Siggraph

These have been the most AMAZING couple days ever. Being a winner of the HP/Saytek Team Animation contest has really gotten our team’s names out there. I worked on the short with my two close friends Danny Garnett and Manuel Sierra. Our school, The Art Institute of Philadelphia, has been doing a great job of introducing us to many people already in the industry.

Day 1 (Monday): Lay of the Land

After being in San Diego for a bit and checking into our amazing hotel (Hilton Gaslamp Quarters…conveniently accross the street from the convention haha), we headed out for some food. Stopped by “The Field” near fifth and market. We all decided to get boxties since we have never heard of them before. They were delicious, pretty much a potato pancake wrapped around bacon, cheese, and covered in a white wine sauce. Now onto the convention itself.

One of our school administrators gave us a quick run down of the convention. Computer Animation Theater, Job Fair, Exhibitors floor, Classes, Presentations, Electronic Theater, Emerging Technologies, interactive classes and demonstrations, open computer labs, everything you could ever want.

I pretty much used this first day to get a feel for what was where and how I wanted to go about doing things the next day…this turned out to be of no use because of all the overwhelming things haha.

As a little unwinding and entertainment at the end of the day we all went to a club that was holding the SIGGRAPH Student Chapters party. So much fun, definitely a night to remember. The parties are a great way to let your mind rebuild itself after turning into putty from all the information at the convention.

Day 2(Tuesday): The Beginning

This was the morning all the exhibits opened up. Luckily for us, we were given exhibitor passes, which basically means “goodbye long line in the morning”, “hello free stuff and no wait”. Pixar is well known for giving away posters of the most recently released movie so the flood of people headed there first, we almost didn’t make it. Afterward we scanned the floor and tried to plan where we could go on our own little paths.

Portfolio Review through my school was the best advice I could ever get from a person in the industry. I met with Victor Soto who just recently worked with Digital Domain on a couple Transformer car commercials. He gave me some great tips on what to expect, things in my work to change, basically tearing apart my whole real, I loved it! Every word was gold to me.

The job fair is a great place to quickly stop by and drop off your demo reel, maybe even talk to the companies and ask them anything you’d like to know. Places such as Blizzard, Nickelodeon, Double Negative, Animal Logic, Midway, Sony Online, and many many more.

For dinner after the convention we all went out to Dick’s Last Resort. Great restaurant, great ribs, and an entertaining atmosphere, a MUST if you’re in the convention center area. A lot of memories will come from that restaurant, trust me.

All in all this trip so far has been talking to just about anyone that will listen. Ask questions, get involved, get people’s information, you just never know who you’ll meet with and the opportunities that will arise. Well I’m off to make the best of Day 3. Day 1 was getting the feel, Day 2 was getting out the demo reels, I’m dedicating Day 3 to focusing on my goal companies and getting my name out there. Thanks for reading so far! Hope I’ve give you a little insight on this enormous event and the great things it will do for your career.