your team’s skills.  Are they using what they’ve learned? Can and do they want to learn more? Reassess at regular intervals to determine what works and what doesn’t, and revise your training plan accordingly.

These are just a few tips to help you get the most out of your professional development. And of course, our talented team at C2 is always ready, willing and able to work with you to help design a plan that works with your budget, time frame and training needs. Here’s to improved productivity, happier employees and a better bottom line in 2013!

With the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many victims are left picking up the pieces of their lives. Insurance can replace material items lost, but for many people, personal items like photographs are severely damaged. Operation Photo Rescue is a volunteer organization that repairs precious images damaged by fires, floods and other natural disasters. Since its founding in 2006 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, OPR has restored over 9,000 images for families around the United States.

Families submit images to OPR for digital capture, where they are posted on the organization’s site. Volunteers then choose images to restore, and when complete return to OPR for review. Every image goes through a quality control checkpoint before being printed and returned to the owner. Some images are completed within a month, but some can take up to a year to restore and return, depending on the severity of the damage.

C2 instructor Kevin Stohlmeyer recently completed the restoration assessment and joined the ranks as a volunteer restorer. He’s already clocked in over 40 hours of work for just three images. The damage can range from salt water erosion or burn marks to completely missing areas of an image. The finished piece and the sense of accomplishment pale in comparison to the thought of helping someone who has suffered; you are returning to them something that was thought lost.

If you are interested in volunteering or would like to donate to Operation Photo Rescue, you can visit their site at www.operationphotorescue.org

The mobile revolution is here and it’s brought headaches with it. Web developers have a new set of challenges in creating web content for mobile devices that meets our clients’ and visitors’ needs, across hundreds of devices, dozens of screen sizes and multiple resolutions. Between clients demanding “Apps” and “Like” buttons and integrated Twitter feeds, all on a content management system they can run on their own, the struggle to choose the correct modern mobile strategy can be overwhelming.

But what if, after all that agonizing, it turns out the problem all along was really content.

At this point I need to issue a spoiler alert: if you’re expecting this article to end with the final, perfect strategy for mobile web development, well, you might want to stop reading now. There is no silver bullet available at any price – mobile development is difficult and involves a series of trade-offs. Period.

On the other hand, if you have been struggling with all the new and sometimes conflicting suggestions for presenting content on the mobile web, I have an exercise I have found useful for refocusing my energies and making better decisions as I navigate the pros and cons of the dozens of different techniques that can be used to get a client’s content working in as many different situations as possible.

Completely frustrated by the endless series of “gotchas” presented by attempting to modify existing web content for mobile (and tablet) devices, I found myself yearning for the days when my biggest headache was “How do i make this work in Internet Explorer 6?” So, in an effort to clear my head, I decided to step back to the simplest form of content: text

Imagine your client’s website. Now imagine you live in a world where you have ONLY text to build a website. No images, no colors, no headings or italics or styling of any type. No navigation. Plain text. And a phone-sized screen.

Now do it, don’t just imagine it – this exercise only really helps with real content if you force yourself to run with it. This exercise probably doesn’t help much in the abstract, so do it with real content.

Sure it’s difficult, but pretend there are no other options. What content makes the cut? What would you say. In plain text. Take that text and make a webpage out of it. Preview it on a phone and a tablet and the desktop. Can you make your point? What would you change?

Let me lead by example here. I did this exercise with my own personal photography website recently as I was working on the mobile friendly version (umm… which still hasn’t launched). My site is really nothing more than a portfolio of my photography and some contact info – how can I take a site where the whole point is imagery and reduce it to nothing but text? Impossible.

Or…

Maybe I needed to reexamine my content.

In an all text universe what has value to my visitors? Well, I suppose instead of seeing the actual image, a description including what magazines it appeared in has some value. Or what client is was created for. Or even the type of photography I do could be inferred from a well thought out description of the photo.

