Upcoming Events: FOWD 2008 and the First Sidebar Workshop

Industry conferences, events, and workshops are great. If you follow the community in the least, you know what great knowledge The Greats are pushing out on a consistent basis. One of the most fantastic things about conferences, events, and workshops is that you’re provided an entire day (or more) of consistently polished official keynotes.

While the articles published by many of the speakers at these events are invaluable, the presentations and workshops always seem to end up at a higher level. You’re able to get that much more out of an official keynote. Whether it be the associated visuals, or the fact that you’re able to physically see and hear a designer you’ve been following for years, something about the event leaves you with that much more.

Future of Web Design

If you’ve been reading Monday By Noon for the past year, you’ll know that last year I was able to attend the Future of Web Design 2007 in New York City. It was a fantastic event. I was able to go with a few of my colleagues and we all had a tremendous time.

Thankfully, Carsonified is bringing back FOWD NYC for 2008. I’m still working out some logistical details, but I’m nearly positive I’ll be able to attend this year as well. Should it all work out, I’ll be able to again see some people I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with. Colin, for instance, and maybe Jonathan, although I’m not completely sure if he will be attending. I was only able to shake his hand at FOWD 2007 primarily due to the (literal) line of people waiting to ask him questions. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet a few others face to face this year now that I’m more used to the scale of FOWD; we’ll see!

If you’re at all on the fence about going, just take a quick look at the list of speakers for this year – very impressive. I’d take the time to list the keynotes I’m most excited about, but that would mean typing up each presentation slotted for the day. In all honesty, there are some big names presenting on some great topics throughout the day, and I can’t wait.

FOWD starts a week from today, November 3, with a day of workshops and continues until Conference Day on the 4th.

Sidebar Workshop

To my surprise, the four musketeers took it upon themselves to become even busier by putting on a workshop of their own. The team at Sidebar Creative presents Sidebar Workshop on November 12th, 2008 in Washington D.C. Not only am I thrilled that the Sidebar team is putting on a conference, I’m thanking my lucky stars it’s on the East Cost.

A full day has been put together starring each of the Sidebar Team. Bryan Veloso will be speaking on interface planning and design, Dan Rubin plans on talking you through the export and optimization of images for your designs. Steve Smith will speak on the process of bringing your markup and style together, and Jonathan Snook will provide some of his wisdom on JavaScript libraries.

Last, but certainly not least, the Sidebar team has allowed for a group discussion at the end of the day. They’re offering a chance for attendees to ask specific questions they’ve got, and get instant feedback. If you’re in the D.C. area, I’d suggest snagging a seat at this event. The Sidebar Creative team is an impressive group consisting entirely of highly respected professionals in our field.

I hope it all works out

As I mentioned, I’m still working out some of the gritty details surrounding both events, but I’m doing my best to make it happen. Have you committed to either event?