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Re: How is Hawaii Web Design industry?
I don't think hoales_rule is actually saying anything new, apart from the broad-brush belittling of local web developers.
The companies hoales_rule cites are the ones I was talking about in my first reply, posted the same day Finnsgirl posted her query. Her question was regarding freelance opportunities, and I basically said, there aren't many. Most serious web development is indeed done by traditional PR companies or their "new media" subsidiary. CommPac, StarrTech, Firefly, and the like. If you land a job with them, you'd be doing pretty well. If you're hoping to do web design independently, it'll be an uphill battle.
(I've also worked with, and have friends at, two of those firms, and I'm fairly confident that hoales_rule's disdain for web designers that aren't "in the club" is fortunately not representative of those companies at all.)
I also noted that "teachers" of this stuff are frequently less qualified than their students. Though I agree that PNM does good stuff.
Frankly, the "my brothers friends cousins that can do a site for $1000" line rings true. There are lots of folks in that category, myself included. This category of designer isn't particularly good, but cheap, and some folks will settle for that. It also means you're not going to make a living at it -- extra lunch money, tops.
But just because there are a lot of "my brothers friends cousins" out there, or a lot of people who bought a Frontpage tutorial from a TV infomercial and think they're pros, doesn't mean that Hawaii is lacking in skilled or talented web folk. No less so than any other city that isn't a tech hub. After all, there are the local firms Finn mentioned, and not all of their talent is imported. Hawaii also has a long history of Internet innovation -- though more behind the scenes (i.e. infrastructure) than the flashy cool stuff. Didn't HCC have one of the first web servers?
Talent, though, doesn't neccessarily mean commercial success. We've got a lot of brilliant minds, but not enough of a "tech industry" to feed them.
FWIW, with firms outsourcing more web development to shops in India and Asia, the kinds of money large PR firms are demanding for fancy-dancy websites probably aren't sustainable. So make your money while you can, however you can!
I don't think hoales_rule is actually saying anything new, apart from the broad-brush belittling of local web developers.
The companies hoales_rule cites are the ones I was talking about in my first reply, posted the same day Finnsgirl posted her query. Her question was regarding freelance opportunities, and I basically said, there aren't many. Most serious web development is indeed done by traditional PR companies or their "new media" subsidiary. CommPac, StarrTech, Firefly, and the like. If you land a job with them, you'd be doing pretty well. If you're hoping to do web design independently, it'll be an uphill battle.
(I've also worked with, and have friends at, two of those firms, and I'm fairly confident that hoales_rule's disdain for web designers that aren't "in the club" is fortunately not representative of those companies at all.)
I also noted that "teachers" of this stuff are frequently less qualified than their students. Though I agree that PNM does good stuff.
Frankly, the "my brothers friends cousins that can do a site for $1000" line rings true. There are lots of folks in that category, myself included. This category of designer isn't particularly good, but cheap, and some folks will settle for that. It also means you're not going to make a living at it -- extra lunch money, tops.
But just because there are a lot of "my brothers friends cousins" out there, or a lot of people who bought a Frontpage tutorial from a TV infomercial and think they're pros, doesn't mean that Hawaii is lacking in skilled or talented web folk. No less so than any other city that isn't a tech hub. After all, there are the local firms Finn mentioned, and not all of their talent is imported. Hawaii also has a long history of Internet innovation -- though more behind the scenes (i.e. infrastructure) than the flashy cool stuff. Didn't HCC have one of the first web servers?
Talent, though, doesn't neccessarily mean commercial success. We've got a lot of brilliant minds, but not enough of a "tech industry" to feed them.
FWIW, with firms outsourcing more web development to shops in India and Asia, the kinds of money large PR firms are demanding for fancy-dancy websites probably aren't sustainable. So make your money while you can, however you can!
(sorry about that, I must playing too many of those "how many words can you find in this jumble of letters?" games 
)
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