More About Me
Founder and editor of Art & Science Journal, a student-run journal about artworks that deal with themes of science, nature and technology. I'm currently studying English, Art History and Arts Administration at the University of Ottawa.
Art & Science Journal is a website and biannual publication about artworks that deal with themes of science, nature and technology. If you are an artist or designer whose work deals with these themes we welcome you to submit to issue 3. To do so, send high-resolution images and include detailed…
ATTENTION ARTISTS
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Pressure makes diamonds
George S. Patton
Week 2 of Startup Garage
This week included lots of all-nighters. The new website is officially presentable! Still going to be some tweaks happening over the next few weeks, but thankfully Jess Petrella has offered to help out with some of the bugs/sections that I’ve been having issues with.
On Thursday the whole gang came in to go over everything that’ll be happening this summer. Later that day I spent some time ordering posters, bags, and a banner so we can spread word around Ottawa. Oh, and big announcement! Art & Science Journal issue 2 comes out this week.
On Friday, Andrew Giguerre and I came into the office for an interview with Radio Canada! It was in French so Andrew was awesome enough to jump in and help out at last minute. When that goes up next week I’ll be sure to post the link. Later on Friday Italian Fest started on Preston Street so I went over with Dom. It was a great way to end a crazy week.
Oh, and degree number one arrived in the mail, degree number two is coming in 12 months so didn’t really think about it, but relaxed all Saturday to celebrate :)
In my own business, we got tons of advice on how to grow. We should do partnerships, we should sponsor conferences, we should get trade show booths, etc. But we measured all of those ways and realized that they lost money. And, just to double check that we weren’t simply bad at marketing, we watched our competitors try and fail to grow through those methods. So my advice on advice: trust but verify. After trying and measuring, the things that do grow our business profitably are word of mouth, blogging, and newsletters. So that’s what we focus on.
Tony Stubblebine, Advice for a Young Entrepreneur
Slowly moving A&SJ over to the new layout. Check it out here and please feel free to give criticisms/comments/feedback - it’s always great to get a new pair of eyes on designs.
Week One of Startup Garage
The past few weeks have been a bit crazy. I’m currently doing a full course load, working part-time in marketing and communications, and working on Art & Science Journal with Startup Garage. A few weeks ago, Art & Science Journal exploded and surpassed 100,000 followers and is currently at 120,000. Then this week Victoria and I started the Startup Garage program, which is a business accelerator for students. We get office space, access to Invest Ottawa’s boardrooms and resources, and mentoring from people who have already gone through the startup process.
On Monday, Victoria and I went for our orientation and then started the A&SJ revamp. I’m currently finishing up the last minute touches on Issue 2 and working on the Art & Science Journal website redesign. One of the current issues with the website is that the front page only includes the blog with links to our publications. The new website coming next week will introduce Art & Science Journal and what we do right away before it leads into the blog. We’re also working on our first book this summer, which will be spearheaded by Victoria.
On Tuesday our first mentor came in. Luc Levesque came in to discuss TravelPod, a blogging platform he developed for travelers, which was then bought by Expedia. He talked about search engine optimization, which was really helpful because most of A&SJ’s traffic comes through tumblr rather than through searches—something to work on.
On Thursday, Stephen Daze came in and taught us how to make pitches. He first told us the basic layout and all the questions VCs may have, and then we had to write one and present it on the spot. Art & Science Journal isn’t looking for venture capitalist funding, but it was really good practice for explaining our business plan. I felt a bit Mad Men too ;)
In the afternoon our two groups of interns came in. The book interns—Adam, Andrew and Leona—came in to discuss the chapters they’ll be working on and potential artists for each section. Then the editorial and web interns—Lea, Janine, and Connie—came in to discuss topics for the website. Our fourth editorial intern Meriza will be in next week. Overall, it was a pretty busy week! June will be relatively easy with website redesign and working on the print issues, but July will be intense as that’s when I’ll start working on all the business stuff (advertising, accounting, etc). There’s so much to set up!
Cool cats and Nicole’s pretty work :-) #uhb #urbanhautebourgoisie
Me and my rocking kicks for gallery hoppin with @victorialouise3 #walkinglotstonight
I will be registered at two schools next year, which is a bit cray, but I’m really excited :)
Art and Science Journal Stamp
I recently got a stamp maker so that I could have professional-looking signage to go on all things Art & Science Journal: envelopes, notebooks, and the works! It might end up on everything else too since it’s so much fun :)
Undercurrents at the Fritzi Gallery
Last Thursday was the opening of an exhibit I curated with my friend Erin Saunders. The idea for the show was to have artworks that responded to the Undercurrents theatre festival at the GCTC—six plays and six artists! The Fritzi Gallery is such a beautiful space and so many awesome people showed up to the opening.
The artists included: Eric Chan (eepmon), Karina Kraenzle, Betty Liang, Zoe Hussey, Tony Clark and Kristy Gordon.
If you missed last Thursday, you can still check it out until this Friday. We also got a write up in apt613!
Art and Science Journal Issue Two
Today was the Art and Science Journal editing party for issue two. We peer edited all the articles for the first round of edits. We have loads of exciting articles for the next issue!
Ladies Learning Code and Life Drawing
Lots of learning! Yesterday was Ladies Learning Code: Wordpress for Beginners where we got to work on making wordpress sites and the basics of designing them. My site actually started looking like a real one by the end of it! This past Friday I also went to a life drawing class for the first time with my friend Betty. It’s a drop-in session every Friday at the University of Ottawa where you go and draw someone in different poses over two hours, for only $5. It’s so hard! But I noticed around half way that already I was getting better at it. I’m planning on going every week to keep working on it.
This weekend has been a real exercise for my brain. So many new things at once! But lots of fun too :)
