Web Directions Year round learning for product, design and engineering professionals

Jeopardy champion, fantastic comedian, author, inventor, television writer (credits include CSI and Bones) and much more, Bob Harris came into my life in a way unimaginable only a handful of years ago. My wife was well over due with our first child, and far from contented. She read an article by Bob, I think in Salon, which made her laugh, and wrote him a quick email to thank him. He wrote back. It transpired he loves Sydney, and of all things cricket, of which like all patriotic Australians we too are fans.

A few weeks later, Bob was visiting Sydney, and on one of the hottest days ever in Sydney, with our daughter about 5 weeks old, we spent a wonderful evening of conversation, something anyone with young kids will tell you can be quite rare.

We catch up with Bob every year or so, and keep in touch, not least via his wonderful photo essays he sends of his pretty amazing trips around the world, writing for Magazines, researching books, and so on. At the end of 2008, his collection of dozens of photos with commentary was so funny, intelligent and moving, I asked him whether he’d be interested in turning it into a presentation for the upcoming Web Directions. Generously, Bob said yes.

The presentation closed Web Directions North, in Denver in 2009. Right slap bang in the middle of the GFC, numbers were down on previous years, but the event itself as so many attendees commented was fantastic – tremendous presentations (Nicole Sullivan introduced the world to OOCSS there, and the presentation went onto have over 100,000 viewers) and fantastic energy.

Bob’s presentation, which really had little to do with technology, or the web directly, coming at the end of long days of presentations and parties was in some ways a bit of a risk all round. Within a minute though, he had the audience laughing, and thinking, and I remember as I got up at the end to thank him and wrap up the conference, I turned to see most of the audience on its feet, and many folks with a hint of a tear in their eye. It was a marvellous privilege to be there.

Bob’s recently uploaded video of the presentation to YouTube. If you’ve got a spare moment one evening, I really recommend you take a look.