Designing a conference
For the past few years, I’ve been working behind the scenes, supporting a small conference series named FLOCK. Over that time, I’ve learned a lot about what goes into pulling off these conference-type events. ~900 words
Jeffrey Zeldman details the design of the new AEA site.
An Event Apart redesigned
zeldman.comStart Conference
Been thinking of starting a company? Maybe started one recently? Or just have entrepreneurial tendencies in your blood? Check out Start. Friends and colleagues, Jeffrey Veen and Bryan Mason, are hosting a one-day conference in San Francisco on August 7 “for smart, talented Web people to take hold of their ideas, follow their dreams, and start their own companies.” ~100 words
Respect! at SXSW
Though I’m a little leery of the massive size of SXSW this year, I’m really looking forward to seeing and catching up with friends new and old (and meeting a few more) in Austin later this week. It’s that time of year, when geeks from all over the Web physically converge in central Texas, fight for the last few available hotel rooms, and elbow their way to a
choiceseat at any of over 150 Interactive panels. ~200 wordsAt the SXSW Google booth
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work for and at Google, or are interested in Google products… Or if we know each other but haven’t had a chance to catch up yet here in Austin–or even if you and I don’t know each other–and you’d like to chat for a bit, just a quick note here to encourage you to come by the Google booth here at SXSW (on the trade show floor, toward the far-right side). I’m scheduled to be in the booth area from noon until about 2pm both today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday). ~200 words
SXSWi Calendar for all
So a few of my fellow Google UXers and I will be at SXSW this year. We thought it odd that we couldn’t find a calendar that aggregated all the sessions, panels, and parties of SXSW in one place, in a traditional calendar-like view… And that’s where I started thinking. Let’s suck all that SXSW Interactive event data into Google Calendar, get all the relevant details entered for as many events as we can and in the right fields, then share the calendar with each other. Or better yet, let’s just make the whole calendar publicly available to anyone who wants it. So a few of us got together and did just that. ~500 words
Insult to injury
Last week was supposed to be a big week for me. As John Allsopp put it, I had been lured out of a self-imposed retirement from speaking, and was scheduled to appear at Web Directions North in Vancouver. I was really looking forward to speaking again, along with seeing old friends, making new ones, and the general camaraderie experienced at events like that. ~400 words
Webstocking in NZ
Until the past few days, you might not have imagined how a small, isolated country somewhere in the South Pacific could have such a significant impact on the Web. We’re early on in the second day of Webstock, a web conference, shaking down in Wellington, New Zealand. And what a conference it is. ~600 words
Web Essentials 2005
Inspirational, energetic, insightful, encouraging. That’s how I’d describe the Web Essentials conference in Sydney, Australia last week. An excellent crowd filled with so many wonderful people. It seems the WE05 team is on to something very successful. Going through the list of other talented presenters for this year, I’m still wondering why they invited me back on stage this year… ~500 words
Speaking and wifi at events
Jeff Veen had some interesting thoughts last night on speaking at events where access to wifi might be a potential distraction to the audience and the speaker: Is anyone listening? WiFi and the new ADD. I’ve had similar thoughts at recent conferences. ~900 words
Web Essentials 2.0
Somehow, I managed to finagle my way onto the program for Web Essentials 05 in Sydney as one of the presenters again this year. The WE team just decided to extend early bird registration pricing until Monday, 4 July, so there’s still time to act before the cost goes up. ~400 words
@media 2005
On my way home now, I can finally sit down in one place long enough to recap the experience in London around @media 2005. My gratitude to Patrick Griffiths for inviting me to speak at the event, and my admiration as well for pulling off a fun, fluid, very professional conference. ~800 words
London and Copenhagen
Just arrived in London. I decided to fly in a few days early, before the flurry of activity later this week. For me, the end of this week will bring an intense set of speaking engagements, tightly packed together. Two overlapping conferences in two cities over three days. ~400 words
Capturing SXSW
When I finally met Hugh Forrest for the first time in Austin this past week, I told him I keep thinking each year that SXSW is the biggest it can possibly get. That there’s no way the following year can top the previous year in terms of the talent he pulls in for speakers, and the amount of interesting people attending who are so open and receptive to new ideas. Each time I’ve been wrong. ~600 words
Targeting small screens
Early last week, I spoke to packed crowds at Web Design World in Boston. Clearly the conference scene is heating back up, as budgets for events and off-site training seem to be reappearing. The two sessions I presented (“Beautiful Interfaces with CSS” and “Throwing Tables out the Window“) were lots of fun. I had to bolt to the airport to catch a flight after my last talk. So I didn’t get to stick around to see the rest of the conference or talk to more of the attendees over the next two days. ~1,700 words
UI9 RP-remote
Of course, you realize… the scary thing about all this? In the true essence of what’s going on here, the process could actually spider out from the central loop, backing out to hit every other possible node. Which means you technically don’t even need to have been at UI9 to play along… ~100 words
Redesigning Blogger workshop