With no navigation all my content has to be one page. What gets said first? How about a content focus change to client testimonials about how delightful I am to work with? Does a list of clients mean more if all you have is text? Would you reprioritize your content in an all text world? If you get a reasonable amount of content to work on a phone size screen, what do you do with all the white space on the desktop version?

Your answers will be as unique as your client’s content, but I found really forcing myself to reexamine my content in an all text world gave me a new appreciation for selecting what to present to the visitor, so I built on that. My biggest concern with the plain text version was typography – not being able to control the type size as I viewed the page on different devices was infuriating and an excellent reminder that at the heart of design is typography. Being able to give each device an appropriate font size, line measure, typeface and sections/headings is absolutely foundational. So, I moved this plain text content to a new universe where HTML existed for structure, organization and navigation, and CSS existed for emphasis, styling and design. I could now use colors, backgrounds, layouts and font sizes. I could separate content by pages but now needed to accommodate navigation  - how would that change what I presented? No images, video or interactivity in this world but I’m free to use any styling I like to enhance my content and give it some structure. What would I do to improve my content?

With my newfound freedom to separate content into pages and sections how does that change my priorities? Does my content actually change or just move? Why? The why is important here. What content is worthy of its own page? Its own section with heading? Is navigation actually a form of content?

What about design? How would you change a page’s layout for a tablet? Or a TV? Does the layout and styling really change the meaning of your content? Or is it being used solely for branding and aesthetics?

Again, at this point, move these styles to a broad range of devices and add in what new technology you need to make the pages work as well as possible on as many devices as you can test on.

Then add images and video in and figure out how they help with presenting content and how to make them work across devices.

Then layer in animations and interactivity if really necessary and as long as it adds value and doesn’t adversely affect performance.

So, for me personally, how did this exercise help? Well, I gained a renewed respect for basic typography as a foundational design tool and a renewed focus on performance as not just as a “nice to have” goal but as a foundational requirement. And while I know that images are still the best, primary content for my visitors, their presentation HAS to be altered for better performance on different devices and varying network speeds.

I found that the challenges brought by the new demands of designing for mobile actually brought me back to text as a starting point for content and a new appreciation for the process of pruning content to get to what’s really important. Plain, basic text is also the foundation as you move and repurpose your content for native apps and databases so I don’t think its importance can be overstated.

Just a fun animation using Photoshop CS6 and some shots from the Wescott Booth from Photoshop World 2012 in Vegas.

In my travels this summer, speaking to groups and events about Adobe CS6 and Creative Cloud, I was amazed at the amount of erroneous information about Adobe Creative Cloud. Yes, we can all read the FAQ (found here) and many have, but I still hear even the savviest professionals expressing confusion about the product. This article aims to explain, in plain terms, the essence of Creative Cloud and the benefits it offers to you as a user. These are the top questions I have received:

First, what is Creative Cloud?

Adobe Creative Cloud is, in it’s simplest terms, an ongoing paid subscription to Creative Suite 6 that includes other benefits (keep reading).

What do you get with Creative Cloud?

As a subscriber, you will receive access to download and install Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection applications. You will also receive Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, Adobe Muse, Edge, Business Catalyst, Type Kit, Story Plus and Adobe Touch Apps.

You also get device and computer sync. Meaning that using the included 20GB Cloud Storage you can upload files to the cloud and have it sync with a folder located on your home computer.

Why would I want to store my files in the cloud? Is it secure?

Yes your cloud storage is secure – your files are yours alone. You can choose to share certain files with other users but only those files/folders will be visible to those you share with. The main reason I use the storage is to sync files from my laptop to my devices when I travel. Anything I add to my Creative Cloud folder on my computer syncs to the online storage, and is available to be used either in my Touch apps or viewed in Adobe Revue. You can also access the online version of your storage from any computer with an internet connection so you can download files to any computer you are on.

I always emphasize that the storage option is meant for temporary storage, not as a permanent backup. I use it to sync when on location or to transfer files from one computer to another without using a disk. A lot of users complain about the “limited” storage size but there are options to purchase more space.

