Insearch of 2Advanced....

[KevinD]

Interesting stuff k2f...
But as it's outdated I doubt Eric has concidered putting this stuff in his portfolio of the current version of 2a...

I remember some stuff in his portfolio of 2A v1 not featured in v2 and v3... you sure it wasn't displayed in one of those 2 versions?

Anyways, havent seen that jordanarchitects thingy...
Pretty funny to see a webdesigner develop over the years when seeing this stuff...

P.S. ripping off sites from 4 years back seems unlickely to me

Nice find...

[k2f]

Originally posted by KevinD
I remember some stuff in his portfolio of 2A v1 not featured in v2 and v3... you sure it wasn't displayed in one of those 2 versions? Nice find...

No, this wasn't the artwork / flyers found in V1, it is like chaos and graffiti artwork.

There was also a Flash experiment URL some years back which I cannot remeber (something big like citynightsauquariam com which defaulted to 2advanced com), but I don't think the work ever got released.

[Eyenovation]

The thing to note here:
When you say 2A, you mean more specifically Eric Jordan, right?

I mean, we could use PixelRanger's stuff as old 2A stuff... but I am not sure that is what you are looking for:

Collaborations... Do they count ?

[Eyenovation]

http://www.douglasarthur.com


This guys is from 2A, isn't he?

I want to see what Tony Novak can do -
He is my hero at 2A -

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by Eyenovation
http://www.douglasarthur.com


This guys is from 2A, isn't he?

I want to see what Tony Novak can do -
He is my hero at 2A -

Ahahaha... Not sure that I qualify in any way as a hero! Douglas Arthur is a friend of Shane's (pixelranger) I believe, but he hasn't ever worked for 2A.

As far as my work is concerned... I can write a mean legal agreement or perhaps a proposal for you! Or maybe a nice back-end Java application? I'm a long time development veteran, with a history of business and marketing experience, but not a designer.

[chrisd9]

Tony,

I was thinking about starting another thread, but maybe you'll be more likely to see this here anyway.

I was curious what exactly your experience and education was, how you ended up at 2advanced, what your future plans are etc... maybe a job description on what exactly you do at 2a


thanks tony, enjoy your posts

[Eyenovation]

Originally posted by chrisd9
I was curious what exactly your experience and education was, how you ended up at 2advanced, what your future plans are etc... maybe a job description on what exactly you do at 2a

I believe it says in his left hand motto. He spends every waking moment trying to find 2A rips. (kidding)

Actually to ad to that -

How about I come down to 2A, take more photos and interview some people and report back to FlashKit. All the kiddies will love it and you will no doubt come to find I could be an integral part of the 2A team.

Tony yells to me: "Grab that bucket and mop. Make sure EJ's 1000 sq ft office is spotless!!"

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by chrisd9
Tony,

I was thinking about starting another thread, but maybe you'll be more likely to see this here anyway.

I was curious what exactly your experience and education was, how you ended up at 2advanced, what your future plans are etc... maybe a job description on what exactly you do at 2a

thanks tony, enjoy your posts

I have about 14 years of technology/industry experience. I left high-school to start my first company, designing and developing educational software (mostly games) way back in the days of Visual Basic (around 1987/88)... We (John Carroll and I) worked with a number of publishers converting educational books into Windows based games... Even did a Nintendo title back then.

Sold the company, went on to take a senior level position at an old computer company... AST Computer. It was among the fortune 500 in the early 90's then died a horrible death and was eventually bought up by Samsung. My role was more along the lines of technical management. Managed Field Engineers handling major client relationships. That's where I received most of my Network OS certifications (Novell CNE, Microsoft and SCO Unix). Today I hold well over 30 technical accrediations in various operating systems, networking technologies and programming languages.

Few years later and I was getting bored with Fortune 500, so I headed out to start two new businesses. One doing consulting work (custom software development) for larger tier companies. The other, I bought interest into an Auto Body Franchise around that time... odd.

In 1999 I got involved with two other partners in my 4th company and 1st major failure: A company called Design Insites. I had been building mostly Internet Based Apps up to that point so I was left heading up the Design and Development team. There I contacted EJ while he was at Binus to come in and take over the Design side of the business.

Needless to say, the other DI principals had a different view of the world so four of us left in early 2001 (EJ, myself, Stephanie, and John). Given the momentum of 2Advanced, it only made sense to build 2Advanced Studios. Self-funded, we hit the ground running, each with specific rolls and a very common goal. Today the studio is comprised of 10 people, EJ runs all Creative, I have Ops and Sales, Stephanie is Development, and John has Information Architecture...

Most important though, we all collectively run the business activities and have a great respect for one another's talents. We have a very flexible approach to process and can re-tool on a dime to meet any client requirements. Our formula for success: Respect, Experience and a Major Passion for the Work.

