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Chris Messina is coming to Sydney as keynote speaker for Web Directions Summit 17 on 9-10 November. One of his claims to fame, the hashtag, just turned 10.

This has attracted a great deal of attention, not just in web tech circles but also in the mainstream media. Chris himself published an article on Medium on 23 August 2017, the 10th anniversary of the first use of the # symbol being attached to the front of a keyword on Twitter to indicate a group, so let's start there.  

The Hashtag is 10!

Chris Messina

What the hashtag means to me 10 years after its invention

It may surprise you to learn that Twitter didn’t invent the hashtag. Indeed, the hashtag has become so ubiquitous that it’s hard to imagine that there was a time before the hashtag. But indeed there was, and it was over ten years ago today. On August 23, 2007 at 12:25PM PST, I tweeted a simple idea that would change how we use social media and communicate, possibly forever: Chris Messina hashtag tweet Two days later, I published a lengthy proposal clarifying my intention, with suggestions for how Twitter might adopt the idea, even though I never worked for Twitter. Instead, I was an early user and a fan, and a believer in the power of the internet coupled with free/libre technologies to bring people together.

Read the rest of the article at https://medium.com/chris-messina/hashtag10-8e114c382b06

Chris had presented the idea to Twitter earlier without receiving a very enthusiastic response, as Twitter founder Biz Stone acknowledged in his blog post published on the same day last week:  

The hashtag at 10 years young

Biz Stone

The hashtag was born on Twitter 10 years ago today, and it has become one of the most recognizable and widely used symbols of our time. Here’s how. In the summer of 2007, a web marketing specialist and avid user of Twitter, Chris Messina walked into our grungy office at 164 South Park (yes, people would just walk in back then) and made a suggestion to me and a few other Twitter employees who were sitting nearby. We were working frantically to fix a tech issue that had brought Twitter down, as was often the case in those early days. Many iconic features of Twitter have been created over the years by listening and watching what people who use Twitter do with it and then working to make it easier and better for them—we still do this today. Back in those early days, Jack and I even published our phone numbers on the front page. So, although we were somewhat frenzied, we wanted to give Chris a few minutes and hear him out. His proposal was simple, useful, and fun—just like Twitter. Because brevity is essential on Twitter, he suggested using the “pound” or “hash” character common on phones (this was pre-iPhone) to create groups of related Tweets. It was an undeniably elegant proposal, but I really needed to get back to work. I turned back to my computer screen to help get Twitter back up and running, hurriedly ending the conversation with a sarcastic, “Sure, we’ll get right on that.” Thankfully, Chris didn’t take offense to my reaction, he simply started doing what he had proposed.

Read the post at https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/product/2017/the-hashtag-at-ten-years-young.html

There's actually been quite a lot of commentary in the past week about what the hashtag is, its purpose, impact and what it represents. Here are three of our favourite articles that offer some interesting perspective:  

Twitter didn’t invent the hashtag… Chris Messina did!

Andreas Sandre, Hackernoon
I interviewed Chris Messina in April 2014 for my book Digital Diplomacy: Conversations on Innovation in Foreign Policy (via Rowman & Littlefield and Amazon). Chris launched the idea of using the pound symbol for groups in a tweet 10 years ago today. The hashtag was born August 23, 2007 — and forever it changed social media and the way we engage online. [ … ] Anyhow, when I interviewed Chris for my book, the conversation not only explored the evolution of the hashtag, but also its use and mis-use, and the nature of the hashtag. [ … ] He told me: “Like most technologies, the hashtag itself is a neutral amplifier.” “Wielded effectively — he said — it can spark conversations or revolutions, or can be used to mislead or obfuscate. Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind that social media is a reflection of the people who use it and the contexts in which they’re found.” Talking about the nature of the hashtag, he said: “Broadly speaking, any technology that helps give a larger number of people a voice efficiently and economically is a good thing; then, once it’s been adopted widely, the challenge is to hone its use to increase social and cultural benefit.”

