Blythe & Toys

Sorry for being so remiss, and not giving you any new goodies for a little while.

The simple fact is I’ve been flat tack with work (that thing I do for money, web design) and attending the Microsoft conference - Remix2007 here in Melbourne.

Remix was brilliant - getting a copy of Expression Web for nix always makes stuffy lectures more bearable - and the panel discussions especially got the mental juices flowing.

It was surprising to see what some of the guys on the panels actually looked like - most were as expected - youngish to 40ish, slightly overweight, slightly underweight geeks. Like me. Some thought they were rock stars, and might need a little less ego next time. But all were damn smart, knew their respective fields like the back of their hands, and were not afraid to share their secrets.

Russ Weakley did a fantastic session on better CSS, which I hope will be available as a podcast soon. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t told me before (not that he even knows who I am) but it was great to be reminded how to do things properly, and not cut corners. I wish I had taken photos and sound bites, cos he had some fantastic things to say.

Things I loved:

1. Russ Weakley’s fantastic talk on CSS
2. The catering
3. Free XBox (hello Forza2!)
4. Wacom give-a-ways
5. Webjam (although as usual, Galactic Circus is the suckiest venue in the world)

Things I didn’t love:

1. One Microsoft employee giving a talk who kept making comments that “designers will find this simple code too confusing, go make coffee”, “we all know designers can’t code”, “this will be over the head of any designers here” - I wanted to punch him in the mouth and let him know that “most” of us web designers do in fact code/markup in PHP, Perl, HTML, Javascript and CSS. We are NOT morons, we simply choose a different creative path.
2. No free internet. C’mon Microsoft - this is a WEB conference and no net? What the hell?
3. Lack of seating areas to chill, chat and network with other attendees.
4. Paying for my coffee in a take away cup? WTF? At least the stuff in ceramic was free.
5. Water that tasted stale and stagnant. Bottles please next time.
6. The male-oriented talks and extras. E.g. Xbox, the blokey jokes, no women speakers or panel members (Microsoft’s one <strike>token</strike> well not token, she is the boss afterall! (albiet kick arse!) woman hosting does not count).

Anyway, back to the slave yard for me, I’m on a deadline!

I’m going to Remix07 at the end of June. It’s going to be fantastic, and I finally get to meet a few people I talk to online occassionally (hi Lisa and Lachlan!).

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to get to any design conferences, but Remix really appeals as it has both Design and Development threads this year. I’ve chosen the Design thread, of course. The big bonus is getting free copy of Web Expressions and the massive party at Galactic Circus the first night.

Taking bets now as to how many of us make it to the 8am registration on day 2!