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Conference Ideas
Build the conference you'd like to see
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I think it would be great to have an indication on the schedule of what technical level the sessions are going to be, so we don't end up in sessions discussing things we already know, or are too complex for us.
Just a basic 'Non-technical', 'Easy', 'Moderate', 'Hard' would suffice as a general indication.
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There are so many CMS's out there, which one is right for me? Invite 6 product specialists of a range of local and international CMS's to give 10 minute overview of:
-Where it fits in (eg open source, purchase, etc)
-Level of complexity (eg is it a basic system, or is it designed for complex systems, enterprise, etc)
-Publishing (baked versus fried)
-Compliance
-Main features and benefits (compared to other systems, eg large developers base, lots of plugins, easy to customise, highly scalable, etc)
-A typical scenario (Eg hobby sites, blogs, company sites, education, enterprise, etc)
-Recommendations (Eg don’t use it for simple sites because it is overkill, or, do use it if you want to do lots of customisation, etc)
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Accessibility is very topical at the moment
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Sitting around on the ground wasn't too bad - but it was a bit awkward. Any chance of getting some chairs/tables set out for the lunch breaks?
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I have noticed over the past few years the water only seems to come out at specific times. (Maybe it's my imagination but I feel I had a hard time finding water last year). May I please suggest that a continual supply of liquids is essential.
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It's alwasy a hard call for a conference the size a WDS. But a barista or 2 is always a hit. The smell and taste of real fresh coffee is such a draw card. Lots of networking in the queue..
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Every web developer has a bag of tricks that (s)he relies on to be productive. Things like text editors (and plugins for same), Firefox extensions, quick references, server-side debug tools, client-side testing frameworks, etc. It would be great to see a session where a “definitive” collection of these were presented in rapid-fire fashion, with a brief demo to accompany each.
I would be happy to pull something like this together by polling the community and assembling a “best of” presentation, but perhaps this would be better run as a lightning talk session where attendees could register to quickly show off their tool of choice in two minutes or less. Failing that, a panel format with representatives from the Windows, Mac, and Linux developer communities showing off competing tools might work well too.
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An area of the web world that doesn't get a lot of love at conferences is the challenges and benefits of being a designer inside a non-design type organisation.
How do you develop your career if you are the only designer in a company? How do you convince the internal staff to support your ideas of modern web design and tools?
I've worked in several inhouse roles, and I always found plenty of other inhouse designers at conferences, but not a lot of recognition from the podium. That's why I started http://designersinhouse.com
Web Directions certainly has enough corporate / government / charity people who would be like me, and I'd love to develop this presentation.
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I think that Jon Snook would be a great speaker on a number of different topics including design, Javascript, php, Adobe Air. Not only has jon created a bunch of web apps and mashups himself, I think he could also provide a great insight into his ideas process, and how to flesh out the ideas into final products.
As I mentioned in one of the other topics, I think that many of us, if not most of us, now have a strong grasp of HTML/CSS/Javascript/server-side skills but could use guidance and inspiration on how to take these skills, build something that matters and get it out there, and I think Jon has experience in this area that he could share.
(Rather than make a new idea topic, I'd also like to suggest Shaun Inman and Dan Cederholm for the same reasons.)
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Plagued by horrible feelings when thinking about WCAG2? Frantically checking the Australian Human Rights Commission to see if they have endorsed it yet? Feeling a sense of relief when starting a new project and being able to say "WCAG1 is still the Australian standard"?
It's not always going to be that way. Learn how to take the stress out of moving to WCAG2.
by Gian Wild
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I'd love some insight into both the technology and management of the BBC website, which I consider one of the biggest and best websites on the internet. How many people does it take and simply how do they get all that news and commentary online, with links, features, blogs, maps, forums, comments, multimedia, user-contributed content, regionalisation, internationalisation. One of the few sites to achieve buzzword compliance on a truly international scale.
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A web based application to make own own name tags?
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Lachlan Hardy would be an interesting speaker, on whatever topic he wanted to discuss. Maybe his view on the future of the web, and what it's like to be an internal developer for a software product now.
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As online communities shift to include a melting pot of social networks what strategies do we employ for harmony? GetUp! web community consultant, Dannielle Chun, looks at ways of creating ownership for all your unique users while maintaining an ecologically sound space for all.
