app

Vincent Russell | December 29, 2013 | 5 Comments

Software Engineer – Tommy George Interview Part Two

What do you do for a living now and where do you work?

I’m extremely blessed to be writing code and working with the YouVersion team on the Bible App. I get to help make the Bible available to people all over the world, by writing code! This is definitely a dream job and I work with the best people around.

Now that you are “grown up”, who or what inspires you the most?

I think I’m inspired less these days by specific ‘role model’ type people and much more by the things around me in life in general. My wife inspires me to be a better me. I’m inspired a lot by the work I get to do and the stories from people and friends around me in life.

Creatively, it’s a collective of people and groups – bands, artists, designers, etc. Fifteen minutes on the Internet has more than enough cool stuff to keep anyone inspired. It’s what you do with the inspiration you already have that makes any kind of difference.

How do you stay creative? Or, what ways do you seek to be more creative?

Read, do, and then become part of a community that gives you real feedback. Write music. Even bad music. Sometimes you have to get all of the bad ideas out of the way before the good ones will come. That means play a lot. “Creativity” is definitely found in a state of play (there’s research to show this) and play is inhibited by fear. So do whatever it takes to get to a place where you can tune out the haters (even the one in your head) and just generate some stuff. Some of it will be downright awful, but that’s okay. You don’t have to share everything — but you do have to practice being creative.

It’s so easy to devour tons of “inspiring” information or content these days. I try to stay active by putting some stuff into motion, tinkering/hacking on things, etc. Also, finding people I trust that will call me out on my blind spots. There are places, even in my personal life, where I need to be more creative, and I’ll never grow in that area if I don’t have someone I trust to point it out.

What’s been the coolest thing you’ve been able to do in your life so far?

Have I mentioned that I’m bad with superlatives? I’ve been in a band, have a job that changes lives, and I am able to work hard enough to be free enough to do so many other things I love. Coming onto the YouVersion team has definitely been one of my favorite things, for sure.

What’s the one thing you’d like to accomplish in your profession?

I’d like to continually get better! I get to do a lot of cool stuff, but I’m well aware that there’s still a lot to learn, and I want to learn it. I also love to help people out, and so I’m hoping to do some more “consulting” in the coming year. I’m not crazy about that term, but I’m not sure what else to call it at the moment. I’ve learned a lot of lessons, and I have a lot of stuff in my head, and I love to share it with folks that are getting started on the internet, building their first business, and so forth. So one thing – help other people.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I would turn to my wife and ask where she wanted to go. That’s where and why we’d go there. =)

Do you read a lot? If so, what authors or bloggers do you like most and how do they inspire you creatively or just in general?

I wish I could say yes, but I know some folks that read WAY more than I do, so I just can’t. I highly recommend it, though! There are some standard books that I recommend regularly:

“Axiom”, by Bill Hybels. He knows a lot, and shares it in bite size chunks. I think I’d love to write something half as useful as this some day.
“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” and “Death by Meeting” by Patrick Lencioni. Very valuable information about working with other humans, on teams.
“The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. Easy read and not just a marriage book. Great information in here about the psychology of people in general.

As for blogs: I read so much on the Internet. I’ll just recommend Micahael Hyatt’s blog (http://michaelhyatt.com/). He has a lot of good information on leadership, publishing, and marketing.

What advice do you have for creatives who are reading this article?

Know yourself. Take some evaluations, do Strengths Finder 2.0, and get involved with some people that will give you real feedback.
Be yourself. One of the best examples of this I’ve heard was about music, and used Chris Cornell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Cornell) of Soundgarden. He has an extremely unique singing voice. He didn’t bother trying to sound like other popular singers at the time. He did his thing. Find your own style, or sound, or what-have-you, and run with it! (Just remember, you can’t be yourself unless you know yourself).
Go and do. Try stuff out! I’ve personally seen many young people avoiding doing some seriously rewarding work because of (what I perceive to be) fear of failure. If you’re not sure what you want to do, you can at least try a bunch of things and determine what you don’t want to do. Before you find yourself trapped in the death spiral of “not enough time, not enough money, not enough…” just make some things happen. Take your time and learn from your mistakes. You will make them! So why worry?
Learn, don’t just read and be “inspired”.

