Gatorworks | Baton Rouge Web Design & Development

This past weekend my coworker @davidlink and I drove 1,500 miles north of the Mason-Dixon line to a little town called Boston, MA. Why would we undertake such a ridiculous feat you ask? My response is: To attend An Event Apart, only one of the greatest web design and development conferences on the face of this glorious planet.

Arriving in our hotel on Sunday night was such a relief. We had just driven 26+ hours from Baton Rouge to Boston. The conference was worth it.

Monday we got to hear some excellent presenters like Jared Spool, Kristina Halvorson, Jeremy Keith, Dan Cederholm, and Jason Santa Maria among others. Tuesday we were privy to the presentations of Jeffrey Zeldman, Dan Mall, Simplescott, Heather Champ, and Andy Clarke. The knowledge flowed like a river. I would love to be able to share everything I learned but I’m afraid there’s just not enough space on the internet for that. (Heh, there actually may be.)
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Wow…what a weekend! I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2009 Interactive Conference this past Friday through Tuesday (March 13-17) along with David Link and Alise Johnson (and many others which I will explain in a little while). The conference was a great opportunity for me to get out of the office for a few days to learn, meet, greet, and be inspired. The SXSW experience was truly amazing because of three main reasons:

1. The Y@T PACK from New Orleans

Part of the Y@T PACK Bus Wrap

Net2NO, led by Damien LaManna, Tiffany Starnes, and Jessica Rohloff, is a group of young professionals dedicated to social change in New Orleans. The group puts a special emphasis on technology and economic development and they meet once a month to share ideas, collaborate on projects, and learn from special presentations by industry professionals. I joined Net2NO a few months ago and have greatly benefited from the gatherings. This group’s enthusiasm, creativity, and general concern for their community is truly contagious.

The Net2NO crew decided that we would charter a bus and go to the SXSW Interactive Conference as a group to let everyone know that not only is New Orleans open for business but also that the state is a thriving place for digital creatives and technology entrepreneurs to start or expand a business. With the help of awesome sponsors, we purchased booth space at the tradeshow armed with materials on Louisiana’s Digital Interactive Media Tax Credits for technology businesses, Angel Investment Tax Credits for start-ups, and personal success stories. We had a daily drawing at 5:04pm to give away weekend stays at the W Hotel New Orleans and a free registration to WordCamp NOLA in New Orleans, LA. (coming up April 10-11… David Link is a panelist… more info to come!

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Personally, I loved working the tradeshow booth because I saw so many people get instantly engaged in the idea of moving their businesses to New Orleans. I would mention the tax credits, the cost of living, the amazing culture, and the overall quality of life in New Orleans…and I would see people’s faces light up with excitement. I firmly believe that Net2NO will get at least one business to actually move their firm to New Orleans as a result of attending the SXSW conference.

David Link, Alise Johnson, Damien LaManna, Brian Rodriguez

Of course,  it wasn’t all work all the time. We had to throw a New Orleans party and show Austin a good time! On the night of Monday, March 16, the Y@T PACK rounded up a few hundred people at Lucky Lounge to listen to DJ Othertempo, a.k.a. Elliott Adams, who is also the Director of the Digital Interactive Office in the Louisiana Economic Development Department, and Austin Nights Brass Band. The amazing party was organized by young arts enthusiast, Andrew Larimer.

2. The SXSW Presentation / Panels

Of course, this was the meat of the conference. I had the opportunity to attend many beneficial keynote presentations and panels that discussed a variety of topics that will help further my career and ultimately provide a better product to my clients. On Saturday, I attended a presentation by Robert Hoekman, Jr. entitled “The 7 Rules of Great Web App Design.” It was a well-done presentation, and I’ll expand on his 7 rules in a future blog entry. Later that day I also attended panels that included design greats such as Jeffrey Zeldman and Jason Santa Maria.

By far my favorite presentation was by Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary has built a $60M business with his light-hearted and fun video blog “The Wine Library.” Gary had a tremendous impact on me, so I’ll have a comprehensive blog entry coming up that recaps his talk. Stay tuned!

3. The Support for New Orleans Entrepreneur Chris Schultz of Voodoo Ventures

Chris Schultz of Voodoo Ventures

Net2NO member, Chris Schultz of Voodoo Ventures, moderated a panel at SXSW called “Outsourcing 2.0: Is the World Flat or Not?” The interactive format included Q&A with other panelists, including New Orleans developer Matt Tritico, Sandeep Sood of Monsoon Multimedia in Silicon Valley and Andrea Azdril of Startech Global in Los Angeles. The room was packed with entrepreneurs, developers, and designers full of questions on the topic. Schultz did an exceptional job, and it really made me proud to see a New Orleans entrepreneur leading a discussion on a very important topic at a major tech conference. I had a tremendous sense of pride during the presentation, and I feel privileged to share both a business relationship and friendship with Chris. If you don’t know Chris yet, you need to get on it.

So, there you have it folks. I had the time of my life. I cannot wait until next year!

**Did you go to SXSW? Briefly share your exciting moments from SXSW with us below in the comments area!**

In late April 2008, I attended An Event Apart in New Orleans. Firstly, let me just say that the conference was one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life; I highly recommend it to any web professional. After the first day of lectures, (mt) Media Temple hosted a party for all conference attendees and presenters at Crescent City Brewhouse. While there, I had the extraordinary opportunity to meet Jeffrey Zeldman (Godfather of Web Standards) and even talk with him for awhile.

Jeffrey Zeldman. Photo by Adrian Q.

I, of course, complimented him on his lecture and told him how much I was enjoying the conference (and the free beer). After the pleasantries, I wanted to ask him a few questions that couldn’t possibly be better answered by anyone else in the industry. I asked him how to overcome that feeling of “average-ness” that new designers often experience. To which he concisely replied, “Almost everyone goes through that. Just keep working hard.” I then asked him my #1 most important question, “How do you get your clients to listen to you?” His answer was perfectly on point:

“Always bring it back to the user.”

I won’t go into what he said after that, but that statement alone was profound enough for it to change my entire perspective on web design. When Zeldman told me to bring it back to the user, he wasn’t just giving me a method for convincing clients that my design motives were legitimate. He was also swiftly pointing out one of my own flaws as a designer: I had been designing for my clients, instead of for their users. After I realized that, I’d swear I saw a heavenly light shining down on him and could faintly hear the hymn of angels.

Since then, I’ve changed. My designs are almost exclusively centered around the user’s experience, instead of purely aesthetics. It’s better to let the appearance of the site come more as a function of the interface design, instead of just “making sure it looks pretty.” Besides, simple is beautiful.

I’ll never forget what Jeffrey Zeldman said to me that night. And I truly hope it’s something other designers (and clients) can take to heart as well.

P.S. – Happy Birthday to my brother, Spencer. :)