Web Directions South

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• I agree

  25 votes

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  Tech-level indicator for sessions

  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 ...more »

  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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  8 comments

  Submitted by Guy Leech 2 years ago

• I agree

  18 votes

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  Networking Ideas »

  Barista to go..

  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 ...more »

  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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  14 comments

  Submitted by Gary Barber 2 years ago

• I agree

  17 votes

  I disagree
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  Networking Ideas »

  Birds of a feather

  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 ...more »

  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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  11 comments

  Submitted by Maxine Sherrin 2 years ago

• I agree

  16 votes

  I disagree
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  Availability of water

  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 ...more »

  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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  10 comments

  Submitted by susan.macgillivray 2 years ago

• I agree

  14 votes

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  Seating for lunch breaks

  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? ...more »

  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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  13 comments

  Submitted by Sean Curtis 2 years ago

• I agree

  14 votes

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  Print / Manage my schedule

  How about a login based system for attendees, where they can plan their conference prior by picking and choosing tracks and then printing out ...more »

  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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  8 comments

  Submitted by Moin Zaman 2 years ago

• I agree

  14 votes

  I disagree
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  Presentation Ideas »

  Web Developer Power Tools

  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, ...more »

  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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  8 comments

  Submitted by Kevin Yank 2 years ago

• I agree

  13 votes

  I disagree
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  Make WDS a 3 day event!

  Two days is never enough! Give us one more day of sessions :)

  9 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 2 years ago

• I agree

  13 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Speakers »

  Invite John Resig

  Would be nice to hear this guy he is nice speaker and JavaScript Ninja.

  5 comments

  Submitted by Dmitry Baranovskiy 2 years ago

• I agree

  13 votes

  I disagree
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  Presentation Ideas »

  Thriving as an inhouse web designer

  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 ...more »

  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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  8 comments

  Submitted by mathewp 2 years ago

• I agree

  11 votes

  I disagree
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  Presentation Ideas »

  Selling Your Web Services - How not to suck.

  This is not about SEO or the like but client sales, something most of us really suck at or hate. Having someone that is good at this stand up ...more »

  This is not about SEO or the like but client sales, something most of us really suck at or hate. Having someone that is good at this stand up and present the best ways they have found to sell their services would be welcome in the current environment.

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  4 comments

  Submitted by Gary Barber 2 years ago

• I agree

  11 votes

  I disagree
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  Speakers »

  Invite the BBC webmaster

  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 ...more »

  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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  3 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 2 years ago

• I agree

  10 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Other »

  Newbies Geek Guide to Sydney

  Now I know all you Sydney peeps will vote this one down. So just stop and think first. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was just list of locations ...more »

  Now I know all you Sydney peeps will vote this one down. So just stop and think first.

  Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was just list of locations from pubs, coffee shops, restaurants, cafes, cool geek places that was in Sydney. Nothign flash, just a sentence on each one, the location (maybe phone number) google map reference woudl be unreal. Something similar to what Webstock did. Put it on the web site.

  Its for people NEW in town, So they can find the cool places, this is especially true if they are not travelling with a group that is familiar with Sydney. SO just think what it would be like if you didn't know where the cool coffee shops and pubs were.

  It's only a minor suggestion but it would make a fellow web travelers life so much easier.

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  5 comments

  Submitted by Gary Barber 2 years ago

• I agree

  9 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Speakers »

  Invite Jonathan Snook - Turning ideas into reality

  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 ...more »

  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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  7 comments

  Submitted by Mikey McCorry 2 years ago

• I agree

  9 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Presentation Ideas »

  Complying with WCAG 2.0

  Now that WCAG 2.0 is finalised, a presentation from a leading expert regarding moving from WCAG 1 to 2. Common gotchas, mistakes and misinterpretations. ...more »

  Now that WCAG 2.0 is finalised, a presentation from a leading expert regarding moving from WCAG 1 to 2. Common gotchas, mistakes and misinterpretations.

  Touching on WAI-ARIA would pertinent too.

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  3 comments

  Submitted by Paul Hempsall 2 years ago

• I agree

  9 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Speakers »

  What I want from a speaker.

  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 ...more »

  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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  2 comments

  Submitted by Nick Cowie 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Other »

  Getting the schedule right

  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 ...more »

  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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  7 comments

  Submitted by Maxine Sherrin 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Speakers »

  Designing efficient websites

  The design compromise doesn't end with balancing the business requirements with the user needs but extends into a timely site performance. This ...more »

  The design compromise doesn't end with balancing the business requirements with the user needs but extends into a timely site performance. This doesn't mean giving up good looking interfaces - smart decisions can yield economic efficiencies.