This concludes our two part interview series with Tommy George, software engineer for YouVersion. I hope this interview afforded you the opportunity to look into the life of another creative and grab hold of some valuable life lessons. One of the things Tommy said that stuck out to me most was “become part of a community that gives you real feedback.” As a video editor, I am always striving to be better. For me, this will look like showing other video editors my work and having them critique it. What does becoming part of a community look like for you?

What steps can you take this week to get to know yourself better? In what ways will you “go and do” instead of being trapped by fear?

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

Featured image by messagemakers.com

Vincent Russell | December 22, 2013 | 2 Comments

Software Engineer – Tommy George Interview Part One

This week I would like to begin a two-part interview series with my dear friend, Tommy George. Tommy works as a software engineer for YouVersion, the Bible app, or what he refers to as an “Awesomizer”. He and his wife Laura have been married for almost six years. The purpose of this two-part interview series is to take a look into the life of a fellow creative, see what inspires him, and take what we can from his life experiences and insight.

Where are you from?

I spent the majority of my life near Memphis, Tennessee and still call it home. For the last two-and-a-half years, my wife and I have been in the DFW area here in Texas.

Tell us about your upbringing.

I am the oldest of five siblings. My parents were the ‘cool parents’ to my friends and my grandparents were awesome. I hung out with my cousins every now and then and family was important. My family wasn’t “well off” by any means, but we always had what we needed and sometimes a bit more. I was home-schooled from first-grade on, but due to some “paperwork issues”, I ended up getting a GED on my own, rather than a diploma. I didn’t have a rough life, but I definitely learned about working hard and the “value of a dollar”.

What inspired you as a child?

As a child, it was the usual things that inspired me- cartoons, video games (Atari & NES) and my dad who could do anything awesome. I didn’t realize the effect that music was having on me until later, but music was almost always around somewhere, too.

Growing up, what did you want to be?

My dad. A ninja. A superhero. A rockstar. A prodigy. An ultracool computer hacker. A speed-reader.

Growing up, who was your inspiration?

Which year? Haha. For a long time, it was my dad. He was in the Navy, and knew so much about fighting, survival, helicopters and had cool stories about rescuing people. He played Legend Of Zelda with me a lot. He was definitely my hero. Outside of my parents and grandparents, as I grew up, I think the next main “creative” inspiration came from musicians (especially the ones I got to meet). I learned guitar, started/joined bands and still play. In my personal life, it was pastors, people around me in the churches that my family attended, youth groups I was in, et cetera that were inspirations. Then there was the Internet. In my teens, I suddenly had access to an overwhelming amount of information, culture, communities, and design.

At what age did you find out what you truly wanted to do in life?

I’m not sure this has happened yet! I know what I love doing now, but “in life” has such a definitive weight to it that I can’t say I have it pinned down. I’m such an adaptable type person (I’m an ISFP) that I have trouble nailing down what I think I want to do “in life”.

Concerning technology – I was about seven or eight when my cousin came to my house and used our computer (pre Windows) and called me over to show me something. It was this text-based thing that would ask questions about favorite colors, sports, et cetera. It would then spit out ridiculous remarks about how terrible my answers were. He told me that he made it himself in “BASIC”. That was astounding to me — that he could easily make the computer do something so silly or whatever he wanted. I was too young and had no resources to continue learning to program a computer at the time. So when he left, the magic left with him — but, I picked it back up a few years later when I better understood how to teach myself.

Concerning music – I remember that I was 13 when I had the epiphany and sudden rush of “THIS IS IT!” while tinkering with a friend’s guitar. I followed through on that.

Some time during high school was when I heard that some churches were actually hiring and paying IT staff with positions like “Pastor of Technology”. At the time, I had not been in a place where that was possible. My friend Keith still remembers me telling him that I wanted to some day have the title, “Pastor of Technology”.

It’s a lot of folks’ dream to “be independently wealthy, and stay on the couch all day” — but if that’s possible at all, something else has to come first. I knew I wanted to do something to support and make ministry awesome, utilizing technology and I didn’t want to have to “do something else” just to pay the bills. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I was able to combine my loves with YouVersion and still pay the bills.