Read the article: https://hackernoon.com/twitter-didnt-invent-the-hashtag-chris-messina-did-1020969abfcd

 

Twitter hashtags are 10 years old and they wouldn't have happened without old-school texting

Karissa Bell, Mashable Australia
Yes, it's really been 10 years. Twitter's most iconic feature is celebrating a big birthday today. Exactly 10 years ago, before there were iPhones, Android phones, or a Twitter app, one Twitter user came up with the idea of using the "#" symbol to group tweets together. That early Twitter user was Chris Messina, who has said the idea originally stemmed from what are now two major throwbacks from the early days of the Internet: IRC and T-9. IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is an old web standard that enabled messaging via group chat rooms. The format we now know as a hashtag, where similar messages are grouped together using the # sign, was already a well-established part of IRC in 2007, so it made some sense to bring the same dynamic to Twitter. It was also, as Messina points out, easier to type on old phones that used T-9, an early form of predictive text when you still had to tap out messages via your phone's keypad. (Texting was hard before touchscreens!)

Read the article: http://mashable.com/2017/08/23/twitter-hashtag-10th-anniversary/#1_mTLhpbfsqt

 

#Hashtag10: the best hashtag fails in a decade

Edward Helmore, The Guardian
Messina, who says he chose not to patent the idea because that would probably have slowed its adoption, has said he had no interest in making money from his invention. “They are born of the internet, and should be owned by no one. The value and satisfaction I derive from seeing my funny little hack used as widely as it is today is valuable enough for me to be relieved that I had the foresight not to try to lock down this stupidly simple but effective idea.” A decade on, and Messina describes the adoption of this simple system of information collection (globally, an average of 125m hashtags are shared daily on Twitter alone) as humbling. “It’s thrilling to see how this little idea that came out of a very specific moment in the evolution of the Internet took off and has grown into something far bigger than me, bigger than Twitter or Instagram, and that will hopefully maintain its relevance for a long time to come,” he told the Australian. But for all their benefits, hashtags have also proved a minefield for inattentive creators. The identity marketing blog loginradius draws attention to a number of miscued, careless or otherwise unfortunate hashtag misfires. First among them is the hashtag created for British singer Susan Boyle #susanalbumparty. “Su’s anal bum party” caught on for obvious but unintended reasons. Loginradius points out that capitalizing each word – #SusanAlbumParty – would have solved the problem.

Read the article: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/23/hashtag-10-years-old-social-media-technology

Chris Messina will be a keynote speaker at Web Directions Summit 17 in Sydney on 9-10 November, a hugely influential two-day two-track conference for designers, developers and other professionals working in web and digital. Registration for Summit is now open (Early Bird until 15 September). " ["post_title"]=> string(42) "Chris Messina and 10 Years of the #hashtag" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(155) "Chris Messina is coming to Sydney as keynote speaker for Web Directions Summit 17 on 9-10 November. One of his claims to fame, the hashtag, just turned 10." ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(30) "chris-messina-10-years-hashtag" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-08-28 07:52:10" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-08-27 21:52:10" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7946" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [1]=> object(WP_Post)#1049 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7924) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-08-22 11:48:46" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-08-22 01:48:46" ["post_content"]=> string(8611) "With just four weeks remaining of the best ticket prices anyone will get, now is the time to lock in your place at Web Directions Summit 17. We've already told you about six of our keynote speakers for our major end of year event in Sydney on 9-10 November - we'll recap a bit further down, AND tell you about our latest two confirmed speakers - but, while you take that in, think of this:
  1. • The best ticket deals you're going to get are during this first Early Bird period ending on Friday 15 September.
    2.  
  2. • Our Code conference in Melbourne just a couple of weeks ago sold out completely BEFORE the Early Bird finished.
    3.  
  3. • The number of places we have available for Summit 17 is limited by both the size of the venue and our determination to ensure a comfortable experience for all attendees.
    4.  
  4. • Since we opened registration for Summit 17 in late June, 30% of tickets have already been sold - right now we're very close to the absolute limit for Gold tickets.
  With that understood, and noting that you - as a past attendee of a Web Directions event - have a particularly special Summit 17 deal available to you (see below), let's take a look at how our flagship event is shaping up.   Summit  

The Next Two Speakers

We can now confirm our next two speakers for Summit 17, and like the others, they are doozies: internationally acknowledged expert practitioners and thinkers at the top of their game and keen to share their thoughts with you.
 Amélie Lamont

Amélie Lamont

US designer, writer, thinker and speaker on design, tech, womanhood, anthropology, creativity, culture, and race. Product Design Lead, The New York Times.  

