Day 1
So today was the first full day of the SXSWi Conference. So what did I attend? Well, I started at 10:00 with...
This panel was somewhat boring and poorly executed. Most of the problems were probably just because it was one of the first panels of the conference and they still needed to work out the bugs. The panelists (especially the moderator) seem to dislike wearing their mics and therefore were hard to hear. The content was okay, but it wasn't anything I didn't already know. Not a good start.
Next up at 11:30 was...
Now we're getting somewhere. This panel was more like what I was expecting. Jesse James opened the panel by telling the story of how he came up with the term "AJAX." Then Dylan discussed AJAX toolkits that make using AJAX easier. It was somewhat interesting, but it really felt like a sales pitch for the Dojo Toolkit, which Dylan is involved with. Then Dori wrapped up the discussion by pointing out most, if not all, of the problems we encounter by using AJAX. Oddly enough I came away from this panel wanting to investigate Yahoo!'s AJAX toolkit, which was only mentioned briefly, but it uses a syntax similar to PHP and that intrigues me.
I skipped out on the opening remarks held at 2:00 to go grab some lunch and take care of some personal business. But I was back for the 3:30 panel:
The best panel of the day so far! DOM scripting is the newer, cleaner, more efficient way to create DHTML. I have used DOM scripting some in the past, but even though this panel was designed for bluffing your way through it, it was very informative and went deeper into it than I had previously explored. It explained how to read, write, and modify nodes, elements, and properties of the markup. In laymen terms, I now better understand code provided by frog to help fix some of our extranet design woes. Also the panel suggested some great practical uses of DOM scripting to really enhance usability while maintaining accessibility.
None of the 5:00 panels seemed very interesting, so I went across the street to the registrants lounge for my complimentary beverage. I met James Barker, a SXSW Film attendee and composer, from the UK who seemed intrigued by the movie my friend is making. I gave him her contact info because he said he could help her get distribution in the UK. So that was pretty cool and completely unexpected.
Then it was off to Austin on Rails at Buffalo Billiards. I assume there was some Ruby on Rails theme, but I didn't notice it. I just noticed a lot of beer and pool. I talked to a guy named Dan who was unemployed and had actually been out of the web business for a few years, but was attending in hopes of getting back up to speed and getting back into it. I don't know if I think that's impressive or crazy, but I wish him the best.
Then around 8:00 it was off to the frog party. I showed up a little early and there were maybe 100 people there. I spoke with Michael Cetaruk from frog that didn't know my past two companies were clients, but I guess that was expected since most of our contacts are in San Francisco and he's a Design Analyst in Austin. Of course he knew well the people I had worked with from the Austin office, such as Sam Foster. After talking for a bit he invited me down to frog this week to take a tour and asked if I saw myself staying with my current company and encouraged me to apply for a job at frog. Don't worry Peter, they were using the party as a recruiting platform, so I'm sure I was one of many, many people he approached about working at frog.
A bit later in the evening—the attendance now probably in the thousands—I spoke to Jesse James Garrett. When I told him who I work for, he talked about the work he had done for my company and then proceeded to praise my co-worker Jeremiah saying "He's a really smart guy." We didn't talk a lot, but I did ask him how he was taking being a celebrity of sorts in our world. Obviously, it's been a bit overwhelming for him. He found it fairly amusing that during one of our recent interviews with a candidate, his name was used as an example to prove they keep up with modern web technologies. The candidate had said "I know who Jesse James Garrett is."
At about 10:30 I was hot, tired, and ready to call it a night, so off to the hotel I drove.
P.S. The Flickr Uploadr isn't behaving, so I don't have the Day 1 photos up yet. Hopefully I'll get them up with the Day 2 photos.
Traditional Design and New Technology
Traditional graphic design has a rich history spanning decades. There are rules and theories, from typography to grid systems. How much of this has made it onto the web? Is the web the right place for traditional design values? Join the panel in discussing how much of the craft that traditional designers value have made it onto the web.
Moderator: Liz Danzico Dir of Experience Strategy, AIGA
Toni Greaves Creative Dir, Razorfish
Mark Boulton Dir, markboulton.co.uk
Khoi Vinh
Liz Danzico Dir of Experience Strategy, AIGA
This panel was somewhat boring and poorly executed. Most of the problems were probably just because it was one of the first panels of the conference and they still needed to work out the bugs. The panelists (especially the moderator) seem to dislike wearing their mics and therefore were hard to hear. The content was okay, but it wasn't anything I didn't already know. Not a good start.
