User:Richardphung/Work

=Work=

Beginnings
A large part of Richard Phung's identity is embedded into his rigorous work ethic and intense practicality. The adult figures in Richard's life influenced the development of these strong values.

Richard's parents worked hard in their small, home-town business. It is no surprise that at an early age, Richard and his brother frequented their parents' cafe for meals, and when appropriate, lend a helping hand. His mother has been known to claim that "as soon as he [Richard] was old enough to stand, he was washing dishes. He would stand on milk-crates so that he could reach over the side of the sink!"

In the summer of 1997, Richard's parents began the construction of their new home in Leslie, AR. Here, a 14 year-old Richard and his 10 year-old brother became very accustomed to helping-out at the farm. It was fairly typical that the boys accompanied their mother on a variety of projects like construction, landscaping, and raising livestock.

Even after he left home to attend ASMS in 1999, Richard spent his summers and vacations working alongside his parents in their business or around the homestead. During the summer of 2001, Richard worked as the head waiter of the family diner in order to save money for his first semester at college.

In the years following, Richard went-on to work in a variety of industry from retail to hospitality, but it was in the technical field where he excelled.

Career in Technology
In October 2001, Richard Phung began working for the Department of Information Technology at Hendrix College. During the school-year, his wages were paid for by Federal Work-Study funds, but he was later hired over the next 3 summers and for various projects as contract labor. His duties originally rested on basic desktop and system administration. This was the first real application of a budding interest in computers and technology. Up to this point, Richard had merely tinkered with his father's Commodore 64 or i386 machines he picked-up second-hand from trash-heaps and garage sales. His first personal computer (2000) was an AMD K6 that he reconditioned from scrap parts, and his connections at ASMS helped get his feet on the ground with basic computer hardware knowledge.

By the summer of 2003, Richard had become quite adept at offering desktop support on the University level. At Hendrix, he assisted in the administration of nearly 200 workstations for faculty, staff, and student access. His experience pool increased to accommodate massive deployments and redistribution of technological assets along with Microsoft Exchange Server Administration. A year later, Richard would play a key element in the deployment of a campus-wide gigabit ethernet and wireless upgrade.

In the spring of 2005, Richard pursued an opportunity to work as a web developer with the Log Cabin Democrat Gazette, a local newspaper of Conway, AR. As the need for a more experienced web programmer warranted his immediate dismissal, Richard was able to learn a great deal about digital design and publishing as well as contracting for web services. It was this short interlude into an unknown industry that would inspire Richard to create web content for years to come. He has also worked as a freelance web designer for personal, educational, and some commercial use.

In the summer and fall of 2005, Richard worked for Audio Visual Innovations, Inc., an Audio/Visual technology outsourcing company contracted to work from the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock, AR. Here, he had a hand in working at a variety of venues as a sound and light technician at the hotel's convention center and occasionally at the Statehouse Convention Center located within the same plaza. This was Richard's first glimpse of enterprise technology services on a variety of scales from small board-room teleconferencing to rock-concerts to 10,000 seat, multi-day events involving various global organizations.

As of 2007, Richard Phung works as a systems administrator in the Academic Computing department of the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) at Lesley University in Boston, MA. Here, he oversees the technical aspects of 150+ workstations and a half-dozen Unix-based Servers in an industrial art and design setting. He also acts as a technical consultant for web work and as an adjunct faculty for various independent study courses.

In the summer of 2007 and 2008, Richard worked as a Game Design (more specifically, Game Modification) instructor for ID Tech Camps, a summer enrichment program, at Stanford University, and later at MIT. From here, he went on to charter an Interactive Game Design course at the Art Institute of Boston.

Career Goals
Richard possesses a number of skills that allow him to be very adaptable in the workplace.

As of 2009, Richard's technical skill set does not allow him to be a programmer or systems enginner; however, countless hours of technical consultation and desktop support would allow him to pursue a wide variety of opportunities. His experience in system deployment and integration would inspire Richard to become a technology coordinator or project manager.

Richard has always desired to work in the field of Game Design as he has invested interests in balancing, meta-, and gameplay. As a student of Educational Media and Technology, Richard has considered pursuing work with film production or creative show services.

Other positions that Richard has considered are that of a Content Manager, Business Analyst, or Product Manager for any companies directly or indirectly related to Information Technology, Publishing, Education, or Broadcasting.