As an example of “knowing what I wanted” and being wrong- For at least a whole summer, a friend and I had it all figured out. We were going to be a professional extreme-sports team, doing inline and BMX freestyle. We wanted to be sponsored by Barq’s Rootbeer. I stuck with skating for a long time, but it didn’t take long to decide that I wasn’t interested in doing that for life.

With all that said, I think my journey has been similar to most. I had some time in my teenage years where things began to solidify. I took opportunities to try a lot of different things, and decided what I liked a lot and what I never wanted to do again. I’m still trying things. That’s something I try to encourage other people to do, especially if they’re unsure of life. If nothing else, you’re learning what you don’t want to do.

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” – Kobe Bryant

Stay tuned next week as we conclude this two part series. We will be taking a look at what inspires YouVersion’s Tommy George, how he stays creative with YouVersion and we will have some other great content for you as well.

You can find Tommy on Twitter here!

Who or what inspires you creatively? Growing up, who or what was your inspiration?

Featured image photo from: www.lornawestonsmyth.com

Courtney Gordner | December 13, 2013 | 6 Comments

Turning Your Blog Into an App

With the number of Internet users expanding and technology adapting to meet their instantaneous needs, there are multiple ways to make yourself and your presence more available to an ever-growing audience. I am sure by now that you have connected your blog to Facebook and Twitter and have probably made it Pinterest friendly as well, but there is more you can be doing. With smartphones on a rampage, many people go to apps before they go to a web browser. By turning your blog into an app, you could expand your readership by an unimaginable quantity. Find out why making your blog into an app is a great idea.

1. Expand Your Readership

OK, I may have already touched on this one, but it is kind of a big deal. Isn’t the whole point of writing a blog to get your ideas and thoughts out there for everyone to read? Of course it is, and the best way to get everyone reading your stuff is to put it where everyone is looking. Not only will more viewers find your blog when they are doing typical 40-times-a-day app searches, but there is also the option of them recommending that app (your blog) to friends.

2. More Engagement With Readers

If you update your blog, you may have it automatically post a twitter status that gets lost among the millions of other twitter posts occurring every minute. By having your own app, your updates go straight to the top of the list and will be seen by everyone using your app. There is no risk of it getting covered over by the .gif of the worst belly flop or images of kittens. Whether it is your personal blog or that of a drain repair business, you won’t get lost in the crowd. You also know that those users are specifically looking to read your blog; it is not something they accidentally came across when searching for something else. The overall connection between you and your audience is that much stronger.

3. Do Something Special

With an app, you have the opportunity to do something unique with your readers; you can include push content. You can include special promotions or inside stories and text that only get forwarded to and seen by those using your app. In a way, it is like you are rewarding your readers for their interest in your work. It gives you a new way to engage your audience and another reason for them to keep coming back to your app and your blog. It also allows you to give every follower immediate updates on anything new. You can maybe provide your users with information to your plumbing repairs Syracuse company by offering them live interaction for them if they have a problem. Think about your niche or industry and work around what people would find helpful, and go from there.

4. Get Feedback

With an app, you can request reader feedback. If there is anything your readers want to see or perhaps don’t like about your app, they have an open forum to share their opinions with you. Whether you agree with their comments or not, this gives you the opportunity to make sure you are giving your audience exactly what they want and expect from your blog.

5. Make Some Money

Most bloggers aren’t in the business to make millions, but if you are looking to make a little money from your writing, you can charge a download fee for your app. While many people search for the free stuff before paying for apps, there is lots of evidence out there that people are willing to pay for anything. Just look at Candy Crush and Angry Birds. By charging a download fee for your app, perhaps you will see a piece of that digital pie.

Making Your Blog Mobile Friendly

Now that you have decided it is a great idea to turn your blog into an app, you need to make sure your blog is mobile friendly. There are plugins you can install as well as a free mobile app creator, Conduit Mobile. Conduit can pull in the information already established on your blog and turn it into an app for most smartphones. It allows you to customize your blog as well, so you aren’t stuck with a platform that is the same as everyone else who may have used Conduit.

Have you thought about making your blog an app? Have you tried it, if so, how did it go? If you didn’t, what’s holding you back? Share your stories in the comments below!

Photo Credit: Daniel Y