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In our Creative Cultures series, our writers day inside companies to learn how hiring, onboarding and company culture play a role in employee happiness. From startups to design firms and all in-between, we’re pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work in inventive and productive environments. Today, writer Crystal Henrickson takes us through a day at NGX Interactive.
When we embark upon one path in business, no matter what our vision or intention, we don’t always know where we’ll end up. What started out as a web design company for founder Leigh Byblow has grown into one of Canada’s leading companies providing custom, digital, interactive experiences. These leading edge installations can be found in culturally-focused institutions like science centres, museums and discovery centres across the country. I was invited for a behind-the-scenes look at the close knit team that makes this business tick.
NGX Interactive is headquartered in Vancouver, fittingly just south of Science World. Within the workshop/studio works a core team of 14 along with a reservoir of specialized contractors who supercharge specific projects in fields such as animation and graphic design.
It’s a team built on a foundation of inspiring and smart people, trust and a flexible work environment. New team members seek out NGX because it fulfills a niche they can’t source elsewhere. Like Katie Bedford, Production Director, who studied to be a rocket scientist in university. (Editor’s note: technically her specialization was Aerospace Engineering, but according to Leigh, “Rocket Scientist” just sounds more awesome.) “I’ve always worked in a very technical world where there’s not a lot of room for creativity,” says Katie. “Finding a job that blends technology with the ability to be really creative and do something new and exciting is a rare thing.”
Katie wasn’t the only employee searching for a role at the intersection of technology and imagination. Valerie Eades, newly minted Technical Manager, is a former web developer – who just happens to have an art history degree. “I’ve been trying to figure out how my art art and culture background could merge with my technology skills,” she shares. Valerie took some time to do a career re-evaluation and was excited when, through her networks, discovered that “there are people already doing what I am looking to do” at NGX.
“Why does somebody want to work for us, what motivates them, what are they looking to achieve in their life and what makes their life meaningful?” – NGX Vice President Jessica Doig
These bright, active and engaging people are behind some of the most interesting projects in Canada’s leading discovery centres. Science World’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell game challenges visitors to take the hydrogen-powered Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle made by Hyundai for a drive. In 2015, the Magna Carta exhibit made its way across Canada, displaying the original charters, and showcasing interactive media developed by NGX.
There are many projects that adorn the entranceway at NGX, like Katie’s favourite exhibit, the Polar Ice Cap Floor Projection. A staple attraction at Edmonton’s Telus World of Science, visitors learn about changing Arctic habitats and shrinking polar ice cap by pretending to be a polar bear jumping between ice floes as they break apart.
To work at NGX, being mentally nimble and curious are must-haves. Rest assured that brainstorming sessions — project related or just for curiosity’s sake — will run the gamut from military history to quantum physics; organized monthly “inspiration sessions,” akin to NGX’s own internal TED Talks, will spark new ideas and provoke discussions, and that creativity is baked into many rituals here. At holiday parties, this crew challenges themselves to produce a creative project for a charity. This past year, they organized a bike building competition and raced to see which team could assemble a bike the quickest. The finished bikes were then donated.
As a niche industry, choosing to work specifically in the cultural sector and working with museums and science centres, it’s important to NGX that team members are motivated and passionate about community, culture, heritage, history or education and awareness. Tokens of world travels brought home by the team line the ledge of Leigh’s open work area. But this emphasis of curiosity and wonder starts at the very beginning of the hiring process.
NGX Vice President Jessica Doig takes special care to extract the essence from a candidate. “It’s all about fit. Why does somebody want to work for us, what motivates them, what are they looking to achieve in their life and what makes their life meaningful?” Know this at your core, and you may just fit right in.
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