If you’d mentioned the words “Chrome” and “Android” to someone a year or so ago, unless they were from the inner recesses of Google, they would have just just looked at you kinda funny. But in the last couple of months, Google have launched these products in the browser and mobile spaces, the ramifications of which will play out in the next year.
Speculation abounds as to the reasoning behind these launches, what they mean and how they’ll affect the existing players in the marker. With that in mind, we’re delighted to welcome back two speakers to Webstock who’re uniquely placed to offer more insight.
Ben Goodger was the Lead Engineer for Firefox and is currently Tech Lead for user interface on Chrome. And, of course, he’s a kiwi! He’ll be talking to us about Chrome, but also in general about where browsers are going and what the implications of all this are. Given Ben’s background and accomplishments, we really can’t think of many better people to present on this subject.
Chris DiBona is the Open Source Programs Manager at Google. With the open source nature of Android, in what has famously been a very closed and proprietary space, we’re looking forward to Chris’ thoughts on Android and its potential as a game-changer for mobile. Anyone who caught Chris’ talk at the last Webstock will know he’s a great speaker with a huge knowledge of the open source movement. And lots of stories to tell, even if sometimes he only hints at them!
We’re sure there will be a lot of interest in the presentations of Ben and Chris and we’re excited about having them back at Webstock.
Because this promises to be the most amazing Webstock mini ever we thought we’d share with you one of our extra special treats.
As part of the evening that is Webstock mini and to remind you of how much fun Webstock will be in February, we’ve brought back Craftstock! Sometimes events have special crushes on each other
and in our case Webstock birdy and Craft2.0 bear thingy like spending special quality time together – so we’ve let them reunite for Craftstock mini at Webstock mini
So just for you, one night only, the posse of Craft2.0 crafters, will be at the Paramount. During the break they”ll be selling the very best and brightest of their wares, much of which won’t be available to the world till Craft2.0 on October 11th. It’s kind of like you get a jump on all of Wellington.
They’ve also confirmed special secret treats (because the best treats are always secret) for everyone who buys something on the night.
So since all your drinks at Webstock mini are FREE, you have no excuse to get ready for a mini shopping excursion.
Last week we noticed that the Webstock 2008 site’s been nominated for the DINZ Best Design awards which is nice. In fact, not to blow our own trumpet, but the Webstock 2008 site received quite a bit of nice feedback in its time including a mention on the esteemed ilovetypography.
A number of people were involved in the making of that site – most of whom did so in their own time, out of the goodness of their own hearts and haven’t been publicly credited for their contribution.
So without further ado, the Natasha Hall Award for Excellence and Awesomeness in the field of Webstock Website stuff goes to:
Ben Lampard for all his strategy and site planning. Here’s a guy who makes wireframing sexy
Kat Elam, Cam Trollope, Lucy Sellars and Amanda Nilson at DNA for taking what we gave them and turning it into something tres tres chic
Mike Brown for his kick-ass html+css skills and indulging me in my request/demand to change the site considerably two days before launch
Miraz Jordan, for being a technical wonder
Tim James, interaction design extraordinaire, for his invaluable advice and guidance which helped tie everything together
Webstock is a truly collaborative effort. While we have a very clear vision of what we want and how we want it (and thus can be incredibly demanding/anal/obsessive compulsive), we’ve been extremely fortunate to work with certain uber talented people who’ve helped us have that vision realised and even taken further.
Congratulations to all those nominated for the Best awards, including our friends at Origin and Alt Group. Beautiful work guys!
ps Eight sleeps to go till the launch of Webstock 2009!
Tuesday, 9 September, at the Paramount theatre in Wellington is the place to be! We’ve got a great Webstock mini planned and will be launching Webstock 09. Speakers are Jonathan Mosen (blind accessibility advocate and much more), Jefferson Fletcher (Senior Product Manager working on Internet Explorer) and Kris Sowersby (font geek).
We’ll also be announcing the speakers for Webstock 09 and giving away a free ticket to the conference. All this, plus food and drink for only $50. More information and bookings here.
I would like to learn from the Master of Presentation – honestly, I would imagine it’d be a totally different experience to learn directly from Garr than from his PZ book and website. I also look forward to meeting with the like-minded (creative, cool!) people at this Webstock workshop.
I spend a lot of time standing in front of people talking – I present design ideas to clients all the time, present at lots of conferences and am teaching more and more full day workshops (I have at least 5 more this year). Although I’ve had lots of practice and think I’m a good teacher, I know there are always things I can learn. But I do have quite a high standard – I’m not going to give my money and time to just anyone. I’m not sure why, but when I saw Garr’s workshop outline and read some of his blog posts, something clicked and I felt that this workshop would be good for me. So when I had a decision between travelling to Sydney for a 2 hour seminar or travelling to Wellington for a full day, it was a no-brainer – if I learn just a few tips that help me present better it will have been worth it.
After I read Presentation Zen I changed the way I approached all my writing and training. The techniques I learned in the book transformed a recent conference Keynote address from simply informative to influential and inspiring.
Presentation Zen doesn’t just add a few skills it introduces a whole new approach. When I saw that I could learn directly from Garr Reynolds I immediately signed up for the workshop. I expect to learn to *wow* my readers and live audiences.
To develop a great websites you often have to stuff your brain with a whole lot of research to achieve the big “ah ha!†moment (which is more like “aaaaaaaaaaaaaa ha!â€). Then to sell the strategy you have to boil this long story down to a short one. In Garr Reynolds words, you must “…pass the ‘Elevator Test'” I found the book, Presentation Zen inspiring (on so many levels beyond presenting strategy), and am doubly looking forward to workshopping the key messages in person.
Elyssa Timmer
Boulder Services Ltd
I subscribe to Garr’s blog, I’ve read his book, I’ve watched videos of him speaking. This is a person who has thought deeply about the art of presenting. So his workshop is going to be an unmissable opportunity for me to gain more of his insights.
I’ve been a follower of Garr Reynolds work for some time – primarily through his blog – and think the way he uses presentations to communicate ideas and information is inspirational and powerful. The opportunity to work with him in person is literally TOO good to miss!
Sustainable Future is in the middle of a two year project, called Project 2058, which explores New Zealand in fifty years time. From Garr we hope to learn how to communicate our findings in an effective and thought provoking manner.
I founded a website called BPIR.com which helps organisations to learn from best practices in business. I give presentations and demonstrations of the website all around the world and realised that even though i was promoting best practices my own presentations weren’t best practice! Therefore over the last year I have been trying to correct this though learning from Effective Speaking and now from Garr Reynolds. Hopefully he will not only provider pointers for presentations but also on how to clearly communicate messages through website design
