Why is this my first conference? Because frankly, I never thought of them as an investment in myself, besides larhely expensive social events. Plus Most of them cost an arm and a leg. Generate had a list of speakers I was keen on listening/meeting with. It was a one day conference in New York City that I was more than willing to attend and ‘try’ out…all by my lonesome self. Doing something alone is a huge deal for me. I’m that person, always around people.
Hosted by UK based Net Magazine, this was their 4th year. They normally have one in NYC in the spring and another in London during the fall. Full marks for the location. The World Stages staff was courteous and friendly. The food was fantastic and the constant supply of coffee, water and pop was a wonderful perk (pun intended). Last but not least, the roundup of speakers was fantastic. They delivered, above and beyond. Because there were two tracks at the same time, I did not get to see them all. Good thing, they are posting video for all the speakers on Treehouse so I can watch what I missed. Woot!
Overview – The Speakers
Brad Frost gave a stimulating opening to the day with his talk on where the web is going and introduction to Pattern Lab – a tool to help people create and maintain effective interface design systems.
Lara Hogan blew me away with her presentation on the importance of optimizing for web/load times, speed etc. This is where I first heard about having a “weight” budget for websites.
Katie Kovalcin re-emphasized the importance of designing for performance and incorporating a collaborative process and the benefits for all those involved, including the client. Lots of great tid bits to follow up on.
JoonYong Park– he was special, simply because I felt I could relate to him. Also because he touched on character and how it relates to design. JoonYong is the Chief Creative Director at Firstborn, an agency in NYC. I love how he contributes creativity to life experiences and finds creative inspiration in his kids. Just beautiful! I am a firm believer in we are who we are because of our experiences and environments. God knows my kids have been a huge strength and my husband, the man who has been my constant support. Joon’s humility showed through his quote, “You aren’t as good as you think you are” and “Don’t be a dick”. I met with Joon right after his talk, great guy! I would love to work with him!
Val Head gave a tantilizing presentation on SVG animation. Her slides and energy had me mesmerized. She also shred about a cat café! Exactly as it sounds, a café with cats. I think I’ll try that.
Jonathan Snook repping our true north. Woot!
And lastly Mike Monteiro brought us to a grand closing with his punchy presentation on ‘how to present’.
The conference made me venture outside my comfort zone to listen to some awesome leaders in the web design industry and meet lots of great people. I missed the other track of speakers, but I look forward to listening to all the other speakers I missed via the videos on Treehouse.
I can’t wait to go back next year.
P.S. If you are wondering about the image in this post. It is Mike Monteiro’s ‘You’re my favourite client’ by A List Apart, that I earned by dancing to an 80’s song in public…by myself.
