There has been a lot of debate recently about diversity in Web conferences. It is a topic that seems to rear it’s head on a semi-regular basis. As some of the players in the conference circuit have pointed out, maybe we as potential speakers can make the conference organisers’ lives a bit easier.
It is hard to encourage diversity when the pickings are thin - this isn’t to say that the talent from all realms isn’t out there, maybe the people who put on the conferences just haven’t heard about them?
Kevin Lawver has blogged about How to Get to Speak at Web Conferences and point #2 has given the inspiration for this post. Below are a list of some of the events which encourage people to get up and speak about what they love. The list is Australian-centric, mainly because that is the circles I hang with, but I would love to hear of similar things going on around the world (Hint: leave a comment and sell your event!).
So maybe you, oh humble reader, should sign up to a event near you and get your name out there - you never know who might be listening.
- AWIA Mini-talks - Ok, I have a vested interest in these because I organise them… Currently Perth based, but AWIA is looking to expand them Australian wide. Two speakers get 10 minutes to speak on a topic of their choice on the first Wednesday of the month. Check out the podcasts.
- WebJam - The WebJam organisers have just announced a second WebJam event which is on in a couple of days. WebJams are even more fasted paced - 16 speakers get three minutes!
- BarCamps - These “Un-conferences” encourage collaboration and knoledge share - they provde a great opportunity to speak in front of a group and show others what you know. There are BarCamps coming up in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide next week - Check out the Wiki web site for details of who you can get in contact with.
- Melbourne (and soon to be Sydney) based Tequp is kind of similar to BarCamps, except they are weekly (And I thought organising monthly meet ups was hard!)
- The web standards group will often have speakers at their meetings, and I’m sure you local organiser would be more than accommodating.
- A number of big conferences have experimented with open-mic type session: The Future of Web apps had one, New Zealand based Webstock has it’s 8×5 seminars which looks like it is something similar.
Not a bad list, but I am sure I’ve left off heaps and heaps - I want this list expanded people!!!
Edit: SomeoneMeri Williams has created a wiki aimed at mentoring people that want to get into the speaking biz.
After a number of late nights and long hours, the volunteers on the AWIA committee have flick the big red switch on the brand-spanking new AWIA website.
Thanks to Adrian Lynch for the design and Alex Graham for the HTML/CSS trickery - the site looks great!
My contribution was the Ruby on Rails powered membership system and podcast section (As a added benefit, you get to hear my dulcet tones on the first set of Port80 Mini-talk podcasts). The membership system now allows members greater control of their accounts and uses a secure credit card facility, rather than a third party payment site. If you are an existing member, you should have received a email with your password.
This is the next step in promoting the new AWIA brand. The year looks very exciting for AWIA, with plans for another Ideas event, the WA Web Awards and perhaps some other events. It also looks like the Brisbane and Adelaide chapters will be starting up this year as well. If you aren’t a member and you in the Australian Web Industry, maybe it is time to join up?
So what do you think?
A couple of days ago, the regular ol’ Port80 meet up was on. However, this one was a little different. Firstly, we tried out our new venue - the Velvet Lounge in Mt Lawley. We booked a room so we didn’t have weather and other punters to contend with. It just so happens that the room has a stage. And it was on this stage that the first set of Port80 mini talks took place.
The idea behind the Port80 mini-talk is simple: Two local gurus get up and talk on a (web-related) topic for 10 minutes. It is a great way to share knowledge between the tightly knit web industry and a great opportunity of Perth designers and developers to show their wares. Because of our small population and isolation from the rest of the country attending conferences is both expensive and difficult, so these mini talks are a great way to build community.
Brian Madsen started off the proceeding with a talk about the new expressions suite from Microsoft. Since most in the room would have written off Microsoft products for anything web related, it was great to see that Microsoft are now taking standards a little more seriously.
Then it was my turn with a little talk entitled “Out of my way JSON! If CSS can be unobtrusive, so can JavaScript” where I go on to explain the benefits and techniques involved in un-obtrusive JavaScript.
You can view the slides (S5 format) for those of you who weren’t there on the night (Brian said he will upload his soon) and I’m busy doing some post-production on the audio in preparation for some podcasty goodness. That will include transcribing too for those that want to skim read the talks.
I think the night was really successful - and we are currently looking for some more speakers! So if you are in Perth or going to be in Perth on March 8, 2007 and you have a topic you can babble on about for 10 minutes, drop me a line! Even if you don’t want to talk just yet, I hope we can see you there next month. It’ll kick off about 6 o’clock.
Photos by Kay Smoljak.
Online GTD (Getting Things Done) services are so hot right now - Hey, I’ve released one.
But I would put money on the fact that most of them originated by the author abusing a spreadsheet at some point and for good reason. Creative use of a spreadsheet can allow you to experiment with different systems until you find one that fits.. Here is my tip for easy and effective job scheduling using nothing more than Excel or Google Spreadsheets (or what ever spreadsheet software you may choose).
The following goes shows you how to setup the system I use for planning my day using Excel:
- Create a new spreadsheet
- Click on the top-left hand corner, so that all cells highlight. Drag the right and bottom columns of the first cell to form a square. I like 150 px. All of the other cells in the spread sheet should follow.
- Click the Format Menu and select Cells. Select the Alignment tab. Check the Word Wrap check box and change the vertical alignment to top
- Enter the days of the week down the left hand side
- Start entering your tasks for the week! I like to put the estimated or allocated hours in brackets and re-ordering the task so the most urgent ones are towards to left.
- Once you completed the task, Click the cell that contains the task, Click the Format menu, and select Cells, then the font tab. Check the strikethrough checkbox.
If you need to shuffle things around, you can easily cut and paste cells. Need to add notes? Right click on the cell, and add some notes - A small red triangle will appear in the top right corner of the cell.
What is your favourite GTD scheduling tip?