Since it’s “The Cloud” does that mean Photoshop is now online?

This is the biggest misconception about Creative Cloud and CS6. No, Photoshop is not in the cloud. You will download and install from your Creative Cloud site just like normal.

The “Cloud” aspect of Creative Cloud is your online storage, and your license membership. Once a month, you reactivate your software on your computer via the internet. You will never notice this happening. Whenever you start up a CS6 application, it automatically performs the activation.

Some people are apprehensive about having Adobe connect to their computer, but the only information being supplied is: your computer, your computer’s operating system, the Adobe software in use on your computer, the Adobe serial number associated with that software, your Adobe ID, and current time stamp. In addition, Adobe receives the Internet Protocol address of your Internet connection. Thats it. All of this information is stored at Adobe and is used to make sure that you are the legally licensed user of this software.

I have Creative Cloud, where are the Touch Apps?

Due to agreements with other companies, Adobe cannot just have you download the Touch Apps for free. But, the solution is an even better deal for you. Whenever you purchase and sign in to three Adobe Touch Apps, you will receive an additional month of Creative Cloud. The cost is less expensive than your monthly fee, so it’s a win-win for you. Read the details here.

So what are the benefits of going to a subscription rather than regularly purchased software?

One word – Updates. Adobe plans to add and update Creative Cloud as new technologies become available and already have added some big things for subscribers. If you purchase stand alone software (which you can still do), you will have to wait for the next major release and then purchase the update. As a subscriber, you can just download the new versions of the software or new additions and keep paying your monthly fee. Since the launch of Creative Cloud, Adobe has already added Lightroom 4 as a download at no extra charge. There are many new changes and additions coming so this is a major reason to think about subscribing.

This seems great, but how much does this all cost?

The easiest thing to do is check out the Plan Options for Creative Cloud. There are discounts for current Creative Suite users, students and teachers and non-profs.

You can even give this a test drive FREE for 30 days. You will receive access to everything included in Creative Cloud and even get 2GB of storage to test this out.

Hopefully you find this information helpful in your decision about Adobe Creative Cloud.

If you are going to be in the Las Vegas area on Monday, September 3 (the night before Photoshop World pre-cons) you are invited out to a great networking opportunity. The Las Vegas area Adobe User Groups in conjunction with Adobe and Photoshop World are hosting a Meetup featuring special guests, appetizers and prizes! The event will be held from 7-10 pm at Ri Ra Irish Pub in Mandalay Place, conveniently located between the Luxor and Mandalay Bay hotels.

Special guests will be on hand to talk about Adobe Creative Suite 6, Creative Cloud, Photoshop, Adobe Touch apps, photography and more. Attendance is open to everyone so bring a friend. Come out and meet other creatives and photographers with similar interests in a fun and retro lounge space!

Have you always wanted to go to Photoshop World but couldn’t afford it? Now you can get an exclusive discount for being a C2 newsletter subscriber! C2 instructor Kevin Stohlmeyer is the official on-site live blog reporter for Photoshop World, and this year he wants to see you there. Join him in Las Vegas and learn from the top professionals in the world about Adobe Photoshop CS6, photography, video, and more! Find out more info about Photoshop World here.

Register to attend your first-ever Photoshop World in Las Vegas on September 5-7th, and you’ll get the special Alumni rate of $449*. Simply use code PW12-ADOBEC2GRP when registering.

You can sign up online here or by calling NAPP at: 800-738-8513
M-F 7:30am-6:00pm CST.

*Offer valid with first-time PSW registrations only and cannot be combined with other discounts/promotions. Offer expires on Friday, August 17, 2012 at 9:59pm CST.

With Creative Suite 6 and Adobe Creative Cloud now available together, I thought I would share with you my five favorite workflow-enhanced features in the new release. Keep in mind that this is only five of the hundreds of new features and enhancements in CS6. In fact, in all my years using and teaching Adobe products, I feel that this is the biggest release in the company’s history.

