Senior PHP Developer in Los Angeles

July 21st, 2008

Wiredrive is a customer branded web based application platform for creative professionals and content producers used in organizing and sending video and other rich-media for in-production, sales, and promotional purposes. Wiredrive is recognized as the standard for online presentation of work-in-progress and media rich presentations for the Advertising and Entertainment Production Industries.

We are currently seeking a Senior Level PHP/MySQL Programmer with experience programming, documenting, and maintaining web applications for high volume web sites. This position will help design, develop, and maintain public and private APIs for Wiredrive, and also integrate new features. You will also be integrating the new APIs into old sites, as well as helping to expand our current services. Applicants should have an advanced knowledge of PHP, MySQL and Javascript.

We work with creative clients and expect creative input from our programming staff. This is not the average programming job; all staff participates in developing our products. Future development will be done in an Agile environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Lead Architect new features
Manage development team
PHP/MySQL Programming of large-scale websites
Develop and maintain public and private APIs
Maintain/Expand process for creating thumbnails
Improve/expand infrastructure

REQUIREMENTS:
Advanced knowledge of PHP and MySQL
Experience with YUI
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Ability to work in a team environment (Cannot emphasize this enough)
Must meet tight deadlines and work on several projects simultaneously

METHODOLOGY:
Keep the different layers separated using something like MVC
Know what these stand for: KISS, DRY, MVC, OOP, REST
Understand the benefits and limitations of Object Oriented Programming
Optimize your application design with established design patterns

TO BE CONSIDERED:
To apply for this position, email your resume, a list of URLs showing portfolio of past work and code samples to jobs@wiredrive.com with the subject heading “PHP/MySQL Programmer”.

NO HEADHUNTERS! We do not and will not work with headhunters under any condition

Cannes Day One or Where Did Everyone Get Those Glasses?

July 11th, 2008

The first day of the Cannes Lions Advertising festival is filled with the eager anticipation for the week to come.  Before the long hours and jam-packed social calendars take their toll, the first night brings together a crowd fresh from a day of rest and that initial realization of being in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Smiles are exuberant.  Friends and colleagues separated by oceans come together to kick off another zany celebration of this thing we call advertising.

We set the tone for this yearly migration to the Côte D’Azur by teaming up with ‘boards Magazine to host the second annual Wiredrive + ‘boards Cannes Kick-Off Party. The evening was definitely one to remember.  Eager to jump start the week, most people arrived before the sun went down.  The crowd was what you would expect to find: a compelling mix of people from all corners of the world:  Sweden, India, Japan, Argentina, South Africa, England, Amsterdam, Iceland, Dubai, Venice Beach and the list goes on.  As introductions are made and conversations transpire, I become increasingly aware that in some weird way, we all speak the same language.  Literally, we actually do.  Just about everyone I met spoke perfect English.  Beyond that, professionally, we share something.  Standing talking with guests from New York, Johannesburg, Prague and Los Angeles, respectively, it was amazing to realize that this industry truly bridges cultures.  Soaking up the beauty of the French Riviera and the pleasure of good company, it was quite obvious that a good time was had by all.  

The setting was, thanks to Stillking, stunning [a country villa set high above Cannes in Vallauris]. The crowd was fun, fashionable and fabulous.  The music was chill [thank you Static Revenger.]  The rosé was divine. And the sunglassess…


Kanye Glasses

The neon pseudo sunglasses or Kanye West sunglasses took on a life of their own in a way that this industry knows all too well.  By the end of the week, everyone and their brother was sporting a brand new pair of electric green, orange, pink or white lens-less glasses.  They were everywhere.  Massive Music’s La La Land Extravaganza, Shots party on the beach, the exclusive Terra affair, the Gutter bar, Eden Roc, the guy selling croque-monsieur on the Croisette etc. etc. etc.   I think the word is viral?


More
Soundtrack created by Static Revenger for Machinehead.  His new down tempo Album ‘LOVE SONG SURPRISE’ released May 7, available worldwide on iTunes.  See the amazing new video here!

‘boards Shout Out

Party Pics

-Claire

Cannes You Hear Me Now? Phones and the Net Abroad

June 30th, 2008

We are all back and mostly recovered from Cannes and of course I just have to cover the technological side of the trip (you’ll read more about the people there this week :). This was my second trip ever traveling with an international cell phone and the first time expecting to have a working Internet connection. The first part worked out well; the second part, not so much.

PHONES
All five of us modified our iPhones to accept international SIM Cards, which allowed both calling and data. This was an improvement over last year, as the temporary cards I found in 2007 could only make calls. We could have used the AT&T international plan, but their prices were simply not competitive for the amount of usage we were expecting. Even with the french Sim cards, the international data rates are still outrageously expensive at $40/megabyte. I thought it would make sense to turn off automatic e-mail downloading, but in reality if you needed to get any e-mail it ended up pulling it all down anyways.

Google maps were useful in Cannes, especially for the Villa parties that were up in the hillsides. Texting was also great as we would often walk back from late-night parties typing in our locations to each other and managing to make it back to the room at around the same time.