Chris Eppstein

US software architect, rubyist, Sass Core Developer, Compass stylesheet framework creator, writer, speaker, and open source advocate. Senior Staff Software Engineer, LinkedIn.		  Chris Eppstein
 

The First Six Speakers
 Genevieve Bell

Genevieve Bell

Internationally acclaimed Australian anthropologist and technologist, ex-Stanford, now ANU. Knows more than anyone about the intersection of data, people and design thinking.

Chris Messina

Visionary US analyst, writer, speaker and consultant to some of the biggest names in web and tech. Invented the Twitter hashtag, advises startups and thinks about the impact of tech on society.		  Chris Messina
 Dan Rubin

Dan Rubin

Highly experienced and respected US designer, photographer, artist, writer and creative director of a multi-disciplinary studio. Aims to literally improve the world through good design.

Tammy Everts

Canadian researcher, author, speaker and Chief Experience Officer of performance specialists Speedcurve. Acknowledged world expert in the technical interrelation of web performance, UX and business.		  Tammy Everts
 Lauren Lucchese

Lauren Lucchese

Head of AI Content at US financial giant Capital One, journalist, content strategist and user experience expert now leading a team focused on designing conversational user interfaces, including voice.

Kyle Simpson

US developer, writer, evangelist, teacher, mentor and speaker on the present and future of JavaScript.  Passionate advocate for the open web. Author of the You Don't Know JS series of books.		  Kyle Simpson
And this is not even anywhere near all our speakers. We still have plenty more to announce in coming weeks, including successful submissions from our local Call For Presentations. We'll be adding speakers to the website regularly, where you'll also find more info about all our speakers.

Pricing

Register during the Primary Early Bird period up to 15 September and get $200 off the regular cost.
  • • Classic Summit ticket (conference only) for just $999 (save $200)
  • • Silver Summit ticket (conference plus videos) for just $1,199 (save $200)
  • • Gold Summit ticket (conference, videos and speaker dinner) for just $1,299 (save $200)

AI Bonus Deal

Interest has also been very high in our new AI conference (on how AI and machine learning are influencing design and development right now), and our extra special Summit deal. Until 1 September (when the AI Early Bird closes), you can get a Silver ticket to Summit (usually $1,199) plus a ticket to AI (usually $599) for just $1,399. And even if you register for this deal after 1 September and before 28 September (when the AI conference is on), it'll still only cost you $1,499. Not only do we have much more to tell you about Summit 17 over the next few weeks, we'll also be announcing several smaller events we're holding between now and the end of the year. These will also have their own package deals with Summit.  Do also remember that, whatever deal or combination you choose for our events, if you can't allocate funds immediately, you're welcome to register now and pay later. I look forward to you joining us at one or more of our events soon." 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string(19641) "Code Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets: three attendees Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Dev Diner chatbot Code 17 in 100 Tweets: ordering coffee Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets: trending fourth Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Damon Oehlman Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Ben Teese Code 17 in 100 Tweets Code 17 in 100 Tweets: trending third Code 17 in 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as a chat log Code 17 in 100 Tweets: OSI at a Front End conference Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Andrew Betts summary Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Andrew Betts Code 17 in 100 Tweets: CSS discussion Code 17 in 100 Tweets: CSS discussions Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Mark Dalgleish Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Mark Dalgliesh slides Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Nicole Sullivan shoutout Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Glen Maddern styled components Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Glen Maddern Code 17 in 100 Tweets: it's the foundations you build on Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Mandy Michael on style guides Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Mandy Michael Code 17 in 100 Tweets: CSS is not easy Code 17 in 100 Tweets: the future of AI is scary and exciting Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Patrick likes sketchnote Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Patrick tweets live Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Patrick thanks Web Directions Code 17 in 100 Tweets: Aimree Maree accessibility Code 17 in 100 Tweets: accessibility and javascript Code 17 in 100 Tweets: javascript accessibility Code 17 in 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string(19) "2017-08-15 14:11:19" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7682" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [3]=> object(WP_Post)#1053 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7667) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "18" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-08-07 09:30:19" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-08-06 23:30:19" ["post_content"]=> string(7330) "That was quite a day! I reckon very few of the 140 or so of us at this first Code Leaders conference in Melbourne had a clear idea of how the day would pan out. It’s probably fair to say that no-one except John Allsopp, the event’s creator and the heart and soul of Web Directions, had a complete vision of how it would all work. And even John would concede that he was uncertain how successful this approach would be. Well, it was. And how. Code Leaders 17 reception