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I know Maxine is always looking for suggestions for presentations on CSS. So here are couple of topics I would of liked to seen last year. So they are no longer bleeding edge and now targeted at the other 90%.
1. Advanced CSS layouts, Kevin Yank has already covered this with "Everything you know about CSS is wrong" suggestion.
2. CSS frameworks, what they are, why you should use them, which are the better ones.
3. Progressive enhancement with CSS2/3. Features you can use now, to enhance your design for modern browsers, without breaking old browsers. RGBa, @font-face, border-radius, border-image, text-shadow etc.
2 or 3 could either be full 50 minutes presentations, 50 minute panels, 25 minute quick fire presentations (with lots of links to resources) or all could be combined into a full day workshop "Advanced CSS Skills" with the addition of a couple of additional topics like:
Typography: Font stacks, type scales
Grids: Why you use them, how to use them (tied to CSS frameworks).
The final session should probably be bring us your CSS problems and we will find a solution.
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Two days is never enough! Give us one more day of sessions :)
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Would be nice to hear this guy he is nice speaker and JavaScript Ninja.
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Real world demos of gzipping, minifying, caching. Combined with a tutorial on CSS spriting (right down to 1 image file like google and others) to reduce HTTP requests, linking to images from multiple sub domains to allow then to be downloaded in parallel (current limit per domain is 2), even PNG optimisation to squeeze out every Kilobyte.
It could be done as a panel with a bunch of speakers. I would be willing to speak or contribute in some way.
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Love his book "Web Form Design" and blog "Functioning Form", Luke, currently Senior Director of Product Ideation (huh?) & Design at Yahoo!, is a well respected international speaker on interaction design and usability. Would love to see him down under
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Ok what about designer Cameron Moll? I have followed his work and think he definitely has something to offer in web design and also mobile web design.
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Conferences are great opportunities to meet other people trying to solve the same problems as you are. You're all there in the same place at the same time, but, how do you actually maximise your chances of finding each other. This is what Birds of a Feather sessions are great for.
Often they will be held during the lunch breaks, with as simple an idea as a collection of tables are allocated different topics, everyone knows what these topics are, and so you just turn up there if you are interested. We did these for Web Directions North last year, using a kind of barcamp model by calling on attendees to put forward ideas for all the tables. It was really successful, people loved it, and we would love to do it here in Sydney.
We simply don't have the means to pay the considerable additional costs that would be involved in having a sitdown lunch in what is otherwise a really good venue for us. So, what to do?
John and I have tossed around so many other options that might create the same result as Birds of a Feather tables, but just haven't been able to come up with anything. If you've got any ideas about this, we'd love to hear them!
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How about a login based system for attendees, where they can plan their conference prior by picking and choosing tracks and then printing out their customized event schedule?
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Every year there's a mad scramble for power plugs during the lunch break...
How about combining the device charging stations with a cloakroom? Check in your bag and plug in your laptop, then scoot off to a session unencumbered. Security would be an issue I guess.
Alternatively some powerboards in the theatres would help keep people running. I've seen cords with single plugs spaced 1m apart, a few of those along the rows would probably work.
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In the two years we have been at Sydney Convention Centre, we've used pretty much the same schedule: hour long keynotes at the opening and close of each day, sandwiching 4 x 50 minute sessions (over 3 tracks) throughout the day. Starting at 9am, finishing at 5.15.
I've always felt this has a nice simplicity and symmetry that I find appealing. But I also have a nagging sense that we could experiment with mixing it up a bit somehow.
Last year we tried long 2 hour panels on JavaScript Libraries and Backend Frameworks. What did people think of these? Are there other topics we could treat similarly?
Are there topics that would go well in shorted sessions, and how could we make this work?
Starting earlier? Going later?
All ideas welcome.
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I want a presenter who is passionate and willing to share their up to date knowledge with me, and makes me think. The best at WDS08 for me was Dmitry Baranovskiy and David Peterson. With most other locals I saw doing good.
I do not want some overseas big name, giving the same presentation they gave to another conference, 18 months earlier in 1 hour in 45 minutes. Yes that happened at WDS08. With no adjustments for the shorter time frame, the Australian environment or advances in techniques in the last two years. I was disappointed with most international speakers at WDS08, because they just seemed to lack the passion, had nothing to teach me and just failed to make me think, other than how I could present on that topic better.
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