So, what's our plan for the future? Shhhh... Can't spill all the beans just yet.

[chrisd9]

Haha thanks tony...

let me know if there will be an opening for a college graduate with a double major in business administration and physics from Wesleyan University in Bloomington Illinois, and a computer science degree from Northwestern University in Chicago Illinois, who has been running a design firm since he was 16 = )

haha, bet you hear that all the time, thanks again

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by chrisd9
Haha thanks tony...

let me know if there will be an opening for a college graduate with a double major in business administration and physics from Wesleyan University in Bloomington Illinois, and a computer science degree from Northwestern University in Chicago Illinois, who has been running a design firm since he was 16 = )

haha, bet you hear that all the time, thanks again

Ahahaha.... Daily. But in reality, we are always looking for hot new talent!

[aversion]

Originally posted by tpnovak

Ahahaha.... Daily. But in reality, we are always looking for hot new talent!

how about warmed over old talent?

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by aversion

Originally posted by tpnovak

Ahahaha.... Daily. But in reality, we are always looking for hot new talent!

how about warmed over old talent?

Anybody who's not afraid to wear a plaid shirt qualifies as "Hot Talent" in my book!

[aversion]

rocking

I'll swing by on saturday


:P

[tpnovak]

Just be sure to have that plaid shirt on!

[chrisd9]

lol

tony, if i could annoy you a little more, that would be great = )

i think i recall you saying at some point that 5 of the 10 people at 2advanced were "creatives"... im assuming all skilled in flash etc.

obviously you have depth concerning back end programming skills held in house as well... im curious, however, if almost all work is done completely in-house. ive heard references to your (2a as a whole) use of sub contractors or other free lance designers. i would assume that your use of outside people, if at all frequent, was a fairly "close knit" group of designers.

im curious how a design firm of your caliber views the option of officially bringing on hired personell vs passing work on when needed, or even if it is that much of an issue at all


thanks again tony

[chrisd9]

with that last post, i just noticed your looking to bring on a new web developer... perhaps this answers my own question...

would this then make 11 on staff??

[thickvision]

Lets not jump the gun/ twist his words. What he said was, they are always looking for new talent, not 'we are specifically looking for somebody at the moment.' 2A is not actively looking for new personel, but if somebody extremely creative came along, I'm sure they would snach him/her up. Or that's my inerpretation. Tell me if I have it wrong too .

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by chrisd9
with that last post, i just noticed your looking to bring on a new web developer... perhaps this answers my own question...

would this then make 11 on staff??

Actually we anticipate exiting August with 12 on staff... But who really ever knows for sure. Lot's of factors go into a new hire.

As a policy, we are ultimately concerned with the quality of the end product and therefore don't use freelancers.
That being said, there are always scenarios that can be construed as an 'exception to the rule'.

For example Vulcan was a collab... Our designers working with theirs. Freelance?

I guess it just ultimately boils down to definition, intent and your ability to control all of variables within any given client engagement. This goes back to what I was saying about having flexibility when it comes to re-tooling your business for each client.

[tpnovak]

Originally posted by thickvision
Lets not jump the gun/ twist his words. What he said was, they are always looking for new talent, not 'we are specifically looking for somebody at the moment.' 2A is not actively looking for new personel, but if somebody extremely creative came along, I'm sure they would snach him/her up. Or that's my inerpretation. Tell me if I have it wrong too .

It's tough really. We are always looking... I am out surfing and clicking on links and sites all day long. We get close to 300 unsolicited resumes each month, and although I cannot reply to every single one... I still make a note of those I like.

One of the key's to this business is balance. Our goal is to NEVER have to let people go. I can say from experience that we have bowed out of $200K+ deals, because we didn't have the personnel on staff to meet the needs, nor were we willing to bring freelancers on just for the short duration, nor were we ok with the idea of firing a bunch of people once the deal was done.

But, a successful business is learning from your mistakes. Since that time, we have been building a little arsenal of resumes and URLS. Every day, I filter a dozen or so URLs by EJ and the rest of the designers... Or by the Development team. Always looking for individuals who... when the time is right... we could bring in. But, in my mind, the key is to have the sustaining business once the excitement is over. It may not be the most successful path to extreme profit, but it sure makes you feel better about your business on the whole.

In our estimation this is exactly where the March Firsts and Rare Medium and other Tier 1 companies went wrong... Eventually you end up in the situation of having to bid $1 Million for a $100,000 engagement because your 'run rate' is through the roof.

[aversion]

Originally posted by tpnovak

I am out surfing and clicking on links and sites all day long.

sounds like you've found the ideal position for me in your company, I am soooo good at that