Jeffrey Veen and I will be conducting a one-day workshop in San Francisco a week from Monday, the 8th of November: Redesigning Blogger. We’ll be covering the process and thinking we used when Adaptive Path and Stopdesign worked with Google to simplify and redesign Blogger earlier this year. Jeff and I have worked together for a little over eight years now. We’ve learned a lot from each other, and from our successes and failures on various projects. ~300 words
WSG meetup in Melbourne
I’ll be joining up with Peter and Russ to fly into Melbourne this Tuesday afternoon (5th of October) for a spontaneously rescheduled Web Standards Group meeting that night. Dave Shea and his wife April are traveling to Melbourne, so they’ll also be there for the meeting. If you’re in the area, please come out and join us. Details on time and location will be posted to this page on the WSG’s site when they become available. ~200 words
Web Essentials kicks tail
Well, Web Essentials wrapped up on Friday night, and I can truly say it was one outstanding conference. Earlier, I think I wrote that it looked to be the largest web standards event in the southern hemisphere this year. That… was an understatement. It was easily the largest event focused exclusively on web standards in the world (outside the W3C), and the wonderful organizing team pulled it off flawlessly. ~600 words
Web Essentials approaches
My goodness, it’s only a little over a week until Web Essentials 04 kicks off. How does time go by so quickly? This looks to be (easily) the largest web standards event in the southern hemisphere this year. John Allsopp wrote me last week, informing me they’ve got loads of attendees coming from all over Australia, New Zealand, and even Japan. ~300 words
Australia – New Zealand advice
In less than one month now, I board a plane bound for Sydney, Australia. Where should I go? What cities and destinations should I hit? What should I not miss if at all possible? Where should I stay? Where should I eat? What should I eat? What experiences should I absolutely try my hardest to fit in? How should I get around? Etc. I’m hoping you have all kinds of great info, tips, and suggestions on visiting Australia and New Zealand, and that you might share some of them here. ~700 words
Presentation-related wish list
Those who’ve seen my presentations know that I use a browser to navigate through slides constructed with traditional HTML and CSS. The system I use works pretty well. However, I’m still missing a few critical components that could make HTML-based presentations even better. ~600 words
AP in DC for UXW
In just under two weeks, I’ll be joining Adaptive Path in Washington, D.C. for User Experience Week 2004, 16-19 August. AP’s guest speakers also include Jason Fried and Christina Wodtke. Topics will cover team and process, strategy, managing politics, interaction best practices, effecient use of a CMS, and fitting general user experience methods and practices into your organization. ~200 words
Get well, from WV/04
Q: What happens when you’re scheduled to appear at two conferences back to back to give a total of four presentations within six days, and you end up cancelling your appearance at one of the conferences because you’re unsure if your lower back, with a disc that herniated a month prior, might not do so well with the combined stress of preparing for and travelling to both events? ~300 words
Seattle-bound
In a few minutes, I step onto a plane bound for Seattle for a short two-day trip. I’ll be speaking twice tomorrow at Digital Design World. ~200 words
I'm just sayin'…
This year is certainly my “coming out of the office” year in terms of public speaking. With three events down, and four more on the schedule so far, the year holds lots of opportunities to meet new people. ~600 words
SxSW CSS presentations
I’ve received a few requests for public links to the presentations I used for the CSS panels at SxSW. In the spirit of sharing information–and since they’ve already been linked from other locations–I’ll point to them here. If you weren’t there, you won’t get all the commentary that went along with them, but you’ll get an idea of what I covered for each panel. If you were there, I hope we covered topics on both panels that were interesting and relevant to you. ~900 words
SxSW aftermath
As all of us know who have been to Austin in March one time or many times, SxSW is so much fun each year because of the people who come. The conference is well known for the events, parties, and impromptu gatherings that happen between and after each day’s worth of keynotes and panels. It makes for a very flat structure where everyone is accessible and approachable, and there’s really not much difference between speakers, panelists, and attendees. Whether it’s the pseudo star-struck wide-eyedness of a first-timer, or the anticipation of once-a-year encounters with friends who go every year… hands-down, the people make SxSW one of the most fun conference-like events of the year. ~500 words
Southwesting
South by Southwest is flying by. I’ve only been here for two days, but it already feels like 10 with the number of people I’ve run into, all the parties, and the panels. Well, today is double-down day for panels… ~100 words
Doug talks
Earlier today, I had the honor of giving a presentation about the beauty of CSS at Digital Design World. The crowd seemed warmly receptive to hearing about (and seeing) how they can make better-looking sites by putting into practice some basic design principles, practical tips, and a few advanced techniques. ~300 words
Missing caps
Technically, I don’t care much who wins the SuperBowl tomorrow. I am, as always, looking forward to the commercials. Some years disappoint. Others are filled with some of the best creative that lots of money can buy from an ad agency. ~400 words
You could be next
Only a couple days left for the current Blogstakes contests. Win a three-book collection from The Onion or a hard-shell CD case. It couldn’t be easier to get entered if you already have a blog — just add a link to one or both of the contests somewhere on your site where others will find it. Nothing else is required from you. ~400 words
Mini? Really?
