“WebNow! Vol.3 - Straight Talk from the Web Industry Frontlines × Pro Perspectives” Event Report
On Wednesday October 28, 2020, the "WebNow! Vol.3 - Straight Talk from the Web Industry Frontlines × Pro Perspectives" event was held online.
This event, planned in collaboration with the faculty and staff of the ECC College of Computer and Multimedia, the Kobe Institute of Computing, and the Japan Electronics College, is designed to convey to students the enjoyment, sense of satisfaction and appeal of working in web-related disciplines, and, as a consequence, increase the number of graduates seeking employment in the web industry. The event was held with the cooperation of Gohako Inc., Leading Solutions Co., Ltd., Fenrir Inc., and Yahoo! Japan Corporation.
This year marked the third holding of the event; and by convening the event online using Zoom, participants from schools in prefectures located far from our Tokyo head office, such as Osaka and Hyogo, were also able to participate. With the theme of "Straight Talk from the Web Industry Frontlines × Pro Perspectives," around 130 students joined a two-and-a-half-hour session in which web industry professionals from various fields shared their frontline perspectives.
In previous years, the event was held on the following themes. Please feel free to read the content.
Pro talk! The Future of the Web Industry and its Appeal
In the first part of the event, representatives of each company gave a presentation that detailed their reasons for entering the web industry, the nature of their current work, prospects for the industry, and so on. Representing our company was Ms. Endo, a senior Art Director who has been active as a web designer for over 10 years. On the theme of "why have you continuously worked as a web designer?", Ms. Endo spoke about her reasons for becoming a web designer and the enjoyment she gets from design.
Ms. Endo said that when she was a student, she realized the enjoyment to be had through connecting with distant friends through her own self-built website and was thus drawn to the web industry. Working as a web designer since entering Mitsue-Links, Ms. Endo conveyed the charms of the web as follows, "in the web industry, design trends, the environment, and relationships with customers are always changing - this ensures a constant freshness, furthermore we are learning something new every day." Based on her experience, Ms. Endo said that the real pleasure of being a designer was to assist people. She concluded her talk by stating that she "wants to continue creating designs and experiences that will be beneficial for users in their daily lives."
Dividing into Groups for a Roundtable Discussion
For the second part of the event, a series of group roundtable discussions were held using Zoom's Breakout Rooms function. Groups consisted of two panelists from a participating company and around 20 students. The students were asked to write questions on sheets of paper which they subsequently held up to the screen, panelists then selected and answered the questions that were of greatest interest. Even though the event was held online, panelists were able to gauge the high level of interest in the web industry through the near-constant note taking from beginning to end, as well as incessant nodding. Panelists representing our company, were Mr. Kidachi, a Corporate Director (CTO), and Ms. Endo, whose participation continued. Below is an overview of the responses from our panelists.
- Q：While I’m a student, is there anything that I should do to prepare for working in the industry?
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A：It's a good idea to learn the fundamentals of the web now. After gaining employment, in a new environment, there will be much to learn. Therefore, before joining your chosen company, I believe that it will be beneficial if students acquire a basic knowledge on themes including "how the web works, how it is built etc." (Mr. Kidachi)
- Q：In your line of work, how do you stay motivated?
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A：A tip to staying motivated is to believe that every job has an interesting part and not giving up. When hearing the word "work," we feel a certain level of obligation. However, all jobs have certain parts that the doers find interesting. By finding and pursuing these interesting parts, people can make their work more enjoyable. As a result, I think it will lead to job satisfaction and increased motivation. (Mr. Kidachi)
- Q：When you’re having difficulty generating ideas, what do you do?
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A：I will immediately stop working on the project. When you step-back, in any random moment or situation, ideas may just pop into your head. Furthermore, you may be able to get advice or ideas from your colleagues through having discussions with your teammates. (Ms. Endo)
This time too, the event was moderated second-year students from each school who have already accepted job placements in the web industry upon graduation. One moderator, during their greeting, impressively stated, "last year's event heightened my enthusiasm so I decided to seek employment in the web industry." Through this event, we hope that as many students as possible will better understand the attractions of the web industry and, as a result, seek future employment there.