UWSAG talks to Earl Machen
of Mama Mia Awards

Owner: Machen Family Website
Winner: UWSAG Top Ten! for July, 2003 - December, 2003
 

1. What got you started in website design?
   
   "From the beginning and until now my desire to understand HTML, web design, flash etc. was for the purpose of creating the family website we have today. I'm not sure when I got interested in award programs, but it started out as a page on our family website and was called the "Machen Family .... Award". Sometime after that (a very long time) Swan Dive Awards was born. Mama Mia Awards has really been a pet project of mine being done all in Flash."
   
   
2. What do you hope to accomplish with your award program?
   
   "With Mama Mia awards I want to have fun. Swan Dive Awards became so complicated and detailed that the evaluation process took forever. With this program the criteria is small and I'm able to enjoy other things. The whole 'Italian' theme of the program was allot of fun creating and one in which I want to do more with."
   
   
3. What advice would you give other program owners?
   
   "Realize from the beginning what is important. First and foremost its your program and those that apply for your award. Other things such as ratings, organizations, badges should hold much less of a priority than your program and helping those who apply for your award."
   
   
4. What was the biggest problem you faced with your award program?
   
   "With Mama Mia Awards my biggest problem has been with external text files in flash. I have yet to find a better way of handling them since the larger they get the more difficult it is to edit them."
   
   
5. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
   
   "I'm pretty happy with the way Mama Mia Awards turned out, I would have used the background from the beginning had I thought of it."
   
   
6. What plans do you have for the future?
   
   "Eventually I will have to better organize the winners. I plan on adding many more Italian recipes."
   
   
7. What else do you like to do?
   
   "First and foremost come my kids, I have two boys ages 6 and 4. They and their activities come first in my life. My family is what is most important to me."