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Boards of a feather and Whistler update

OK, I can’t help a terrible pun. Last year,  one of the best aspects of the Whistler trip was getting to meet new folks who by skiing or boarding with them. I had a blast from two PEI folk, James and Geoff, whom I had never met before Vancouver, but there is nothing like a couple of days on the slopes of Whistler to help you bond. I’m looking forward to boarding with them again.

This year, we are going to try even harder at the conference to help you connect with skiiers and boarders of your level and interest (terrain park, half pipe, steep and deep, or brand new). In addition to our Birds of a Feather Sessions, we’ll have “Boards of a Feather” signs up during the reception and breaks - so wonder over and see who like you is interested in double black boarding, or their first day on skis.

But, why not drop a comment  here with your skill level, and see if you can’t start making some connections. Also, if you know Whistler pretty well, you might like to put your hand up as a bit of a mountain guide (I’m looking at you Dave Orchard and Jim DeLaHunt) too.

They have had bumper snow again this year, with an early season start, way above average December falls, and already  more than the average falls for the whole of January by mid-month.  Despite rolling ankle yesterday, I am raring to go.

This really is an event not to miss.

Posted by John on January 15th, 2008 | No Comments »

Canucks during WDN

If you’re interested in checking out the only Vancouver Canucks home game playing during WDN, user bclaytor has created an event on upcoming.org to help round up any fellow conference-goers planning on checking out the January 29th game against the Dallas Stars. (You might also want to take a quick look at our Vancouver Sightseeing page for a few tips on getting tickets).

Posted by Dave on January 15th, 2008 | No Comments »

Web Directions Merchandise

In yesterday’s post on the fantastic baggu bags, with their unique nGen Works design by the guys who brought you Happy Webbies), you might have missed at the bottom the bit about T-shirts, mugs, mousepads and more featuring the nGen Works design, or Dave Shea’s fantastic Web Directions Logo, available only via our store at Cafe Press. In keeping with our efforts to reduce our waste and eco footprint with the conference, rather than printing off dozens in the hope of selling them, with the inevitable waste, they are printed and shipped to order by cafe press.

So check out the designs and available gear, and wear with pride.

Posted by John on January 15th, 2008 | No Comments »

Bags + More

One of my personal goals for WDN 2008 was to come up with a slightly more interesting conference bag. In the past we’ve gone with the expected (and over-used) laptop bags… except we’re pretty sure that by now everyone who needs one already has their own. And if you go to multiple conferences, you’ve probably got a lot more than just one gathering dust in a closet somewhere, if you still have them.

We started thinking of ways to cut down on the waste, while creating something unique. Ultimately we hoped to come up with a bag you would want to take home and continue using afterwards. The trendhunters and Al Gore devotees amongst you already know that reusable shopping bags are enjoying a renaissance these days, and once we started thinking along those lines we found our bag fairly quickly.

Baggu makes reusable bags that come with their own storage pouch. They’re strong nylon bags that fold up into a 5″ x 5″ square for easy storage when not in use. They’re simple, but stylish. I own a few myself already, and I love ‘em for their ease of carrying and conscience-cleansing benefits.

But we thought we’d go a little further. Ultimately, we didn’t want just another bag, we wanted to create an item that people will love. So we brought in some help.

You’ve seen Happy Webbies, no doubt. When the site crossed my radar a while back, I knew I’d found the right blend of irreverent humour and illustration skills to help us out. We worked through various ideas with nGen Works, the crew behind Happy Webbies and came up with a winner (though I hope they make good on their threat to publish some of the other concepts, we had to make some tough choices).

The final art is a clever blend of web and tech-related imagery that evokes the native Haida art indigenous to the west coast of Canada. You can get an idea of what the bag + art combo will look like in the image above. Everyone attending WDN08 will receive one (and we may even have a few extras on hand if you’d like to bring more than one home), and we’ve opened a CafePress shop with a few other items featuring the art for anyone who isn’t.

Posted by Dave on January 14th, 2008 | 7 Comments »

Completely unprompted

There’s quite a few very positive responses to Web Directions North 07 online, but here’s one from Klaus Komenda who came all the way from Austria last year, and is doing it again!  It can’t just be the skiing either, as I hear that there are one or two hills over his way where skiing is acceptable.So thanks Klaus, and looking forward to seeing you again this year. 

