WebVisions 2005 wrap-up

~ 18 July 2005 ~

Fantastic. That about sums it up.

But for those of you wanting more, I’ll elaborate.

First, a huge hats off to Brad Smith for mastering the art of a well-organized, well-paneled conference. Following my presentation, I hopped from room to room throughout the day, only to find a variety of topics with speakers that ran the gamut in terms of charisma, knowledge, and excitement about their subject of choice. And Brad treated the speakers too well, as Molly’s account of our hotel attests. (Molly’s a flat-out blast if you ever have the chance to spend time with her, by the way.)

As for my presentation, Forward Thinking Design, it seemed to resonate with attendees. Or at least that’s my hope for the greater audience based on feedback from a few of the persons present. Most had little experience with mobile web design, so the beginner’s approach I took, as suggested by many of you, seemed a wise choice.

Speaking of presentations, I don’t think I’ll be tackling another topic anytime soon that requires as much research as this one did. I spent roughly the last three months researching mobile web design, and it literally wore me out. Blogging here slowed, and it even affected a couple client relationships as the research often demanded too much time amidst project work.

That said, I now know quite a bit about mobile web design, and I’d hate to see all the research and testing by volunteers go to waste. Out of respect to conference organizers and those who pay good money to attend conferences, I generally won’t release conference presentations online. But given the volume of information I collected, I plan to release a series of articles dealing with mobile web design sometime in the coming weeks.

And my pick for the most enjoyable presentation? Easy. BJ Fogg and his sincere presentation style. He’s a fabulous presenter with plenty of data to support his views. Even better, I had the fortunate pleasure of sharing a shuttle ride with him back to the airport. He and I chatted for the bulk of the half-hour ride, and I was quite surprised at how much we have in common.

Add WebVisions 2006 to your roster of scheduled conferences next year, and I hope to see you there should I be lucky enough to be invited back.

7 Comments

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1 Keith ~ 18 July 2005 at 09:56 AM

It was great to see you Cameron. I can’t wait to see those articles, I really wish I was able to see your presentation. Next time we need to make sure we don’t go at the same time.

I totally agree with you about BJ’s talk. It was great and while I’m still trying to pull out the practical aspects of what he had to say, I really liked his way of thinking and totally buy into his idea of “radical simplicity.”

2 AkaXakA ~ 18 July 2005 at 10:03 AM

Sounds great. Having all that research available will be a great boon to (mobile) web developers everywhere, so please do understand that you’re all doing us an enormous favour.

I’d put it in a (e-)book and sell it, if I was you. It’d make up for the enormous effort you’ve put into it.

3 Cameron Moll ~ 18 July 2005 at 01:02 PM

E-book? I see…

Keith - And I can’t believe he pulled off the entire preso with nothing but pics for the slides (except for the simplicity diagram).

4 Brennen ~ 18 July 2005 at 01:59 PM

Few more thoughts on Webvisions, for anyone interested in the days events.

And thanks again for the time an preparation Cameron. I learned from it.

5 Alain ~ 20 July 2005 at 09:17 PM

Cameron,

Thanks so much for all the work you put into your presentation. So many times at these conferences, the speakers just kind of half-ass their way through their deliveries, but it was clear you took your invite seriously, putting forth quite a lot of research to back up your arguments.

I also agree with you about BJ’s talk. Apart from offering really good ideas, anytime you can work a monkey into a presentation… I’m all for it.

6 Molly Holzschlag ~ 24 July 2005 at 01:03 PM

Cameron, it is always such a pleasure to see you! My greatest regret of WebVisions is that I had a panel at the same time as your presentation, so I could not attend. My second greatest regret is not having captured you, Matt May, and our driver in your wonderfully colored dress shirts!

Always a pleasure to see you, and I do hope you keep on speaking as your life permits. You have a smart, fresh perspective on things and everyone agrees - it’s great to have you presenting.

7 Cameron Moll ~ 25 July 2005 at 08:03 AM

Wow, I’m framing that one, Molly…