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Earlier this year, we decided to start doing regular “skill shares” at CloudKid HQ. We think it’s important to learn about things outside of the realm of our usual day-to-day tasks. This helps us stay well-rounded as artists and helps break up our routines by learning something new. We started with some internal job-related shares: animator CloudKids taught others about animation basics; a graphic designer gave an intro to typography (and type crimes never to commit!); our Technical Producer showed us all how she creates wireframes for the experiences we make. These were just a few of our original skill shares, and they were a great way to kick off this exciting new tradition.

In addition to these interesting internal shares, we’ve also started to think outside the box a bit when it comes to what we’re sharing. More recently, the amazingly talented Larry Sampson did a guest skill share on production design. While he tends to work more on live action shoots, it was inspiring for all of us to hear about another artist’s process. We’ve also gone even further “outside of the box” with origami and yoga skill shares (as pictured above). These were really rad experiences that helped us refresh, recharge, and inspired us to consider potential new hobbies.

We strongly suggest taking some time every now and then to learn a new skill. We’d also love to hear any of your suggestions for future skill shares!

Last Friday, our welcoming committee (aka Mike and Sulley) greeted ten sophomores from Boston Preparatory Charter Public School on their visit to CloudKid HQ. The school has a focus on college and career readiness, and students take field trips to local businesses throughout the year. While many members of our staff have spoken at local universities and colleges, this was the first time we’ve hosted high school students in our offices.

After giving the students an intro to CloudKid and a tour of the office (which of course resulted in many a “This is where you work? There are so many toys!” reaction), we held a panel discussion with four of our employees. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and hear answers about everything from “what were you all like in high school” to “what advice do you have for us as we start to think about college and our careers?”. Our day was made when one student proclaimed “I didn’t think today was going to be that cool… but this is actually really cool!”.  We also loved getting to see the students interact with some of our games, including Negative Nimbus and Snacker Stacker, and we really enjoyed answering their questions about our work.

We hope we inspired some of the students to think more about potential career and college paths. Likewise, we hope any of you reading this may consider what you can do in your area to help local students. We promise, it will be well worth your time!