At long last...Prana
It was a very conscious decision to wait until now to talk about Prana. Basically, I've been overwhelmed. After three years in National Promotions at DreamWorks, I feel pretty confident in saying that I had it down. I knew everyone, I knew how to get things done, I knew the system. And here, I know nothing. The osmotic knowledge that I gained while doing the custom animated TV spots for Over The Hedge was about as superficial as a Lindsey Buckingham song. I'd barely touched the surface. (And Lindsey's music barely touches Stevie's...yes, even her klonopin-laden Street Angel album.)
Essentially, every meeting I attend, every conversation I have, every email I read, I am frantically trying to figure out what words, phrases, and terminology mean (oh, and sometimes Prana uses different words than DreamWorks for things that I do know). Secondly, business culture in India is VERY different than the US. Things are just done...differently. You speak to people differently, you interact differently, and sometimes things that you take for granted in the US are not taken for granted here. You have to retrace your steps a lot and make sure that everyone is on the same page. It's sort of hard to explain, but basically, you have to put much more effort and thought into communicating.
Before I get much further, I want to be clear that I love it at Prana. All of the things that can be a bit frustrating about Prana (in comparison to the oiled up machine that is DreamWorks) are also the things that make me so thankful to be working for this company. It's a very young company with a relatively flat corporate structure - which means that I get to see and do so much. Everywhere I turn, I am confronted with a different area of computer animation. If I'm talking or learning about modeling, I can walk down the hall to the modeling department. If I'm curious about how a rig is made, I ask the guy sitting next to me at lunch. I don't really have to seek out "how computer animation is done," because it's happening right in front of me. I am given the freedom to explore and experience as much as my heart desires.
However, the intensity of this week, paired with the fact that I've been sick since last Tuesday has been really difficult. I've been overwhelmed and I didn't really want to write about this integral part of my experience until I had settled in.
I'm not done...
The people of India are absolutely beautiful. I can't even begin to describe how kind, warm, and friendly people are here. For example, last weekend in Jaipur, Ellen and I were trying to figure out what this mistletoe-ish thing was hanging from a doorway. It was basically a shriveled lemon and a bunch of green chili peppers on a string. (Quick side-note: Dean, remember when you were writing a letter to Father Tom and spelled Chile like the restaurant, Chili's? Hilarious). Anyways, I happened to be thinking about it today (oh yeah, we work every other Saturday), so I decided to ask the guy next to me, Amit (one of my favorites) what the deal was with it. Turns out, it's a good luck charm. We spent the next ten minutes talking about good luck charms, the Evil Eye, good and bad spirits, auspicious days, arranged marriages, and weddings. It was awesome. Afterwards, I realized how much I have to learn from each and every one of these people that I work with, and vice versa.
More to come on Prana...
I have not even been here for two weeks and yet I feel like I've been here for a month (in a good way). It reminds me of when I first got to college. So much happened in one day that when you went to bed at night, things that had happened that morning felt like they happened last week. I have so much to learn here...and I am so excited.
It was a very conscious decision to wait until now to talk about Prana. Basically, I've been overwhelmed. After three years in National Promotions at DreamWorks, I feel pretty confident in saying that I had it down. I knew everyone, I knew how to get things done, I knew the system. And here, I know nothing. The osmotic knowledge that I gained while doing the custom animated TV spots for Over The Hedge was about as superficial as a Lindsey Buckingham song. I'd barely touched the surface. (And Lindsey's music barely touches Stevie's...yes, even her klonopin-laden Street Angel album.)
Essentially, every meeting I attend, every conversation I have, every email I read, I am frantically trying to figure out what words, phrases, and terminology mean (oh, and sometimes Prana uses different words than DreamWorks for things that I do know). Secondly, business culture in India is VERY different than the US. Things are just done...differently. You speak to people differently, you interact differently, and sometimes things that you take for granted in the US are not taken for granted here. You have to retrace your steps a lot and make sure that everyone is on the same page. It's sort of hard to explain, but basically, you have to put much more effort and thought into communicating.
Before I get much further, I want to be clear that I love it at Prana. All of the things that can be a bit frustrating about Prana (in comparison to the oiled up machine that is DreamWorks) are also the things that make me so thankful to be working for this company. It's a very young company with a relatively flat corporate structure - which means that I get to see and do so much. Everywhere I turn, I am confronted with a different area of computer animation. If I'm talking or learning about modeling, I can walk down the hall to the modeling department. If I'm curious about how a rig is made, I ask the guy sitting next to me at lunch. I don't really have to seek out "how computer animation is done," because it's happening right in front of me. I am given the freedom to explore and experience as much as my heart desires.
However, the intensity of this week, paired with the fact that I've been sick since last Tuesday has been really difficult. I've been overwhelmed and I didn't really want to write about this integral part of my experience until I had settled in.
I'm not done...
The people of India are absolutely beautiful. I can't even begin to describe how kind, warm, and friendly people are here. For example, last weekend in Jaipur, Ellen and I were trying to figure out what this mistletoe-ish thing was hanging from a doorway. It was basically a shriveled lemon and a bunch of green chili peppers on a string. (Quick side-note: Dean, remember when you were writing a letter to Father Tom and spelled Chile like the restaurant, Chili's? Hilarious). Anyways, I happened to be thinking about it today (oh yeah, we work every other Saturday), so I decided to ask the guy next to me, Amit (one of my favorites) what the deal was with it. Turns out, it's a good luck charm. We spent the next ten minutes talking about good luck charms, the Evil Eye, good and bad spirits, auspicious days, arranged marriages, and weddings. It was awesome. Afterwards, I realized how much I have to learn from each and every one of these people that I work with, and vice versa.
More to come on Prana...
I have not even been here for two weeks and yet I feel like I've been here for a month (in a good way). It reminds me of when I first got to college. So much happened in one day that when you went to bed at night, things that had happened that morning felt like they happened last week. I have so much to learn here...and I am so excited.
posted by Steven | 8:50 PM
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