An Event Apart Chicago 2009

Monday, October 12

1. 9:00am–10:00am

   A Site Redesign

   

   Jeffrey Zeldman, Author, Designing With Web Standards, 2nd Ed.

   How can you change the way a site looks, while preserving the way its brand feels? Can “listening to your content” help you design more effectively? We’ll examine the differing goals and processes behind client work (when the content belongs to someone else) and homegrown sites (when the product or content is yours).

2. 10:15am–11:15am

   Thinking Small

   

   Jason Santa Maria, Web Designer

   Even the most useful and usable websites can stand improvement. As designers, we’re all focused on the big picture of what a website has to say, but that big picture is comprised of countless tiny design choices behind its creation. In this session, we’ll look at common design misconceptions, visual design strategy, and small and achievable ways everyone can improve their website designs by thinking smaller.

3. 11:30am–12:30pm

   Content First

   

   Kristina Halvorson, Founder and President, Brain Traffic

   11th hour copy. Fix-it-later launches. Our users deserve more than the last-minute content we often get stuck with. And you have the power to change the game. Learn how to introduce (and sell) content strategy into your web design process.

5. 12:30pm–2:00pm: LUNCH

6. 2:00pm–3:00pm

   Concept Models: A Tool for Planning Websites

   

   Dan Brown, Author, Communicating Design

   As websites becoming increasingly reliant on abstract structures, modular components and multi-tiered navigation systems, designers need a tool to think through a site’s underlying architecture. Concept models are more flexible than site maps, allowing designers to represent the structure of a site more realistically, and to more directly translate to technical requirements. In this session we’ll see how a little modeling can make a huge difference in planning out a site design.

7. 3:15pm–4:15pm

   DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (Without Calling In a Pro)

   

   Whitney Hess, Strategic Partner, Happy Cog

   Have you fallen in love with your solution and forgotten the original problem? Are you certain that your product actually makes people’s lives better? Not every company can hire someone like me to help you listen to your users, so you’re gonna have to learn how to do some of this stuff yourself. I’ll show you five techniques to find out who your users are, what they really need and how to go about giving it to them in an easy to use and pleasurable way. And it doesn’t have to bankrupt you or kill your release date.

8. 4:30pm–5:30pm

   Walls Come Tumbling Down

   

   Andy Clarke, Author, Transcending CSS

   Should you be preoccupied worrying about the future, or could you instead find new ways of working? Would improving your methods give you more time to be creative? Could you work more efficiently, be more profitable, and help safeguard your job or your business? In this positive presentation, learn how limitations and constraints can focus your mind and help you develop more creative approaches.

9. 7:00pm–?pm

   Opening Night Party

   Sponsored by (mt) Media Temple

   Media Temple’s opening night parties for An Event Apart are legendary. Join the speakers and hundreds of fellow attendees for great conversation, lively debate, loud music, hot snacks, and a seemingly endless stream of grown-up beverages. Party location and other details will be posted here soon.

Tuesday, October 13

1. 8:15am–8:45am

   Beyond Pixel Pushing: A Simple Way to Better Websites and Happier Clients

   

   Brett Welch

   Special Sponsored Session

   Presented by: GoodBarry

   Many web designers find themselves frustrated with the overreaching demands of clients as technology improves. But the question is: are clients being unrealistic, or are you unprepared? The answer lies in the middle; the “new web” requires you to go beyond pushing pixels and lead your client to the promised land. Learn a simple process to working effectively with your clients that helps you build effective and future-proof websites that clients will love.

2. 9:00am–10:00am

   JavaScript Will Save Us All

   

   Eric Meyer, Author, CSS: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Ed.

   Browsers’ JavaScript engines are astonishingly fast and getting faster. Standards move slowly, and appear to be slowing down. Guess which will win? The fascinating thing is that you’re probably wrong. Eric will explain why in this look at the next stage of standards development, complete with code.

3. 10:15am–11:15am

   Using CSS3 Today with eCSStender

   

   Aaron Gustafson, Co-author, AdvancED DOM Scripting

   Though the web is constantly evolving, browsers and standards bodies have been struggling to keep up. This is where eCSStender comes in. eCSStender is an open source JavaScript library that helps make CSS better by generating a platform that serves the dual need of smoothing out browser inconsistencies and innovating the language. In this session, Mr. Gustafson will debut eCSStender, show you how it works, and demonstrate how it can be used to solve real problems with CSS right now. At the end of this session, you will be able to wave goodbye to -moz- this and -webkit- that and say hello to using CSS the way it is meant to be.

4. 11:30am–12:30pm

   Building Stuff Fast–And Getting It Approved

   

   Simon Willison, Developer, Guardian News and Media

   Better tools, smarter techniques and more efficient knowledge sharing mean that new sites and applications can be developed faster than ever before. Learning to harness these new productivity boosters can dramatically reduce time to market, and allow more time to be spent on critical post-launch iterations. The session will also discuss ways of integrating rapid development techniques into existing teams, large and small.

5. 12:30pm–2:00pm: LUNCH

6. 2:00pm–3:00pm

   Web Form Design in Action

   

   Luke Wroblewski, Author, Web Form Design

   Building on topics in his top-selling book, Luke will illustrate how to apply design best practices to redesign crucial web forms. He’ll also outline how gradual engagement approaches to form design can create compelling new user experiences for a wide variety of web applications and services.

7. 3:15pm–4:15pm

   Designing Virtual Realism

   

   Dan Rubin, Co-author, Web Standards Creativity

   The real world is rarely flat and devoid of texture, yet our virtual designs often do little to mirror what lies beyond the monitor. Tasteful use of lighting, shadows, gradients, and more traditional arts such as photography, oil, water color, pencil and charcoal can help us mimic the world around us. Learn to use and create realistic textures and media, and make your designs leap off the screen.

8. 4:30pm–5:30pm

   Progressive Enrichment With CSS3

   

   Dan Cederholm, Author, Bulletproof Web Design

   Browsers are implementing new and evolving standards at an increasingly rapid pace. Learn how to “progressively enrich” your designs with advanced CSS and CSS3 that works today. Dan will share 10 simple ways to visually enhance your work in forward-thinking browsers, while not harming others.