Earlier this month I attended the 2008 Webmaster Jam Session and had a great time, although I didn't take away as much as I had hoped. I didn't really know what to expect going in, since the conference claimed to have something for everyone (designers, developers, and marketers). The sessions had a nice classroom feel, but were had was mostly focused on design and not technical enough for my tastes.
The term "web developer" apparently means one who takes a designer's Photoshop work and turns it into HTML and CSS. Seems to me that the designer and developer could easily (ideally?) be the same person. No one really uses the term "webmaster" anymore either, since it refers to someone who manages all aspects of a website (design, development, and administration) which is kinda rare these days and is almost viewed as a negative thing. In fact, I was recently tasked with integrating with a third party data aggregator developed by a self-titled "webmaster" running a handful of sites out of his home. I'll just say that things did not go very smoothly.
Maybe I just have a problem with conferences in general. There was nothing that was said in the sessions that couldn't have been addressed with a few web articles or YouTube videos. Except for the Website Smackdown, where web gurus would critique and improve websites submitted from the audience. This was one of the few times where we got to see design at work, instead of just vague concepts. I would love to attend an entire series of sessions that teach different concepts and ideas by example.
Besides the Smackdown, the other big value of WJS08 was the attendees themselves. Being able to mingle with like-minded people, exchange contact info, and share ideas and experiences was great. It was nice to finally meet the real people behind the blogs and twitter accounts that I follow, and now I'm following even more!
Since many attendees were free-lancers, some of the big topics were managing your personal brand and increasing your web-visibility. These sessions made me realize how disjointed my web-presence is. I have a bunch of projects, but don't list them anywhere, and many don't even have a placeholder page up. DanielSims.com is not being used (I used to think that putting your real identity on the internet was dangerous, HA!). I don't list my various web profiles anywhere, and my LinkedIn profile is practically empty. So, I'm going to make a concerted effort to get my web-junk organized and turn all those unfinished projects into unfinished projects with an under-construction animated gif!
Next up is this weekend's Barcamp Atlanta, which describes itself as an "un-conference". I am really looking forward to it, I just need to figure out what I want to talk about...