Factor 1

Code Leaders came out of an appreciation that there are front end engineers and developers in the web and digital industry in Australia who have by various means graduated to become senior developers, team leaders, managers, and then more who aspire to those positions. While these might be natural progressions within an organisation, that doesn’t mean that leadership comes naturally. Leadership takes certain skills that don’t necessarily come naturally at all. So, an opportunity existed.

Factor 2

In programming the Code conference, John had brought together a group of international and local speakers who not only addressed many of the key issues around where web and digital front end development was going, but who were themselves leaders in engineering - laying paths that others follow, taking on roles of responsibility, being leaders. That this particular cohort of speakers could pull an audience in a Melbourne winter became readily apparent when Code sold out - before the Early Bird registration period even ended. That during that week there would be enough other code-related events like MelbJS and CampJS taking place in Melbourne and surrounds to call it Melbourne Code Week - that was icing on the cake. If ever there was a chance to create an event that focused on leadership in front end engineering, this was it. Code Leaders 17 Chris Lilley

The Setup

Once announced as taking place the day before Code itself, Code Leaders also sold out pretty quickly. In fact, we could have sold more tickets, but we wanted to keep it to a manageable size because there were some things John wanted to try that would be tricky with a larger crowd. Attendees were seated at tables of ten, with a designated table leader who had a specific role. Each speaker would deliver a presentation of about 30 minutes, followed by a five minute period in which each table would formulate questions to put to the speakers. This was followed immediately by 20 minutes or so for the speakers to respond to those questions, and ensuing discussion. It’s not a complicated format, but it ran the risk of failing miserably if the participants chose not to, well, participate. In this setup, silence would be death. That didn’t happen.

The Speakers

You can read the bios of the Code Leaders speakers on the event webpage, but let’s summarise it as: Code Leaders 17 lunch

The Table Leaders

It was the job of the table leaders to get the post-talk question formulation happening, and without too much delay. Five minutes doesn’t leave much space for time-wasting. John had selected his table leaders well (the man curates everything, he can’t help himself), all people who understood many of the issues, were confident enough to spur a table of strangers into conversation and articulate enough to shape that into a question of some sort. They might not think they did all that much on the day, but they were all absolutely critical to the outcomes we wanted to achieve.

The Talks

The titles tell much of the story:
  • • JavaScript, Now and Next
  • • There and Back Again- A Web Tale
  • • The Changing Face of Loading Resources
  • • Modern Web App Architectures
  • • Designing a Culture that Fosters Growth
  • • Re-imagining the Hiring Process
Collectively, they were focused on some of the key issues, developments and perspectives for anyone wanting to see where front engineering is going and what leadership in that context might look like. Along the way we found out a lot of how, when, why and whether. Like why you should hire to grow your culture rather than fit your culture, how React.js came into being, why ECMAScript is called that, how to encourage and foster industry diversity, when web fonts became available, whether such a thing as a 10x developer exists, how Twitter developed a light version of itself, how we can each contribute to the future of JavaScript, and why Safari might just be the IE6 of mobile. And if my table was any example, we also found out a bit about how we each work, how we came to be leaders or why we want to be, and we shared some detail about how we deal with the responsibility, pressure, satisfaction and frustration of leadership. That, in itself, felt unique. We also found out that ordering a coffee by SMS and having it delivered to your table is pretty damn cool. Code Leaders 17 tables

