- ARBITOR 5
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- Exalted Mythic Member
spawn031Community Joes respawning in 3.. 2.. 1 Boop.
Let's start off with something easy, who are you and where are you from?My name is Zac and I'm from Michigan. I've been here most of my life. I was actually born in New Hampshire but my family moved when I was very young (I don't remember the airplane ride although I hear stories about it).
I don't have very clear memories of my youth either. But, then again, most people don't have the crisp memories of their youth. Do you have a job or are you still in school/college?Currently I am a full time student at College. I'm a senior and plan on graduating this may. I am a musical performer and composer/theorist. I basically write music for different events and you can always find me listening to new material (including Marty's work on a deeper level). My main instrument is Trumpet, but I also play piano, drums, and all wind instruments. I also work in IT for my college. Anything from computer software to actually hooking up servers and knowing what that side of life is like. I've been doing this for almost 5 years now. You'd be surprised at some of the questions that are asked while on duty, even from professors that have been working there a while.
Music and computers go together pretty well, which is illustrated nicely by Marty. What made you want to go into music as your main profession?I started as a young performer back in 6th grade. After some inspiration from others and playing with many different jazz groups and local gigs, I quickly developed an interest for music. I've met and discussed with many other musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I've been playing for over 11 years now and music is something that allows me to escape from life and just be myself. It's also a great way to meet contacts and other musicians and see what kind of work they've been studying. I also do a bit of audio recording (being that music and computers go well together). Even small gigs from recording friends and using autotune, to bigger studio recitals it's always a great interaction.
Now when I do music, I really want to focus on recording performing and teaching at a collegiate level. I always find myself being pushed to the limit with music. It's incredible to meet someone completely new, but since they've been involved with music for a long time you can just pick a key and talk with that person through music.
You seem like you would be a great teacher/professor. The dedication you've shown is so inspiring. But, none of this explains the username. Where did "spawn031" spawn from? (See what I did there?)Ah, well the username "spawn" derives from me being a pretty pathetic Halo player. My first Bungie game was Halo CE. Basically, I would visit my cousins quite a bit when I was younger to play Halo and meet the family along with Navweb3620 (who is my actual brother in real life. If you see him on the forums, now you know!) Anyway, we played many LAN parties with friends and I always was killed. I couldn't coordinate two thumbs on those bulky black controllers granted I was only 11 at time. I was spawn killed over and over. Eventually they always teased me and calling me "spawn".
Once a few years passed I decided to sign up on Xbox Live and the text box came up for a username. I thought back to those LAN parties and thought "spawn" was a go. 31 happens to be my favorite number (along with 7). In 2005 when signing up for Bungie.net, I went through the same process. My gamertag is different now, but my username sticks with me on Bungie.net.
So you were into the LAN parties when they were popular? Sometimes I wish I could have discovered the magic of LAN earlier on in life. Besides music, computers, and video games, are there any other interests you would like to elaborate on?Sure. I'm also an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America. This has been part of my life for about 15 years now. Since I'm in college, It's difficult to give back time when many people have helped me achieve this goal. It's more than tying knots and selling popcorn! Going through Boy Scouts has changed the way I approach situations, rather looking at any situation from a different perspective. It's also allowed me to be an independent leader and communicate more effectively with people.
Last summer I had the great pleasure of actually going skydiving! This was a great experience and I highly suggest it to anyone. You should do this! Seriously, it's the greatest thing ever. The only downside of skydiving, is after you do it you feel that roller coasters at theme parks really aren't worth your time anymore. The "rush" is over since you've already jumped out of an airplane from 10,000 feet.
I've also been an avid Magic The Gathering player ever since I was 12 years old. Mainly due to being involved with Boy Scouts, you can blame them all for this. I occasionally still pick up cards and play today, but it's more online. Recently, burritosenior, Hylebos and I have been putting together a community here on Bungie.net. I don't mean to advertise but we do have a group on Bungie.net dedicated to Magic players. If you're interested I highly recommend joining.
There is more, but I'm trying to keep this short and sweet!
Boy scouts, skydiving, and Magic The Gathering are three phrases I never thought would be in a sentence together, let alone a group of interests. You've certainly got a wide variety of hobbies. Why did you decide to make an account on Bungie.net? What made this site so appealing to you?In 2004 when Halo 2 was released I was interested in how game development works. After staying up all night and missing school for Halo 2's release (yes my mother actually called in sick for us) I wanted to see the process of how games are created. You could say I was reading for a bit in 2004 on Halo 2. After getting used to the navbar for navigation, I decided that I wanted to see my Halo 2 stats online so about 6 months after Halo 2 was released I made my Bungie.net account.
The only reason I tend to hang around now is for the community. I have always been an avid poster and getting involved with community projects. It's great to see all the new members do the "usual" things. It's more like a phase everyone goes through. I'm currently investing time into building private groups for the community. Bnet Regulars is a great example. Hidden beyond those doors is some intense discussion about the future of Bungie.net - although there is mostly off topic shenanigans. Bungie employees have always made this site feel "home" to me. Next month will mark the big 7 for years here, and I'm excited to see the new "battlestation" that Achronos and the webteam cooked up for the community over the past couple of years.
As time passes, you always see other members leave and new ones join in on the lame jokes. There is nothing like the moment when you see a member you knew way back when return for a post or so, and then they're off!
Seven years? That's a long time to dedicate to a website and it's community. Speaking of dedication to the community, what projects have you been involved in within the Bungie.net community?My first project was to establish a community with a group that was falling apart. Many people know Robot Factory was a group on Bungie.net designed to spam users inboxes with invites. After the group was shut down, there was still some sense of community there. I decided I was going to step up to the plate and keep the small community there on going and create a new group. Robot Academy has been going on for over a year now and still running strong. The guys over there are always an interesting bunch to chime in with discussion. I have passed the admin torch in that group over to Sepian1148 as I'm busy with other projects (and college!) but he keeps the place clean.
Another project in process is the Community Podcast. This has been an idea thrown around since 2008, staring with SonicJohn and has always been thrown around here and there. It's like the long lost step child of the community. There is a new group in development and currently we're in the planning and in the discussion phases on what kind of content people want to hear on a podcast. This idea originated from a community project idea from Bnet Regulars. Expect to see results soon!
I've been looking for ways to reach out to other communities to build a stronger relation with the Bungie.net community. I also spend my time in other forums such as NeoGAF, Xbox.com forums and in Starcraft forums. You can usually find me referencing back to Bungie.net in some way. Although there is a stereotype going around for us Bungie.net peeps! I was admitted to the Xbox Live Ambassadors program last December, so trying to get folks over there to relate with Bungie.net is conversation for another time.
You've been a busy guy the past couple years on this site and in your college life. Well, we've reached the conclusion. If there are any peeps you want to shout-out to, now's the time to go nuts.Wooo! Shout-outs to everyone in CMWKA, TDC, Mythic Members as well as my folks over at Bnet Regulars and Robot Academy. Thanks for the awesome interview and it's been a pleasure sticking around with everyone in this community over the years. Really excited to see what's in store for all of us for the next Bungie.net update and also remember you need to go skydiving!
That's all, now do something productive!
Interview by ECOH Cam | Community Joes | Co-Joe