On Monday we had the wrap up of our core values feature, on Tuesday we had thesummary and future glimpse of production stories, and today we share the last yet most meaningful of team stories: Phoenix’s different talent tiers.

Phoenix is known for having different availability to work and participate in everything we do: being a helpful community member, a devoted volunteer or a hopeful intern are the pathways to how one becomes buy levitra professional to grow to be a part of Phoenix. We do open our doors to everyone at the best of the capacity that we can; being the community that we are, we grow from this process as well . One thing that has been clear to us since day one is that this is a matter of having the right attitude, the passion  – everything else, such as skills and aptitude, can be learned.

This is exactly the same premise we founded Phoenix with, some of us have this as a career and some of us have learned things on the go – which is why it is so important and meaningful to us to open doors as we walk through in hopes to grow from inside out.

From the early 2000’s we were always welcoming anyone who would want to help us. If they didn’t know something then we would teach them exactly what the job at hand was about. Volunteers are different from interns because volunteers have always been the passionate kind that graced us with their existing talents in their spare time, occasionally working with art or development as work or school would allow it; interns on the other hand grow from having little knowledge into the most reliable and key members of the Phoenix family.

For as long as I can remember, ever since I have been part of Phoenix, it has been part of my job to lead the internship program whether it has been PR, Web, or now Social Media teams. And since 2004 I have got a lot of beautiful faces to remember and levitra 20 mg with overnight delivery quite the assortment of wonderful moments that a lot of remarkable people have left in my heart.

So having properly introduced this, it’s important to highlight that while I am usually that one person that leads on these projects, I am not the only sensei in this dojo.

This is the development circle of knowledge. Vitek Goyel is our business lead, Weldon Hathaway is of course our Programming boss, Richard Flores our Art heart and Katie Hallahan who is a hands-on Game designer and Phoenix spokesperson. And last but not least, Cesar Bittar who is of course Nag Magnifico, knows everything, does everything, and kinda sees everything too – yes, he’s that creepy sometimes; mostly our lead producer full time as well.

Interns that have been through this circle have been mostly either volunteers or working for college credits. Most of The Silver Lining team as of today is still fully functional with volunteers.

Then there is the publishing crew: Scott Steinberg is our General Manager as well as Head Honcho Magnifico – he oversees everything, from what games come through to absolutely everything that goes through with each IP. Then we have Mario Kroll along with Katie Hallahan, who work most of Public Relations, Networking and all the data that comes through it. Then there’s the Social Media team which has to bear with my unsufferable self day after day, as they get flooded with photos of foodporn and cats. It’s like we’re the Power Rangers of Marketing – we combine our forces into our publishing efforts and all sorts of fancy.

And this is exactly where I can finally open up about the beauty that is opening the doors to give of yourself and have people grow with you. Most of the press work from 2004 until 2008 was done entirely with a team of interns that I had the pleasure to lead along. In 2012 this has been something that I brought back with myself and there is an entire team with a growing talent, learning day after day. Before we move on to show the current staff, I need to do a quick shoutout to all the beautiful people that we no longer have with us – but no matter what, they will always be part of the Phoenix family.

I just want to send my best regards and love to Alex Mollenhauer-Saunders, Michael Bright, Katharina Bucher and Jamie Patton. They were without a doubt a highlight to Phoenix, it was fantastic having them around for as long as we did. Alex was always such a creative and great spirited talent; Mike was brilliant and intelligent; Katharina is hands down one of the most beautiful girls I have ever met – polyglot and kind hearted; and of course Jamie, someone whose passion and acute common sense made everything just better.

There have been more than them, however they stand out due to the quality and dedication to their craft. I had the opportunity to talk to Alex before doing the article, and this is what he had to share of his experience with Phoenix:

“I think having a group of people who were as enthusiastic about something close to my heart gave me the chance to be involved was great. It really set me up for my future jobs, and gave me a positive work ethic in regards to assignments and getting the job done. Wish I’d hung around a bit longer, though!”

I still remember back in the day when Alex was just starting out at university and he had been so inspired be the work we were doing at the time that he chose Multimedia Technology hoping to explore furthermore that job as a career, and it is impossible not to say how proud I am of him today. Successfully employed and worked through University of Birmingham as well as Ernst & Young Global Limited which is one of the top companies worldwide for business consultancy and advisory services. So much to say about them all, yet not enough room for it.

Now moving on to the current talent, some of you may see some familiar faces. This week is all about what’s next for Phoenix, so it’s only fair to showcase our future talent as well.

We currently have the talent of Gonçalo Gonçalves, Drew Beardall, Serena Nelsonand Heather Smith – they are all currently assisting with different tasks, different days. Organization and scheduling goes through the pipeline of needs from Phoenix Publishing, and from there a calendar is created with specific guidelines of how and when – then content development comes forward, in which we can showcase and highlight such beautiful work as: Moebius: Empire Rising Phoenix insight from the beautiful Serena, then we have got Face Noir in-depth work from the talent of Drew, including walkthrough design. Also we have got Quest For Infamy coverage with Gonçalo’s charm, and Heather’s work of art remains to be seen, because since last year we’ve been working on our largest media project yet and that is coming for the The Silver Lining updates we’ve got lined up.

Besides the large projects, handling social media basics such as content management, editing, copywrite, and research among plenty other specific tasks are fundamental for their continuous learning and portfolio development. I am a business major with about 10 years of career into Management, Marketing and PR – while it may never be the same as a university, my goal is to provide practical and comprehensive learning experiences as they go through real life experiences such as production development and publishing responsibilities. As of today, in one year they can count having game credits as part of their portfolio with Cognition, Face Noir, Moebius, Lost Civilization, The Last Door and Quest For Infamy as part of their body of work. I would only hope that this is just about as good enough as it can be offered, being trained on the job. Also, the question I am sure many of you may ask – interns do get paid as the availability for us to include them in our payroll allows – currently half our staff is hired. So fact is, they are learning as they move forward into an industry they probably didn’t imagine they would ever have an opportunity to get into, yet probably most likely wanted to.

It is nothing but a moment of joy and pride to understand how most of these opportunities come through with a lot of work, but are also quite rewarding. We believe in paying it forward, giving what has been given to us, which is the opportunity to learn and grow as we broke through it, to be able to share the path with those who choose to follow us as well.

When I got started these entries, I had originally included sharing part of my story into the team, but then I figured what better way to tell who I am than through the work and joy of those I love and give everything to, to those who believe in me, listen and give their absolute everything day after day. It is humbling and precious to be able to touch the lives of so many people, as well as to give them something more that I hope they take with them, just as I have taken and continue to hold on with me. To my team – thank you, you make everything absolutely worthwhile.

Thank you for reading. This was the last of the team stories from our anniversary special, and I sure hope you have enjoyed this one – with extra love, and doodles!

Say Mistage
Social Media Director
Phoenix Online Studios