The Upshot

I suppose the reality is that a day like Code Leaders can’t really be summed up in a few hundred words. And maybe it shouldn’t be. Code Leaders is not just a conference - it’s a dynamic, an atmosphere, an attitude, a coming together of minds that are not necessarily alike except for two things we all wrestle with: we’re front end devs and we’re leaders of some sort. I guess you had to be there. Interested? Make sure you’re at the next one.  " ["post_title"]=> string(38) "Code Leaders, Melbourne, 2 August 2017" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(36) "code-leaders-melbourne-2-august-2017" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-08-06 23:24:16" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-08-06 13:24:16" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7667" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [4]=> object(WP_Post)#1054 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7660) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-31 11:42:52" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-31 01:42:52" ["post_content"]=> string(8158) "A few weeks ago, we announced the first two of what will be 28 speakers in total for Summit 17, our end of year design and development conference in Sydney on 9-10 November. The response to the announcement of Chris (Mr Hashtag) Messina and returned Australian technologist Genevieve Bell has been genuinely overwhelming, with 20% of the available conference places already filled. Today, we're announcing our next four Summit speakers, again across the design and development tracks, all from overseas. Some you're very likely to have heard of before, others perhaps less so. All of them work in areas that are key to the way our industry is developing. I know you'll find them equally engaging. Summit The Next Four Speakers Dan Rubin, Tammy Everts Born in Miami Beach and now living in London, Dan Rubin is a designer, photographer, and founder / creative director of webgraph, a multi-disciplinary studio based in the US. He often leaks small chunks of his brain directly to Twitter, posts photos to Flickr, 500px, and Instagram, and on rare occasions uploads works-in-progress to Dribbble. A long time expert on web performance and dev ops, after stints at Soasta and Radware Tammy Everts is now Chief Experience Officer at SpeedCurve, a provider of developer performance tooling. Tammy is the author of the recent Time Is Money: The Business Value of Web Performance for O'Reilly, and is a co-chair of O'Reilly's Fluent and Velocity conferences. Kyle Simpson, Lauren Lucchese Kyle Simpson is an Open Web Evangelist from Austin, TX. He's passionate about JavaScript, HTML5, real-time/peer-to-peer communications, and web performance. Otherwise, he's probably bored by it. Kyle is the author of the You Don't Know JavaScript series, a workshop trainer, tech speaker, and avid OSS community member. With a background in journalism, UX research, design and strategy, Lauren Lucchese is now head of AI Content at one of the world's largest financial institutions, Capital One. There she leads a team of writers who shape trusted, likable conversational UIs, including voice. They're part of a larger Conversation Design team at Capital One, working together to bring humanity and clarity to every experience they design. These four highly regarded speakers from overseas join the two keynote speakers we've already announced - and this is not yet even the limit of the international contingent at Summit 17.  Expect more announcements soon. Chris Messina, Genevieve Bell Chris Messina invented the use of the hashtag for Twitter, a convention now adopted across almost all social media. But Chris's contributions to the web go far beyond this one small, significant innovation, from co-working (he was one of its originators), Microformats and Web Standards, to deep thinking about the broader impact of technical advances on society, the economy and culture, and working with companies as diverse as Yahoo!, Firefox, Google and Uber. A renowned cultural anthropologist at Stanford University, Genevieve Bell moved to Intel in the late 1990s, eventually becoming Director of Intel's User Experience Research Group. Now back in her home country as a Professor at the Australian National University College of Engineering and Computer Science, Genevieve focuses on "how to bring together data science, design thinking and ethnography to drive new approaches in engineering" and explores the questions of what it means to be human in a data-driven economy and world. Program Summit 17 is going to be two very full days in November packed with inspiring, challenging, entertaining and thought-provoking presentations from our four keynote speakers plus over 30 Australian and international speakers addressing key topics relating to our role in the ongoing evolution of the web, digital technology, design and engineering. Some of those local speakers will include successful submissions to our Call For Presentations - which closes midnight tonight (AEST), Friday 28 July. Once we have reviewed all the submissions, we'll announce the successful speakers and release the full conference program. Pricing We always keep our prices as low as we can, and we have complete confidence in the quality and relevance of our speakers and their presentations, but we also know that a little incentive can sometimes make it easier to find room in a limited budget, especially if you have to convince someone else. First, we have our Early Bird discounts. Register during the Primary Early Bird period up to 15 September and get $200 off the regular cost.