So, here we go (cue the Late Show theme music!):

Number 5: Mercury Graphics Engine in Photoshop and Illustrator. Lovingly referred to as the “Freddy Mercury” engine, this new enhancement greatly increases the speed and responsiveness inside of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Filters that used to be lagging such as Liquify in Photoshop or a raster effect inside Illustrator are now up to 100x (yes, seriously) faster.

Number 4: Background Save and Recovery in Photoshop. Just like in InDesign you now have the availability for a recovery file to save in the background as a safety net. While this is not a substitute for saving often, it is a nice backup just in case…

Number 3: Adobe Illustrator Pattern Creation. Pre-CS6 fashion designers would have to purchase a $400+ plug-in per seat to create useful patterns inside of Adobe Illustrator. This is now included inside CS6. And better yet, it is completely simple to use. Just drag into swatches, and then double-click to edit. Adobe really hit the nail on the head with this one. Kudos!

Number 2: Linked Content/Content Collector in InDesign. This is number 2 on the list only to another InDesign feature. Linked content will allow you to collect items from one document and place it linked to another, generating a parent-child relationship. If you update the parent document, the linked items will notify you on screen to update. HUGE time savings for versioning and multiple document layouts. The Content Collector gets rolled in with this one, simply because of the simplicity of its use. Click to add to the collector, click to place in another document or layout. Easy!

Number 1: Liquid and Alternate Layouts in InDesign. To put it simply, this will change how we lay out documents forever. No more multiple documents for multiple versions, sizes, etc. Now you can have all your versions in one document and using the Liquid Layout feature, have them semi-automatically format to the new dimensions. Liquid Layout is easy to understand and once you are familiar with it, it’s easy to setup, easy to implement. “LL” allows you to lock or “pin” elements locations relative to the page and when an Alternate Layout is generated, it can honor those pins. Awesome!

FACT: I love books.

FACT: I have the new iPad.

FACT: I don’t buy printed books anymore.*

*Exceptions to this overly dramatic statement: Art Books, Photography Books, Graphic Novels.

I love living in the digital era where my entire library of technical manuals, fiction books, class notes, and PDFs is always with me – searchable, switchable and shoppable – all in a slim hand-held device that weighs little more than a pound. I love having access to multiple online bookstores – bookstores that allow anyone to publish a book – open 24/7/365.

Modern tablets, in addition to allowing us access to traditional books, offer us intriguing opportunities to create interesting new types of books: Books with video and audio, books that read to children highlighting words along the way, books where the type size and typeface can be changed on the fly, books with zoomable photography, books with multimedia presentations, textbooks with built-in quizzes, books that actually interact with the reader. I find myself fascinated by the possibilities these new types of books present, as a reader, creator and instructor.

It’s not that I have anything against the printed page. I still love collecting art books like James Jean’s “Rebus” and photography books like Ryan McGinley’s “You and I” as printed volumes and I don’t ever see that changing (although I would like to get a free digital version along with purchase of the printed version). Fiction and technical books on the other hand – honestly they just work better as digital volumes, at least for me.

The only thing that gives me pause as we rocket into an all-digital future is something called DRM (Digital Rights Management). DRM does give me serious pause when purchasing ebooks. It locks the use of a book to the purchasers account by encrypting the contents, which unfortunately leaves you with an ebook that cannot always be moved to another account or reading device. Or a book you may lose access to in the future should the publishers DRM service be discontinued. If the last 10 years have taught us anything, it’s that there is no such thing as too big to fail (MySpace, anyone?). Whenever possible I go out of my way to purchase a DRM-free version of a book but it is not always an option. I’m hoping that the publishing industry will follow the music industry’s lead and drop DRM requirements from their content, spurred on by the success of publishers like O’Reilly, where all their industry-leading technical books are DRM free and the fact the when JK Rowling first offered the Harry Potter series as DRM free ebooks in early 2012 they sold 5 million dollars worth in the first month alone AND sales of the printed version increased at the same time.

