Dear readers,

We started the day with a lecture on the Mekong River as well as its delta and its importance to the country of Vietnam both economically and culturally. Economically, it is used to export many of goods from major cities, such as Saigon. It is also the main source of income for many of the rural population as fishing and rice farming are two of the most popular rural occupations. Though both of these industries are being threatened by the climate change and the current treatment of the River. Contamination of arsenic in the water has led to a decrease in the mangrove tree population in the delta. This tree is essential in stabilizing the equilibrium of salt in the river water and delta. The salt, however, is moving up the river as the mangrove population decreases and the sea level rises from climate change. This disrupts the natural environment of the naturally fresh water, hurting the fish population and, therefore, the fishermen who live there. The preservation of the Mekong is essential to the success of the nation as a whole and should be a top priority for the country in the near future.

Next, on to the title topic: Glass Egg. Glass Egg is a design firm focusing on 3D drawings and environments. It’s most consistent and famous work is done with the Forza racing games. Starting up, however, it was extremely difficult to start the company and gain traction. It worked from project to project, waiting in between. The company now has a constant flow of projects, keeping its 200+ designers busy throughout the year. Problems with operating the company in Vietnam are few and fixable. To start, designers specializing in creating models for people, are usually based in the US or Canada and therefore makes it difficult to expand into that area. Also, it is sometimes difficult to find designers within the country. To combat this problem, Glass Egg has sent graphic and 3D design programs to local skills to teach the local population a skill that could land them at their company. Another difficulty, though not relating to its location, is that many companies know Glass Egg exclusively as a car designing company. The recent goal of Glass Egg has been to diversify. It has recently started to design more of the environment for its racing games as well as creating some of the weapons used in its other games. The benefit to operating in Vietnam is that it’s cheap. Also, whereas China may have 100 different design firms operating the same city, Glass Egg is one of maybe 10 in the country of Vietnam and is definitely the one with the most experience. The day was extremely interesting and really made me think that working in an environment like that of Glass Egg in a foreign country, especially Vietnam could very well be possible in my future.

Just a side story that needed to be said before the end of this blog…at lunch today, Colin obliterated a chair just by trying to sit in it (see featured image).

Thanks for reading!

Brian