Price-point aside for a minute while I focus on marketing/branding: is it just me? If we’re speaking in relative terms, shouldn’t the name of this new device be iPod Slightly Smaller™? ~400 words
AIGA discount for SxSW
Each spring, the Interactive portion of the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas brings together some of the most creative and inventive individuals of the online and interactive world for several fun days of keynotes, sessions, panels, and parties. Last year, I finally had a chance to go for the first time, and had a blast. ~200 words
Selected reading
In one of the main Exhibition Halls, the AIGA has a temporary bookstore set up with hundreds of books available about design, typography, color, surface, theory… enough to make any designer drool and wish they had the entire collection in their library. ~100 words
Power of Design, Vancouver
In two days, I’ll be heading north to Vancouver, B.C. for the AIGA National Design Conference, the power of Design. ~300 words
Spaced out
If you live in the Bay Area (or happen to be visiting next week) and have a passion for typography like I do, no doubt, you’ll be interested in “Spaced Out, Black Holes in Typography”, happening next Wednesday, 1 October at 7pm. ~300 words
Extremes
Where else can you go only 2 miles and experience a natural temperature drop of 25 degrees+? That was my experience in San Francisco yesterday as I went from Noe Valley to Pacific Heights to watch a portion of the T-Mobile International cycling race. ~300 words
Another cafe gathering in SF
Our fourth informal get-together to discuss style, CSS, web standards, and other über geek topics will be this Thursday, May 22 at Atlas Cafe in the Mission. In addition to what Tantek mentions, I’ve been thinking about independent projects,… ~68 words
Canned competition
Via tonight’s episode of Food Network’s Unwrapped, the Society of Design Administration (SDA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) founded a creative and worthwhile design competition held in multiple U.S. cities each year called CANSTRUCTION®. [Caution:… ~200 words
Stirring it up in SF
Sitting down where we please. Foaming at the mouth. Blood pumping through our veins. Well, ok. Probably not quite what you’ve been seeing happen in San Francisco over the last few days. More like a distraction to get our minds… ~200 words
Strike a pose
I’ve posted a set of pictures from South by Southwest last week in Austin. I was slightly disappointed I didn’t snap more pictures, despite the fact that I had a really small camera which went everywhere with me. I was… ~100 words
When names become people
As SXSW Interactive wraps up today, I find myself feeling like a kid again. A kid at the amusement park who realizes there’s only an hour left until the place closes, the rides stop, and everyone goes home. It feels… ~200 words
Heading South (by Southwest)
In two days, I’ll be one of the many flocking to Austin for South by Southwest, in part, due to Tantek‘s generosity. No speaking engagements — I’ll just be waiting patiently in the audience for chances to heckle… ~100 words
2-4-6-8
The second informal gathering in San Francisco, similar to the first one we pulled together last December, is happening this week. Rather than rephrase what he’s already written, I’ll just crib Tantek Çelik’s explanation and place it here: Douglas Bowman… ~100 words
Mixing it Up
You, a doorway to the W3C, and your valid, user-centered design full of intrigue, aesthetic appeal, and inspiration. All potentially part of wthremix: an independent contest challenging creative types to redesign the W3C’s recently revamped homepage. Think you… ~64 words
Small talk in SF
Since MTM/SF in October, Tantek and I have been batting around the idea of holding an informal discussion about style, blogs, workarounds, etc. at a local cafe here in San Francisco. Preferably with free wifi. And space to flip our… ~200 words
Spontaneous BayCHI
At the very last minute, I gave in to an urge to head down to tonight’s monthly BayCHI program. Ironically enough, I ended up driving down to Palo Alto with Peterme of Adaptive Path and Erika Hall from Mule… ~200 words