Newer is certainly not always better, and I do still love printed volumes for certain subjects, but I’m excited by what the future holds for the book.

If you’re curious about creating these new types of books be sure to check out the Digital Publication Training at C2

It’s only 3 months away! Yikes! Just kidding. But in preparation for Photoshop World 2012 in Washington DC, I again have created the Official Social Media Avatar for the conference.

The cool thing about this badge- it is available as a downloadable PSD file that you can customize with your own photo. (I even included a conference button for you!)

You can read more about it or download the avatar to show your support for Photoshop World here.

While I am preparing to present new posts on the Adobe Touch apps, I thought I would share with you an intro video featuring my friend John Nack from Adobe. John was the principal product manager for Photoshop, but now heads up the touch app team. Enjoy!

Kevin

With Adobe MAX now complete, it is time to take stock in the new announcements made last week. In case you missed any of the awesome Keynotes, click the image below to see Day 1 (Design) or Day 2 (Developer).

One of the big announcements made during the Day 1 Keynote was the new Adobe Touch apps. These apps will expand your creativity using tablet devices. Many of these apps will utilize the new Adobe Creative Cloud also announced during the keynote. I will focus on each of these apps as more information becomes available. The apps will be available on Android devices first, followed soon after on iOS.

Adobe Debut allows you to view and present your Creative Suite files from the cloud on your mobile device. Users will be able to access native Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign files including comps and layers!

Adobe Collage allows you to combine images from the web (Google Images), cloud files and other sources to create a “Moodboard” (collage). You can also add type, scale and edit your images using built in tools.

Adobe Kuler finally comes to mobile devices, allowing you to create and share a color theme with other users both through the app and the existing Kuler website.

Adobe Proto allows users to develop interactive wireframes and prototypes including multitouch features directly on their tablet device. With simple tools and a “Gesture Guide” you can easily design a user experience in real-time as the client explains their idea to you.

Finally, is my favorite – Adobe Photoshop Touch. Yes that’s right, Photoshop on your tablet. Levels, Curves, even Layers will now be available on your tablet via this awesome app. Not only will you have many more tools and options at your fingertips, but you will also be table to roundtrip files directly to your Photoshop application on your computer.

So very exciting times are coming from Adobe and I can’t wait to share insights and overviews with you. Stay tuned!

Thanks to the folks at NAPP and Photoshop World, I have published a PDF guide for attendees of Photoshop World in Las Vegas. Check out the link below to view the PDF.

Photoshop World Blog

Download An Insider’s Guide to Photoshop World

This year’s Designer/Developer Workflow Conference, held in Kansas City, was an event not-to-be missed. This was the second iteration of the conference and was even better than 2010.

This year’s event featured hands-on workshops the day before the actual conference with John Farrar, Pariah Burke and Dave Hogue. I wasn’t able to attend because my colleague A.J. Wood and I ended up on NBC Action News promoting the conference. Here’s AJ behind the scenes and below is the clip:

Day 1 kicked off with the keynote address given by Paul Trani, Adobe Flash Platform Evangelist, showing off some voodoo magic: importing Flash to multiple devices (including iPad), all controlled by one mobile device. Very exciting and a preview of things to come.

Here’s a sneak peek at another piece of cutting edge technology. My understanding is it’s called a “can” and it helps when you are projecting off multiple devices. (ha ha!)

Speakers this year covered everything from Frameworks, Ajax and jQuery to InDesign, Fireworks, mobile apps, and design. The attendees I spoke with during lunch seemed very impressed and inspired by the depth of knowledge presented at this conference.
My session took place on Day 2 and lead into the Ending Keynote. I covered Adobe Photoshop CS5 (of course) and my workflow. Here is a shot of the session (courtesy of  A.J. Wood):

Wrapping things up this year were Tom Green (no, not THAT Tom Green!), Adobe Educational Leader and all-around Canadian treasure, and Jim Babbage, a recent Adobe hire as Solutions Consultant. Not only were they insightful, taking a design from FW to DW and Catalyst, but also very entertaining.
Overall I feel that this conference is a huge success and a must-attend for anyone from either side of the fence – developer or designer. The power of the speakers and information provided is some of the best I have ever seen. Later this week I will be posting highlights and resources covered in my session.

