Hugh Elliott
Bio
In 1999, Hugh Elliott graduated with a diploma in Computer Graphics and true-to-form, went into landscaping. Two backbreaking months in, he was asked to come to Toronto and show some Flash work. Undeterred at never having heard of Flash, Hugh downloaded the Flash 3 demo, poured a pint and taught himself. He never looked back.
Since then, Hugh worked for a few of the largest interactive agencies - MMi, Fjord and Organic - where he created award-winning work for General Motors, General Mills, and Bank of America, among others.
Between agencies, he co-founded the highly acclaimed and successful Nemesis Group, nominated for Canadian Agency of the Year in 2005.
Hugh was nominated for technical excellence in previous years at FlashForward and FiTC for his personal site, wheniwas19.com. After leaving Nemesis Group, Hugh went freelance and found it to be the most fun he'd had in years. After a brief second life in the agency world, Hugh is back in the freelance game.
Session
The Art of (Mis)Communication
Consider your past projects. Tight timeline? An art director or a technical lead with a huge ego?
A project manager that neglects to disclose specific details? While these things directly impact your project you'll find, more often than not, they can be more easily dealt with when you provide and receive proper, effective communication.
Let's delve into how we deal with the people we deal with. Let's look at how we speak to the people we speak to. Ins and outs of conversation.
Lengthy meetings that test everyone's patience. Email forwarding and why a few minutes of editing can save hours of time. Setting alerts. The little things, the big things and everything in the middle. Nothing should be overlooked.
Taken in perspective, every project starts with a 50/50 chance of success. It's how we as a team communicate that pushes that ratio one way or the other.