An Event Apart - Seattle, 2007

For two whole days I sat in an auditorium listening to some of the Web industry's top professionals. I don't usually go to conferences, but the individuals who were speaking have greatly influenced my work. There is no doubt that there were smart folks in the room. I have been learning to give presentations lately, and I know it isn't easy to put your knowledge into a time box. They all kept me engaged, and folks like Eric Meyer and Seattle's own Mike Davidson kept me at ease.

The event was very well orchestrated - everything from the takeaway to the food and facility were well done. Wifi and sufficient electrical power were provided for the event and pretty much everyone had a laptop to abuse it with. I took notes on the sketchbook they gave me and tried to act as if it were coming back into fashion. I wasn't the only one who didn't own a laptop, but we were significant minorities. Classless swine. I think I paid better attention without the distraction of blogging about my next kayaking trip and answering e-mails about poker night (much to the chagrin of my mates).

The best part of everything was getting some perspective from the speakers. Some of it was inspiring and thought provoking, so I feel as though my time was well spent. Mostly, it was very inspirational and validated much of what I'm doing to further the standards and quality of my own organization. Mike Davidson, in particular, inspired me when he encouraged us to release often and break rules and standards when necessary. He pointed to the JavaScript HTTP request (a.k.a. AJAX) as an example of a less than successful original implementation that eventually had a profound effect on modern Web interface. The failures of today inspiring the success of the future. I also greatly appreciated his Thoreau quote, "Any fool can make a law, and any fool can mind it."