While there are many new advances in Photoshop CS5, what you may not realize is there are smaller, more specific “tweaks” that also occurred with this version. They are called “JDI” (Just Do It) improvements and here are a few of my favorites.

Straighten

The straighten feature now allows you to instantly straighten and crop an image based on the ruler tool (found under the eyedropper). Simply drag your ruler along a horizon line or other reference and then click the “Straighten” button (now found in the options bar). Boom! Instant straight and cropped image. But wait! You say you don’t want it cropped? No problem. Undo once and the uncropped image appears.

Sharpen Tool

The sharpen tool has long been a tool to avoid in Photoshop, causing color noise and over-sharpening issues in the past. Now the tool has been “reformulated” to better serve your sharpening needs. Simply use the tool with the “Protect Detail” option checked in the options bar and adjust your strength accordingly. It is now easier to control and gives you better results.

On-Screen Brush Adjustments

Since I do a lot of retouching, this has become one of my favorite enhancements. You can now visually adjust the size of your brush on screen using your mouse. On a Mac, hold Ctrl+Opt and drag left/right to change the size and up/down to adjust the softness. On Windows, hold Alt+Right Click again, dragging the mouse to adjust.

Heads-Up Display Color Picker/Sampling Ring

Another great feature added to CS5 is the combination of the Heads-Up Color Picker and the eyedropper Sampling Ring.

The HUD Color Picker is activated by holding down (Mac) Ctrl+Opt+Cmd or (Win) Ctrl+Alt+Cmd and clicking on the image. The default picker is “Hue Strip” shown on the left, but you can also change to another option, the “Hue Wheel” shown on the right:

To change your version, simply go to your General Preferences and at the top of the dialog box is a pull down for your HUD Color Picker.

There are many other features inside of Photoshop CS5 from the JDI program, including layer enhancements and other little gems, but that is for another post. Exploring and familiarizing yourself with all the JDI enhancements can greatly improve your Photoshop experience. Enjoy!

This year will be my overall 5th year at Photoshop World (4th in a row) and I have been honored to be a guest blogger for the event this year. Check out my post at the Photoshop World Blog. While you are there, check out the events and register to attend the MUST SEE Photoshop Conference in the world.

About us:

C2 is a rapidly growing, innovative and energetic firm based in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, with an established Madison presence. We provide design software training (only Adobe Authorized Training Center in WI) and creative staffing services to a wide range of clients including advertising agencies, design, marketing and PR firms, as well as in-house creative departments for larger organizations. A family-owned business, C2 believes success can be combined with a comfortable, flexible work environment. Our culture reflects that of our clients: fun and funky, with a purpose.

We take pride in our active membership and participation in Madison & Milwaukee’s creative community through our support of professional organizations like AIGA-WI, BMA-Milwaukee, Creative Alliance MKE, Design Madison, AAF-Madison, United AdWorkers, MIMA and WPPC. C2 also hosts and provides speakers for quite a few meetups and user groups. So many in fact, we had to blog about it!

Position overview:

C2 currently seeks a dynamic, self-motivated business development professional, a hunter, if you will, who will help C2 continue to build relationships with new and current staffing and training clients throughout southeastern WI.

The right person will manage business development activities and provide some account management for placement of creative professionals (web and graphic designers, production artists, marketing and public relations professionals, copywriters, art directors and creative directors, etc.) and for our software training clients in Milwaukee, Madison, Sheboygan, Kenosha and all parts in between.

