Professional History

Early Years

My first computer was the incredible ZX Spectrum. It was 1986 (I was 8), a snowy winter, and I was waiting 30 minutes on average for a game to load. In those days it was interesting watching out the window, seeing the snow slowly build up – I saw a lot of that, all thanks to the miracle of computers! The most captivating features the Spectrum had were: the rainbow on the side, and the soft buttons which made typing very difficult.

After some time, I got an upgrade to the Spectrum +, which still had the rainbow, but the soft buttons were gone. This was an improvement. After many hours spent waiting for things to load, I got another upgrade: The Amazing Commodore 64. This guy definitely had no soft buttons. Incidentally, it was the first time I decided to complete a tutorial on programming, using the C64. It went something like this:

10 PRINT “HELLO”
20 DO 10 UNTIL 100 (something along those lines anyway)
30 END

Once I did that, I decided to stay away from programming for a few years. But then, Al Gore invented The Internet. Why did you have to do that, Al Gore? I started building web pages and a dream was born. Oh, and I was running Windows for Workgroups 3.11 on 4Mb of RAM. Those were the days of Plug-And-Play and MTV Unplugged. I didn’t have to wait for things to load anymore, so I spent several years perfecting my skills in Civilization 1, 2, and then 3.

In 2000 I completed a Multimedia Certificate. This prepared me for working with 3D animation and for the next few years I developed mostly brand animations.

Moving to Programming and Interactive

I developed a strong interest in programming and wanted to learn more about computer science in general. I enrolled in a Bachelor of Science degree at Massey University, majoring in Computer Science and Information Systems. Highest grades were achieved in Object Oriented Programming, Object Oriented Analysis, Business Processes, Multimedia Development, IT Project Management, and eCommerce Strategy papers.

While at university, I continued working on commercial projects creating 3D brand animations and also began delivering interactive and multimedia projects for corporate clients. This enabled me to put to immediate practice some of the theoretical concepts obtained from university study, which proved to be a very successful strategy. I was running a one-person business as a white label provider of interactive services. The difference in approach (in those days) was that I was using best practices from traditional IT development in what was mostly considered a creative realm. By keeping the creative side as a layer that comes after business and user interface analysis, I was able to produce maintainable, reusable, and effective solutions.

My studies went something like this:

Multimedia Production and Managing Teams and Projects

After completing my degree in 2006, I joined RWD Technologies as a Multimedia Developer. During my time with RWD, I have been involved in projects in a variety of responsibilities. Highlights include working out the development procedures, file structures and documentation for the company, to ensure the successful delivery of a large project which required me to assist in hiring and co-leading a team of 13 developers and to deliver the entire project in 3 months. The project was a great success for the client and RWD. After two years with the company, I was appointed Team Leader of the Multimedia Team, which has helped me to obtain another perspective on technical development, individual motivation, and management.

The Future – Working with People

I am currently pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma in Business at The University of Auckland Business School – Graduate School of Enterprise, following another interest that has taken a back seat for many years – helping individuals excel at their jobs through building, leading and successfully managing (new) enterprises. I believe in people and I believe that given the right environment we can all excel at what we do, creating valuable services and products that will outdo any competitor that is focused solely on the “bottom line” and near-future results. There is much more to business (and life) than revenue and planning 1-3 years ahead. I am pursuing the skills that will allow me to bring these ideas to life.

Some of the companies I have worked with:

Let’s talk!

Got a project? Think I can help? Let’s talk:
email: gorjan@gorjan.co.nz