  I'd really like to present this topic with an ex-colleague at the Sydney Conference in Oct.

  The most interesting thing about the project we last worked together on was our collaboration on making a site that is extremely flexible visually, handles a vast range of content and has an excellent site performance. Our talk would be part technical and part design - all describing the outcome of a sleek, easily maintained CMS driven site that doesn't suck up bandwidth on load times.

  I recently wrote a blog on this topic for Online Divas which lightly covers the topic – will post the link when it’s live.

  I strongly feel our contribution to the conference would be very valuable as I thought there was a distinct lack of representation at the most recent one from developers working with large amounts of content viewed by large and very diverse audiences.

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  1 comment

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Presentation Ideas »

  Front-end Optimisation primer

  Real world demos of gzipping, minifying, caching. Combined with a tutorial on CSS spriting (right down to 1 image file like google and others) ...more »

  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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  7 comments

  Submitted by Moin Zaman 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Speakers »

  Invite Miles Burke

  Miles Burke has written a book about Freelancing for SitePoint, and writes their email newsletter, AND he lives in Western Australia. I'd like ...more »

  Miles Burke has written a book about Freelancing for SitePoint, and writes their email newsletter, AND he lives in Western Australia.

  I'd like to hear him talk about freelancing, and how to take the leap from 'working for the man'.

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  5 comments

  Submitted by jakesmith 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Other »

  the machines need power

  Every year there's a mad scramble for power plugs during the lunch break... How about combining the device charging stations with a cloakroom? ...more »

  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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  3 comments

  Submitted by Ben Buchanan 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Presentation Ideas »

  WCAG2 What the hell do we do now?

  Plagued by horrible feelings when thinking about WCAG2? Frantically checking the Australian Human Rights Commission to see if they have endorsed ...more »

  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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  3 comments

  Submitted by Unsubscribed User 2 years ago

• I agree

  8 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Presentation Ideas »

  Online user behaviour and implications for interaction design

  Having conducted hundreds of usability tests over the years for a wide range of clients and websites, we have noted consistency in online user ...more »

  Having conducted hundreds of usability tests over the years for a wide range of clients and websites, we have noted consistency in online user behaviour and have learnt how to make designs more effective and usable whilst helping organisations achieve their business goals.

  Using examples and video footage from test sessions with real users, I would like to present some common usability issues, supporting theories and interaction design recommendations in regards to things such as:

  - visual hierarchy and controlling user focus

  - visual groupings and Gestalt theory – how colour, positioning, size etc can rightly or wrongly imply association

  - typical navigation and search behaviour - how do users look for information when they come to your website and how to accommodate different behaviours

  - banner and header blindness – why users may not see or use your large and supposedly prominent main menu

  - balancing marketing/advertising/business needs with user needs – is that big banner important or does it just get in the way of users completing their tasks. Where should it go?

  I would endeavour to make this session as interactive as possible and include lots of examples, case studies and video footage.

  Posted by Tania Lang, Peak Usability

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  Add your comment

  Submitted by tania 2 years ago

• I agree

  7 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Speakers »

  Invite Lachlan Hardy

  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 ...more »

  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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  4 comments

  Submitted by jakesmith 2 years ago

• I agree

  7 votes

  I disagree
  This idea is active.
  Other »

  Getting the tracks right

  We started off as a single track event, quickly went to two, and for the last two years have had three. Because a lot of web people wear a number ...more »

  We started off as a single track event, quickly went to two, and for the last two years have had three. Because a lot of web people wear a number of different hats, getting this right isn't as easy as it might seem in other industries I don't think.

  At a conference for people who work on the web, it's always seemed kind of obvious that you should have a "designer" and a "developer" track. But does this even need to be questioned?

  And then we've always had what I've thought of as my troublesome middle child, :) , the management/strategy track. while it's always had sessions in it that were very much targeted at people who work at the more strategic or management level in an organisation, because we haven't always felt that we had enough valuable content that is appropriate for this audience, it's also ended up with sessions that were different enough to what was going on in the designer or developer tracks, too good to pass up altogether, but not strictly speaking management or strategy.

  And this has lead to disappointment and misunderstanding.

  Given the constraint of 3 tracks over two days, got any ideas for how we could be approaching this?

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  11 comments

  Submitted by Maxine Sherrin 2 years ago

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