Scope of responsibilities to start:

• 40% new business prospecting/establishing relationships–day/evening networking, C2 sponsored events, client visits, outbound calls, connecting via social media, coffee, lunch, etc.
• 40% account management/relationship extension and penetration–see above plus inbound calls, exit interviews with talent and clients,
• 20% administrative functions–using CRM to track contact with prospects, existing clients, etc.; measuring actual performance with internal metrics

About you:

The future member of the C2 family loves people, networking, building relationships and the hunt. The right candidate is kind, friendly and disciplined, has a well developed sense of humor, works comfortably both independently and as a part of team.

This position requires a process-driven work ethic, dependability, attention to detail and consistent follow-through. Ideal candidates have an established network and can effectively connect within the design community. We will consider applicants with B2B sales experience in the staffing industry or the graphic design/advertising/marketing/creative industry. Candidates with experience in both staffing and the creative industries will knock our socks off!

• 3+ years consultative selling experience in staffing/custom service or creative industry
• Successful track record of identifying, developing and closing business, and maximizing all opportunities
• Comfort with metrics-driven sales culture and outside sales
• Ability to identify, qualify and address client challenges with speed and scruples
• Dynamic entrepreneurial spirit and influential communication style
• Demonstrable strategic, organized, solution-based selling skillsSelf-starter with the initiative to effectively build and execute a sales territory/plan
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred, with emphasis in business/marketing/communications
• Must be more than computer literate…ideal candidate is proficient or savvy with Mac or Windows OS, social media properties (LinkedIn, Plaxo,  Facebook, Twitter), Customer Relationship Management software, MS Office, email programs, smart phones, etc.

Compensation & benefits:

C2 offers a fun, flexible work environment, healthy base + commission, a competitive benefits package-including health/dental insurance & FSA, 401K, smart phone with data plan and more.
How to apply:

If this position sounds it was tailor-made for you, go to C2′s talent application portal, http://www.c2gps.com/be_talent.html to start the online application. You’ll be prompted to select skills. Please select Account Executive from the drop down box and an accompanying self rating. You may select other skills that reflect your capabilities, but understand any software skills selected may prompt an electronic pre-screen. You’ll then be asked to provide brief descriptions of your expertise and background. Finally, you’ll be asked to upload your resume and any other information you’d like us to have.

What is D2WC? I’ve been asked that question many times, so I thought I would give my own personal insight into the importance of Designer/Developer Workflow and also speak a little about the conference itself.

In the past, there was traditionally a “wall” between the “designers” and the elusive “developers.” The designer would come up with an amazing design that would shake the media to its core, then pass it off to the developer who would try to bring it to life. Or a developer would come up with a great idea for an app or site that would give the client all they would need and would then have the designer create artwork to fit inside the wireframe. Needless to say, communication between these two artists (I call developers artists as well because let’s be honest – the things they do with code is a work of art at times) could be – no – must be better.

Thats where the D2W Conference comes in. With the stellar lineup of speakers including Tom Green, Seb Lee-Delisle, Paul Trani, Rob Huddleston and more, you will learn to break down the barrier between designer and developer. As a designer, you can learn how to take your designs further down the pipeline using Adobe Fireworks or Flash Catalyst, or learn HTML terms and lingo to help better communicate with your developer. As a developer, you will be exposed to the cutting edge of UI, UX, AJAX, Flex and more to bring complex designs to life and closer to the original design. Not to mention there will be topics covering mobile, communication, social media and more.

All of this is packed into two full days of sessions (July 15th & 16th), and with the optional day of hands-on training (July 14th) this conference is sure to make you a more effective part of your designer/developer team.

As a bonus, I have a code for readers of the C2 100% Fresh Blog to get a $95 discount on the regular 2-day conference registration. Use the code speakerGuest when registering.

The conference takes place in Kansas City, Mo. If you are thinking to yourself, “Wow, KC is too far for a conference,” think of it this way – a direct flight round-trip ticket is cheaper than driving these days!

For more info or to register go to www.d2wc.com