“The experienced web designer, like the talented newspaper art director, accepts that many projects she works on will have headers and columns and footers. Her job is not to whine about emerging commonalities but to use them to create pages that are distinctive, natural, brand-appropriate, subtly memorable, and quietly but unmistakably engaging.”
– Jeffrey Zeldman, Understanding Web Design
Last year, I attended An Event Apart 2006 in Seattle. It was a great event, although I remember it being really rushed, because they seven sessions packed into one day. So when I heard that they were coming back to Seattle, and had changed the format to two days, I signed up right away. I’m happy to tell you that the new format is a huge improvement. The event no longer feels rushed, and even though there are six sessions every day, there’s a 15 minute break between each one, and a 1½ hour lunch. That might sound insignificant, but if you’ve ever been to an all-day tech conference, you’ll understand what a lifesaver those breaks can be.
If you want to be a successful musician, you don’t just pick up an instrument and learn to play, you also study music theory. Similarly, if you want to be a successful web designer, you need to learn theory as well as code. Where most books cover code and technique, this book is the definitive guide to the theory of the web standards movement. Having co-founded the Web Standards Project during the height of the browser wars, Jeffrey Zeldman has been at this longer than most of us, and in this book, he shares his theories and best practices, along with a bit of history – like a grizzled war veteran sharing his experience. This book should be required reading for anyone looking to get involved in the web industry. (If this book were a college course, it would be 100 level, and required to graduate.)
We’re here! It’s 8:50, and the big screen is showing a slideshow of photos that they guys must have taken yesterday when they got into town. The conference room is really nice – slightly elevated rows as you move back in the room, with Aeron chairs at the desks for each row (no power for laptops, but there’s free wi-fi). Up front is a podium, and a table with two mac laptops and the video switchbox for the projector. I just waved at a guy I recognize from last night. Zeldman was personally supervising the lighting earlier, getting the light dim enough to focus on the stage, but still let you see your laptops (funny that’s he’s so hands-on running things – and he really is shorter than you would expect). Continue reading
Yesterday, Ryan and I got off the train in Seattle around 4pm. We caught a bus up to Hotel Andre, where we found we had a really nice suite on the 9th floor, where we had a bit of a view of the bay between a few apartment buildings. Since we had a few hours until the pre-party, we headed over to Pike Place Market, where I bought a cheddar roll at Piroshki Piroshki, and then we got dinner at the Pike Brewery, just off the market. Continue reading