Posted by John on January 14th, 2008 | No Comments »

Birds of a Feather sessions

One of the best things about coming to Web Directions North is getting to meet people who work in similar areas, who deal with similar challenges to your own. Nothing’s better for learning about how other people are solving the day to day problems you face.

This year at Web Directions North we’re going to help this process along a bit by setting up some Birds of a Feather tables during the lunch breaks. Drawing on a little of the Barcamp spirit, we’d like you to be the unorganisers, so we’re asking for topic submissions from attendees. If your topic is chosen, all you need do is turn up at your table and give a quick spiel about what you’re interested in exploring, then open it up to those who gather around. If you’ve been to a Barcamp you’ll already be familiar with the great discussions that come out of bringing people together like this, and if you haven’t, you’re going to love the intensity and high level talk that ensues.

Space limitations mean there’ll only be a limited number of tables each day, so we’re going to ask attendees to submit potential topics in advance. We’ll let you know before the day where and when you are on, and make sure all the other attendees know what is on where.

So, what’s on your mind? All you need do is send us a quick description of your idea for a Birds of a Feather session and we’ll take it from there.

Looking forward to meeting you in Vancouver in just a couple of weeks now.

Posted by maxine on January 13th, 2008 | No Comments »

Dine Out Vancouver

Web Directions attendees who like their food are in for a treat while in Vancouver, if you can find a spare moment between workshops, the conference, the Adobe reception, the Media Temple closing night party, and days away at Whistler. But if you have a spare minute or two, then take advantage of “Dine Out Vancouver“, which happens to be running during the period of Web Directions North.

Dine Out Vancouver features fixed price meals at $15 to $35 a head in 180 of Vancouver’s restaurants. Speaking from experience, dining out in Vancouver is fantastic, with a sophisticated mix of Asian, Pacific, European and North American cuisines, in typically relaxed environments. If you’ve got any favourite Vancouver restaurants you want to recommend to fellow attendees, please add your suggestions as comments.

Posted by John on January 9th, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Web Directions North 2008 presentation: Gina Trapani

Rounding off an already outstanding line up, we’re excited to announce yet another speaker. All the way from San Diego CA we have Gina Trapani, who will be giving a presentation on the topic of Better Gmail: How Google Opened Gmail’s Web Interface to Any Developer Who Cares (And Why You Should) at the end of Day 1.

Gina is a freelance web programmer and technology writer and the founding editor of Lifehacker.com, the famous weblog on software and personal productivity. She’s also the author of the book that goes with the web site, Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day.

Last year Gina created a Firefox extension for Gmail, Better Gmail, that aggregates Greasemonkey scripts for Gmail in one package. A few months later, Google started to roll out baked-in upgrades to Gmail that incorporated many of the scripts’ features, along with a Greasemonkey API. In this day 1 closing presentation for Web Directions North 2008 you’ll hear how Google’s using Greasemonkey to distribute Gmail development amongst independent web developers, and how those developers are integrating their own product into Gmail, resulting in a Better Gmail for everyone.

Posted by maxine on January 8th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Interesting new work from Web Directions Speakers

One of the speakers I’m most looking forward to hearing at Web Directions is Eric Rodenbeck from Stamen Design. I’ve only seen him speak once, on a panel at SxSW a couple of years ago now, but the work that he and Stamen do with data visualization is fascinating (and often  strangely beautiful).

A project you’ll no doubt be hearing more about (if you’ve not heard of it already) is their recently launched DiggPics, described as “dynamic visualization of images as people vote for them” at Digg. You can see it in action here.

Looking at the lineup for the conference, just a few weeks away now, and filing up fast, I see session after session I just won’t want to miss. And Eric’s session will be right up with them.

Posted by John on January 4th, 2008 | No Comments »

Snowboard design competition with Digital Web - the results

A huge thanks to Digital Web, for their second annual snowboard design competition.

In particular, congratulations to Charlotte Browning, winner of a pass to the conference, and runners up, Mathieu Vo-Quang & Lizsu Sarobhasa, who get a free trip to Whistler. Special mention to Liz, who is runner up for the second year in a row! Well done.

Posted by John on January 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

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