One of the best parts of our phone experience was the most low-tech. Erika made each of us laminated cards with our phone numbers on one side and our schedules on the back. Whenever people asked for my number, I could pull out the card and read it to them.

INTERNET
Our Internet connection was a totally different story. We were planning on doing Internet demos in our room on Tuesday and Thursday and made our entire lodging decisions based on which apartment had a solid Internet connection. We found after many calls to the front office that our Internet connection in our apartment was not going to work. Apparently, the landlord forgot to pay the Internet bill and had the connection terminated, which would take 4 to 5 days to reinstate. Plus, Ramy installed software that came with the DSL modem to troubleshoot and the plugin managed to take down his laptop for the entire trip. No fun. We heard that many other people had unreliable connections, even at high-end hotels like the Carlton.

On one hand, it would be nice to be able to be away from an Internet connection for more than a few days without going into withdrawal. Unfortunately, we expected to do demos, coordinate events and post blog entries that required our connection being up. For me, the expectation to have excellent cell and Internet connections was the biggest change for me this year, definitely a far cry from wandering into an Internet Cafe to check email every few days. And with these changes, the world continues to shrink.

Regards,

Bill

UPDATE - Cannes Wiredrive + You Sessions change of location

June 17th, 2008

Due to problems with our apartment internet connection, we’ve had to move apartments 2 hours before our first Wiredrive + You session. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to setup to accommodate guests and we must CANCEL the TUESDAY session.

However, we are still hosting the Wiredrive + You session on THURSDAY between 11am-2pm. Please note the change of address:

New Location - Directly across from Le Palais. Our balcony faces the Casino! It is right in between 2 restaurants, the more visible being La Maison Du Porto.

3 Square Merimee
Cannes, FR

View Larger Map

Please feel free to contact us on our cell phones with questions or to confirm attendance:
Bill: 0678 087 553
Claire: 0607 061 401
Erika: 0673 675 741
Ramy: 0675 588 909
Yunilda: 0607 085 102

We look forward to seeing you Thursday!

Regards,
Wiredrive

Wiredrive + You: Cannes Sessions

June 11th, 2008


Wiredrive + You: Cannes Sessions

When:
Tuesday, June 17th: 2-5pm
Thursday, June 19th: 11am-2pm

Where:
12 Rue du Commandént Andre
Cannes, France View Map

It is difficult to stay current in the digital era. With new technology and workflows emerging at a frenzied rate, it is almost impossible to keep up. We are here to help.

Please visit us in Cannes to catch up on today’s hottest topics:

Digital Workflows
Online Presentations
Encoding
Podcasting / RSS
Tagging
Public Relations in the Digital Era
Efficiency and Productivity

We will be serving chilled wine and hors d’œuvre, so get out of the sun and join us for an hour or more.

To reserve a space today, please contact:

plusyou@wiredrive.com

Wiredrive Takes Manhattan: Modern Day Nostalgia

June 9th, 2008

We had the pleasure to be taken to what felt like one of New York’s best kept secrets. Drinks are created on the whim of the bartenders, excuse me I must give them due credit, the mixologists. There is something wonderful about this call back to earlier times. Caught up in the whirlwind that is now, [and New York City may well be one of the best examples of this] there is something pleasantly ironic about taking a few steps back.

What works so well is the emphasis on quality, customization and that element of surprise. The drinks are designed around a mood or that less tangible something. I feel wild. I feel tired. I feel adventurous. I feel sweet. I feel nostalgic etc etc. Ingredients are of the highest quality - handmade candied apricots, fresh squeezed blackberry juice, small batch spirits.

Our trip to New York City was primarily to attend the annual AICP show at the Museum of Modern Art. Every year, the AICP acknowledges the best and brightest creative talent in our industry. This year marks a definitive shift in perspective. The range of work was more impressive than ever. The communications were more personal than ever. Although primarily an American Association, the breadth of the content was seemingly more global than any body of awarded work I have seen in the past. Where our means of communication are now constantly evolving, the content of those communications is becoming seemingly more relevant. The Monster.com work from BBDO is a perfect example. There is something so fundamental about the notion of an amiable thick-legged monster literally turning the world from the depths below. The shared battle with Monday morning is on par, as is the intimate self-analysis of the poignant ‘Impossible Campaign’ for Adidas recognized by the Association’s Jury. HBO’s Voyeur project stood out similarly, as did Psyop’s stunning portrayal of the life of a dot for Guinness. And I must mention Honoree K.K. Barrett’s [Lost In Translation, Marie Antoinette, Being John Malkovich] work for Zune and The Ballad of Tina Pink because imagination is universal.

Bringing it all back to the speakeasy to which we were privy, the way forward will most definitely be a combination of technology and humanity. Technology is not the end all - it is a tool that should not transcend our experiences; it will enhance them. Thank you to those taking advantage of the latest innovations. None of these creative communications would have been possible back in the day of the original speakeasies. Thank you New York for inspiring both to co-exist.

Photos from our trip to New York

The Art & Technique of the American Commercial

Little Branch
in the West Village
20 Seventh Avenue South
New York, NY 10011
212 929 4360

-Claire