Next up at 11:30 was...
Ajax: What Do I Need to Know?
Ajax is rapidly becoming the basis of an important web development technique. But what does it do, and how do you design and build for it? Our panel will walk you through the basics of Ajax, show off some great work that uses the technique, and talk about how you can get started building an asynchronous web page.Moderator: David Humphreys
Dylan Schiemann Renkoo
Dori Smith Writer
David Humphreys
Jesse James Garrett Dir UX Strategy, Adaptive Path
Now we're getting somewhere. This panel was more like what I was expecting. Jesse James opened the panel by telling the story of how he came up with the term "AJAX." Then Dylan discussed AJAX toolkits that make using AJAX easier. It was somewhat interesting, but it really felt like a sales pitch for the Dojo Toolkit, which Dylan is involved with. Then Dori wrapped up the discussion by pointing out most, if not all, of the problems we encounter by using AJAX. Oddly enough I came away from this panel wanting to investigate Yahoo!'s AJAX toolkit, which was only mentioned briefly, but it uses a syntax similar to PHP and that intrigues me.
I skipped out on the opening remarks held at 2:00 to go grab some lunch and take care of some personal business. But I was back for the 3:30 panel:
How to Bluff Your Way in DOM Scripting
So you've mastered CSS and now everyone's talking about JavaScript and the Document Object Model. Don't panic, we can help you.Moderator: Jeremy Keith Web Developer, Adactio
Aaron Gustafson Sr Web Designer/Dev, Easy! Designs LLC
Jeremy Keith Web Developer, Adactio
The best panel of the day so far! DOM scripting is the newer, cleaner, more efficient way to create DHTML. I have used DOM scripting some in the past, but even though this panel was designed for bluffing your way through it, it was very informative and went deeper into it than I had previously explored. It explained how to read, write, and modify nodes, elements, and properties of the markup. In laymen terms, I now better understand code provided by frog to help fix some of our extranet design woes. Also the panel suggested some great practical uses of DOM scripting to really enhance usability while maintaining accessibility.
None of the 5:00 panels seemed very interesting, so I went across the street to the registrants lounge for my complimentary beverage. I met James Barker, a SXSW Film attendee and composer, from the UK who seemed intrigued by the movie my friend is making. I gave him her contact info because he said he could help her get distribution in the UK. So that was pretty cool and completely unexpected.
Then it was off to Austin on Rails at Buffalo Billiards. I assume there was some Ruby on Rails theme, but I didn't notice it. I just noticed a lot of beer and pool. I talked to a guy named Dan who was unemployed and had actually been out of the web business for a few years, but was attending in hopes of getting back up to speed and getting back into it. I don't know if I think that's impressive or crazy, but I wish him the best.
Then around 8:00 it was off to the frog party. I showed up a little early and there were maybe 100 people there. I spoke with Michael Cetaruk from frog that didn't know my past two companies were clients, but I guess that was expected since most of our contacts are in San Francisco and he's a Design Analyst in Austin. Of course he knew well the people I had worked with from the Austin office, such as Sam Foster. After talking for a bit he invited me down to frog this week to take a tour and asked if I saw myself staying with my current company and encouraged me to apply for a job at frog. Don't worry Peter, they were using the party as a recruiting platform, so I'm sure I was one of many, many people he approached about working at frog.
A bit later in the evening—the attendance now probably in the thousands—I spoke to Jesse James Garrett. When I told him who I work for, he talked about the work he had done for my company and then proceeded to praise my co-worker Jeremiah saying "He's a really smart guy." We didn't talk a lot, but I did ask him how he was taking being a celebrity of sorts in our world. Obviously, it's been a bit overwhelming for him. He found it fairly amusing that during one of our recent interviews with a candidate, his name was used as an example to prove they keep up with modern web technologies. The candidate had said "I know who Jesse James Garrett is."
At about 10:30 I was hot, tired, and ready to call it a night, so off to the hotel I drove.
P.S. The Flickr Uploadr isn't behaving, so I don't have the Day 1 photos up yet. Hopefully I'll get them up with the Day 2 photos.
posted by Andy at
9:18 PM
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