[FLASH]http://www.mudbubble.com/blog/flash/me.swf, 130, 130[/FLASH]

I first started using Flash in 1999. I’d never seen anything like it. Initially I wasn’t sure how to navigate the timeline or even work with vectors. To be truthful, I only had limited animation experience up until Flash came along. My background is in the fine arts, printmaking, illustration and art history. I earned a B.F.A. from the Hartford Art School in 1989, long before Flash was ever invented. I have always had a roll-up-my-sleeves attitude towards learning and Flash proved to be quite intuitive. I recall the very moment Flash *clicked* for me, the moment the haze lifted and it became crystal clear what Flash was all about and how to use it. At the time I was a Creative Director for a small animation studio in the Boston area and we turned to Flash as our main animation program. Most of the content we created was for broadcast television and my understanding of how to deliver engaging content for the web was minimal at best. That was all about to change. Shockwave contracted us to create an animated series for their site www.shockwave.com . I was already a fan of Shockwave which made this project particularly exciting. It became a crash course on how to use Flash to create animation optimized for the web that also had a fully functional game incorporated into a preloader for dial-up users. As a company we had no experience developing for the web. As an individual, this was a brave new frontier. To make it even more interesting, I had strict deadlines to meet, which all but eliminated the research and development portion of the process. I was smack in the middle of all this unfamiliar technology, directly between the Shockwave producers and my own bosses. All eyes were on me to figure out the artistic and technical issues involved with delivering engaging and interactive content. Funny thing was, I was very new to vector-based animation and my skill level with actionScript was not too much beyond a gotoAndPlay command. Despite my technical shortcomings, I embraced the challenge. Ask me if I was under-qualified and I would answer “yes”, but not without the confidence to deliver the project complete and on time. It just meant I needed to roll up my sleeves a little further.

The series was a success. I managed to fulfill every technical and artistic requirement and delivered it on time. None of which would have been possible for me without the help of the Flash community. I frequented the Macromedia Flash forums and various online resources such as www.moock.org, www.were-here.com and www.ultrashock.com where I found an endless community of users willing to provide a helping hand. The most important aspect of this experience wasn’t about the amount of learning I achieved, but rather the community and its selfless will to help others. My community involvement became a daily ritual and over time, I found myself providing more answers than questions. Not only did I advance quickly, I made many friends and networked myself into a few high-profile freelance gigs. I started to specialize in animation and motion graphics for the web. I was hooked.

It was an exciting time to be a Flash user as the internet was literally bursting with dynamic and engaging content. It was the beginning of the “dot-com” boom and little did I know just how much of an effect it would have on my career. While working with Shockwave.com, they asked me to be a speaker at the Flash Film Festival in New York City and talk about Flash animation. I happily agreed, unaware of the impact this conference was about to have on me. I shared the stage with two brothers who called themselves Jib Jab Media (www.jibjab.com), and a friendship that continues to this day was started. Although it was my first time sharing experiences in front of a large audience, the speaking session was a success.

During the conference I attended the Flash Film Festival, held on a stage in a large theater with standing room only. The energy was electric as the best of the web was projected on a large screen to the sounds of cheers from the audience. Awards were presented and designers and developers were recognized for their talents and contributions. I was blown away. It was a palpable sense of community, and it engaged me. I felt just like the character of Jake Blues in the church scene from the movie, The Blues Brothers, when the beam of light cast down upon him as he chanted, “The band! The band!” I now knew what I had to do. It was clear to me as I drove back to Boston with my head spinning faster than the wheels on my car. It was time for me to immerse myself in the world of Flash design and animation. I needed to push my Flash skills further and build my Flash website.

A couple of years later, Macromedia announced the creation of the “Team Macromedia” program and a Macromedia employee suggested that I personally submit my application. I did and to my surprise, was accepted into the TMM program. I was now officially recognized as a member of the Flash community due to my ability to exhibit fundamentals and expertise with the Flash product. Learning Flash remains an on-going process for me, since the first time I launched Flash 3 and now with version 8. My history and growth with the program has provided me with a unique perspective as a Flash user in peer to peer situations such as the online forums and articles and tutorials for publication.

My community affiliation has provided many opportunities to be a featured speaker at various conferences and user groups. These experiences have given me an up close and personal way to network with peers from around the world, not to mention how much fun it is to be amongst hundreds and sometimes thousands of users who share the same excitement and passion as I do.

Aside from populating the online Flash forum with technical answers, I found myself delivering live Flash technical presentations via Breeze and what is commonly referred to as “Tech Wednesdays” and “Macrochats”. One such presentation has been overwhelmingly popular, (http://adobe.breezecentral.com/p46515568/) This was my very first recorded Breeze presentation and it has been one of the most popular resources for Flash design and animation on the Devnet site. Due to its popularity I continue to host Tech-Wednesday and Macrochat Breeze presentations, all of which have been recorded and featured as devnet articles. This is one of my most rewarding community experiences due to the number of users who continue to benefit from this recording.

Ask me how I ended up here and I will tell you it was the result of hard work, a little luck and the generosity of the Flash community. Ask me why I volunteer so much of my time helping others, and I will tell you, because I can. I am proud of my accomplishments as a Flash user and when there’s an opportunity to pass along this knowledge to others, then we can all benefit. It’s what makes the community vibrant and alive for the benefit of all who wish to get involved. Flash is just a tool, but it is the community that surrounds this tool that transforms it into a culture.

I could go on, but not right now as I have too much work to do

As they say in Hollywood, to be continued…

-chris

*Read my interview with Sessions Online School of Design.