Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Pages I designed in our magazine
Images may appear slightly blurred
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| Picture also taken by me |
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| Letter by me |
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| Story and layout by me |
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| Story and layout by me |
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| Content and layout by me |
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| Content and layout by me |
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| Content and layout by me |
Ezine Feature Story
EZINE Feature Story
You often buy candy from their shops or become mesmerized by the toys that
they stock on their shelves; purchase tickets from them to see movies, as well
as having them repair your computer. There the owners behind the well-known
businesses we love and often take for granted.
We visit the Big Top Candy Shop for a sugar high, go to the Alamo for a
dinner and movie, and support local businesses that we couldn’t entertain
ourselves without. Austin is full of interesting people with extravagant
backgrounds, and stories for the telling. Whether they are an owner of a
computer repair business, a large strand of movie theaters, or mom and pop
candy shops, they all have stories.
Local storeowner Brandon Hodge owns two of the most popular stores on South
Congress, Big Top candy shop, and Monkey See, Monkey. He’s been in the toy
business since his college years, and decided he didn’t want to work in retail
anymore.
“By that time [in the mid-90s attending college], I had been working sales
floors for a few years, and I wanted to more on to something else. I wanted to
write and work as an editor on magazines, which I had always wanted to do since
high school,” Hodge said. “But somehow, during my college years, I gravitated
back to working in funk local shops, and landed a job at a great toy and gift
shop, where I learned to run a store from the top down.”
Hodge wasn’t the only store/business owner that discovered his passion and
dove in to starting his own place of work.
“I was working for Shell Oil right out of college and realized that I
didn’t want to retire from that job. I loved movies so I decided to open a
movie theater,” Tim League, owner of Alamo Drafthouse and MONDO, said. “Even
when we first started out, we were building a single screen mom and pop movie
theater. Over the years it grew slowly and then quickly.”
These owners may be
successful now, but their success didn’t come without a few bumps in the road,
shaping them into the people they are today. Hodge says his experience in the
past with his former bosses helped him to shape himself as a boss.
“I’ve had a few bosses
over the years that were real jerks, who think the only way to inspire others
to work is to boss them around and be aggressive,” Hodge said. “But, I found
that they didn’t get the same performance or loyalty out of employees as they
would by being respectful and considerate, so I always promised myself that I’d
never be like that, either to employees or customers. But, business can be
stressful, so you just have to learn when to let things roll off your back and
pick your battles. I try to give my employees the space they need to work and
do their best, and encourage them to do things that need to be done in ways
other than bossing them around.”
League said that while
his business model is thriving today, he’s had some experiences that influenced
him to implement different practices today.
“Our first theater in
Bakersfield was in a really terrible location,” League said. “That business
failed and we moved to Austin to start again. So I learned what is now a
cliché, but is still very true…the importance of location.”
Hodge and League said
they had/have powerful role models in their lives that have inspired them and
pushed them to achieve their goals.
“I grew up on a farm in
a small Texas town, and my whole family had to work and pitch in to make the
business a success, so I’d have to say that my parents are my biggest
inspiration,” Hodge said. “They instilled a strong work ethic in me from a very
young age, and even now still come by and help me out at the candy shop the way
I helped them when I was younger, I couldn’t have asked for a more positive
influence in my life.”
With League he said his
role models have taught him something.
“I always admired some
of the early showmen of cinema: David Friedman, William Castle and Kroger
Babb,” League said. “They knew that it was always important to give your
audience a little something extra.”
These Austin owners
don’t stop at their businesses when it comes to being involved in their
community.
“About 5 years ago the
other merchants along South Congress elected me to be the President of our
merchant association, so I’ve become deeply immersed in local politics, and
spend a lot of time at City Hall looking after the interests of myself and
fellow merchants,” Hodge said. “I get to contribute to the community and help
shape laws and rules that are fair not only for businesses, but customers and
residents in the area.”
Layouts
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| Pink and black boxes are spots for pictures |
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| Pink and black boxes are spots for pictures |
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| White boxes are spots for pictures |
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| Up-close of layout above |
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| white circles are spots for picture |
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| White boxes are spots for pictures |
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| Up-close of layout above |
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Award Winning Technology Editorial
The Austin
Independent School District (AISD) should be commended for the technological
advances it has brought to schools. Since the 1990s when teachers were given a
computer and four laptops as an incentive to embrace computers and the budding
Internet, the District has steadily advanced the technology available to
faculty, staff and students.
Since 2000,
schools in the District have become wireless, which means that all computers in
the District are continually on-line. Teachers keep track of grades and
attendance via the Internet and most classrooms have more than two to three
computers. The latest high tech classroom tool is the Innovation Station, which
brings a complete digital presentation system, equipped with a large screen, mounted
speakers and a computer, into the classroom. COWs (or computers on wheels) are
also being placed in most AISD schools so teachers have access to a movable
computer lab, which they can check out. Fulmore has received or will receive
eight COWs, each with 30 computers on board.
It is becoming
more and more important that students have access to the Internet, both for
lessons and to follow teachers on websites like Twitter. Other teachers require
students to have accounts with the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
However, in this
economy, it is pretty unrealistic for the District to assume that all students
and parents will have access to the Internet, much less have a computer or
laptop. According to the 2009 Census, only 39.7 percent of Hispanics, 45 percent
of Blacks and 65.7 percent of Anglo families have high-speed Internet at home.
While it’s true that students can use the computers at the libraries, it is not
realistic to think that they will be able to go to a public library after
school.
Parents need the
same tools and Internet access that their children do so that the on-line
grades and attendance records are available to them, too.
According to the
Austin American-Statesman, schools districts in Texas were given the option to
choose a percentage of their textbooks online for the 2010-2011 school years.
The schools could use that extra money on other electronic devices.
The District is
looking into cheaper means of use connectivity. District technology director
Dave Sanders said recently that cell phones and apps may be
an answer, he pointed out that while not all households have computers, almost
everyone has a cell phone.
Much of the
technology that the District has been able to provide to schools has come from
the citizens of Austin through bond elections. The City and District are to be
commended for providing schools and students with the latest technology. The
District will do well, however, to remember its most financially strapped
families who may already be at a disadvantage. They need access to top-notch
technology at home if the playing field is to remain level.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Check it out
I listened to a brilliant guest speaker earlier today. She's written some amazing pieces and they are always interesting to read. Check her blog out http://texaswriter-denise.blogspot.com/
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