IM students create ‘network’ for future

With its Manifest show, “NET.work,” Columbia’s Interactive Multimedia Department will offer seniors one of the keys to success after graduation: a chance to show their portfolios to prospective employers.

According to Robyn Martin, the Interactive Multimedia Department’s student liaison, the department’s participation in this year’s Manifest will be centered on the theme, “When you network, you get work.”

While last year’s event was a mixture of all student work, this year’s show is senior specific, focusing on exhibiting senior portfolios and making contacts in the field.

“For seniors, it provides an opportunity to showcase the work they have developed while at Columbia, their ‘net’ work,” said Janell Baxter, faculty adviser in the Interactive Multimedia Department. “…Within the interactive media industry, it is often the portfolio which will get a candidate hired, not their grades or past work experience.”

“Employers will get to view work from all the different concentrations that Columbia’s IM Department has to offer at once,” Martin said. 

Students attending “NET.work” will be provided with business cards to give to prospective employers, and more than 100 companies were invited to attend this year’s portfolio exhibition. Special installation viewing areas will be provided for the students from the team and visions classes, along with students who have DVD portfolios and work will also be displayed over the web.

“The work that students in the interactive media program produce range from web applications to museum installations,” Baxter said. “The focus is always on media that is interactive, media that allow human communication through an interface.”

Part of the work on display is created in the Interactive Multimedia Production course. The students enrolled in the yearlong class work on developing projects for several clients. This year’s roster of projects include Donald Kieth Photography, the Hellenic Museum and the Adivi Corp. Previous clients for the capstone course include Child’s Play Touring Theatre, McCarthy Technologies and the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, among others.

Organizers said Students seem to reacting positively to how the Interactive Multimedia Department approached Manifest this year.

Cieana Miller, a senior in the Interactive Multimedia Department, said she is pleased the department put together “Net.work.”

“It’s good that our program is making an active effort to get student work out there and getting feedback from you, your classmates, faculty and professionals is a good thing,” she said.

Interactive Multimedia senior Jan Szpila agreed, “Anything that gets your work out there that can potentially help find you a job is a good thing,” she said.

Students and prospective employers can view the graduating seniors’ portfolios on May 27 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the sixth floor of the South Campus Building, 624 S. Michigan Ave.