Interview of Julian Egelstaff (cont')

JE: So that was important, because search engines were really the enabling technology for the web. Netscape was crucial, but search engines were just as important. Lycos existed already, but AltaVista was the first one I saw.

The other thing that I got out of the Internet Reporting Class was Corel. One day, a former Masters student of one of the profs came to our class and said she was looking for people to help with a project she was working on, on behalf of Corel. There was something called the Internet World's Fair. There would be sites from all over the world showcasing stuff about that area. It was quite a project, mostly volunteer, though Corel had donated $250,000 and other companies had donated other stuff. So Christina Craft, this Masters of Journalism grad, comes to our class and asks for volunteers to help her gather material for this Fair. Well, I was all over that too. I mean, Corel is one of the most high profile companies in the Ottawa region, and they're asking for my help in doing something, so I can't say no. So I work a bit on the Internet World's Fair.

I actually went out and got coverage of the local Winterlude winter festival that February in minus 30 degree weather! Leanne and I got TV footage on the opening night actually, and it was supposed to go online on the World's Fair site. That never happened in the end; the Ottawa branch of the project suffered from a lack of leadership, but I did get Christina to forward me the internal job postings from Corel. Every couple of days internal job postings would come around on e-mail at Corel and she would forward them to me. So one of them was for a proofreading position in the advertising/marketing dept. It was perfect for an entry level journalism grad. I got an interview for that after faxing my resume to Christina. And it went well, but I didn't get the job. But, a month later, about two days before my last exam, before I was about to pack up and leave Ottawa, I had the moving van booked, Corel called and said they were overworked and needed someone to help out with the proofreading, so could I start that Monday on a three month contract. So I can't say no, right.

So I started. At Corel, I jumped in and created an internal marketing web site, with the gracious help of Christina's right hand man, Geoff Cooper. Awesome guy. I learned about Frames from him, and lots of other stuff, and really improved my overall understanding of HTML, to the point where I knew tables, and all the basics. You've got to remember that although this was only 1996, three years ago, Netscape 2.0 was barely the standard. Knowing tables was about all you needed to know.

The next spring, March 1997, as a diversion and also as learning exercise--since I wasn't sure if I would be creating a website for a business venture with another guy--I decided that since I could find no Lone Wolf sites on the 'net I would create the Kai Monastery. The HTML in it is quite simple but the aesthetic is fairly advanced, I think. It looks like a more professional site than the HTML would indicate. Unlike the Oasis, which has got some really cool bells and whistles.

So, that's basically it.

RG: In a nutshell right? =)

JE: Yeah, so you want the long version?! ;)

*** RG faints... ;)

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