  • • Classic Summit ticket (conference only) for just $999 (save $200)
  • • Silver Summit ticket (conference plus videos) for just $1,199 (save $200)
  • • Gold Summit ticket (conference, videos and speaker dinner) for just $1,299 (save $200)
AI Bonus Deal If you're also interested in attending our brand new AI conference (and, given it's about how AI and machine learning are influencing all our design and development work right now, why wouldn't you be?), we have an extra special deal for you. Until 1 September (when the AI Early Bird closes), you can get a Silver ticket to Summit (usually $1,199) plus a ticket to AI (usually $599) for just $1,399. And even if you register for this deal after 1 September and before 28 September (when the AI conference is on), it'll still only cost you $1,499. Do also remember that, whatever deal or combination you choose for our events, if you can't allocate funds immediately, you're welcome to register now and pay later. I hope you'll be able to join us." ["post_title"]=> string(42) "Four More Speakers Announced for Summit 17" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(33) "four-speakers-announced-summit-17" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-07-31 11:42:52" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-31 01:42:52" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7660" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [5]=> object(WP_Post)#1055 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7654) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-21 15:21:15" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-21 05:21:15" ["post_content"]=> string(5186) "Well, that's a fair question. Why are we even hosting this Web Directions AI event in Sydney on 28 September, given that our conferences typically focus on digital design and development, predominantly in a web-based context? Over the last 12 to 18 months, I've been become increasingly aware that adding even a little intelligence to our existing products and services can have surprisingly positive impacts on user experience - and on profitability. That's before we even talk about the new products and services that become possible, feasible and likely with the introduction of new levels of machine intelligence. Web Directions AI is about putting this all squarely in the context of what we currently do and will be doing in the near future. Let me explain. AI What do we mean by AI? When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, we typically think and talk in terms of science fiction, robots and the future. The same goes for the related concepts of Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing. There's a perception that is all future tech. Web Directions AI sets out to dispel this notion, and provide a real world context for what AI is now and will increasingly become. William Gibson came up with a now well-known quote that certainly applies to this: 'The future is already here — it's just not evenly distributed". "Real world"? Really? Like most people, you probably use predictive typing on your phone. Your device's ability to predict the rest of the word you're typing is driven by a form of artificial intelligence. Now imagine predictive typing being removed from your phone. Remove just a little intelligence from one small, but vital aspect of that device, and its usefulness plummets. The original iPhone shipped without even copy and paste functionality, but it did have predictive typing, a use of AI that has become expected and something we wouldn't want to lose. Right now, the role of AI in our digital products and services is limited. My prediction is that in a couple of years, though, designers, developers, UX and CX specialists, information architects, product managers and content strategists who don't embrace and master AI will find themselves left behind. So what's the conference about? Web Directions AI is about helping you to understand the capabilities of the technology today, and how straightforward and inexpensive it can be to add sophisticated AI capabilities to your work. It's about understanding the design opportunities of voice, chat and other "cognitive" technologies, and understanding the business opportunities, decisions and challenges of adopting anything from straightforward sentiment analysis, through triaging incoming support requests, to creating fully fledged intelligent chat interfaces. Web Directions AI uses a format of expert talks, case studies and practical examples along with Q&A discussion opportunities, drawing on the expertise and experience of people doing some amazing work in this area right now. Who should go to this? If you work in the web and digital industry, and you're already thinking about or working with AI technologies, we'll help you get a deeper understanding of the key pillars of the Technology, Business and Design of AI. And if you work in the web and digital industry and you're NOT thinking about AI, we'll show you why you should be, and how. What do I do now? Want to know more? Keen to register? The full program is at the AI conference site. Note that numbers are strictly limited, and we expect tickets to sell pretty quickly now that they are available as of today. The Early Bird price for this new one-day conference is $599. After 1 September, it goes up to $699. I'm really excited about this brand new Web Directions event, focused on an area of technology that I honestly believe will be as significant an opportunity for you, me and all our colleagues as the early days of the web itself. If you need a bit of extra perspective on why I think this becoming such an exciting area for us, I've posted a few current and topical reading suggestions on our website.  " ["post_title"]=> string(68) "Why is Web Directions Holding an Artificial Intelligence Conference?" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(57) "web-directions-holding-artificial-intelligence-conference" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-07-21 15:21:15" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-21 05:21:15" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7654" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "1" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [6]=> object(WP_Post)#1056 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7649) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-21 09:07:47" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-20 23:07:47" ["post_content"]=> string(3865) "As we get ready to fully launch our newest conference, Web Directions AI, I've pulled together some particularly interesting perspectives on AI for your reading pleasure. Watch out for an email today with all the details of the one-day conference in Sydney on 28 September. Cheating at AI Hopefully, it's clear by now that I think an area anyone - whether  more on the design, engineering or business sides of the Web/Digital/Technology area - should be focusing on involves what we broadly call AI. So much so that we're about to launch our brand new AI focused conference, taking place in Sydney in late September. If you want some quick overviews of the key ideas, Stefan Kojouharov has assembled a list of "cheatsheets" on machine learning, neural networks and more related topics. It's 1996 all over again Ever fewer of us in the field remember the website designs of 1996: the year "Killer Web Sites" dominated the web design conversation and the year of the first US Presidential election to take place in the consumer web era. For increasingly many, this is a lifetime ago. Dole/Kemp 96 website - no AI Putting today's sophisticated interactive web experiences up against this makes you wonder how even we got from there to here. But all technologies take small incremental steps from the realm of the early adopter to the mainstream, and today's hotness, chatbots (I prefer the broader idea of conversational interfaces), are very much in their infancy. Vittorio Banfi makes the argument that Chatbot design today is like web design in 1996, and who wouldn't want the opportunity to get in the time machine back to the start of web design and help shape that field? Well, maybe this is your chance. Machines versus abuse The sheer scale of modern social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with hundreds of millions and even billions of active users a month, makes any sort of human powered curation and moderation laughably impossible. Perhaps this is why these platforms seem so often to be associated with negative human behaviours, from fake news to bullying and abuse. These behaviours can be difficult to detect and respond to. There's also the challenge of company valuations being a function of active user numbers, driving short term disincentives to removing users, even fake ones, from the network. Recently, Instagram has begun turning the potential of parent company Facebook's machine learning engine DeepText to the challenge of bullying and abusive behaviour on its platform. More at Web Directions AI If you're keen to learn more, keep an eye on Web Directions AI  taking place in Sydney at the end of September, with program announcements starting next week. From design to business and technology, if you have even the vaguest inkling that this stuff is going to be important in what you design and deliver, don't miss AI!" ["post_title"]=> string(23) "John's AI Reading Links" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(22) "johns-ai-reading-links" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-07-21 09:07:47" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-20 23:07:47" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7649" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [7]=> object(WP_Post)#1057 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7642) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-19 09:30:49" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-18 23:30:49" ["post_content"]=> string(3309) "Delivering a conference presentation about the commercial use of virtual reality technology is a pretty thankless task, a bit like trying to demonstrate colour on a black & white television set. Back at our end of year Direction conference in 2016, Aaron Spence took this on by having his fabulous assistant wear a VR headset as various experiences played out, the vision of which was then shown on the big screen - admittedly 2D but impressive all the same. It's also worth noting that quite possibly every person at the conference had a go at using a VR headset from the several made available by Aaron's company Panedia expressly for the purpose. The video of Aaron's talk is about half an hour long and really demonstrates how far VR has already penetrated into a range of commercial and other uses.    

Got your ticket for Summit 17 yet?

Last year's Direction has morphed into this year's Summit - two days and two tracks of presentations crammed with ideas, challenges, techniques and breakthroughs in design, development and the overarching themes and concerns driving the breakneck evolution of our web and digital industry. It all takes place in Sydney on 9-10 November. Come and join us!  

Want more?

Like to see and read more like this? Be the first to score invitations to our events? Then jump on our once-a-fortnight mailing list to keep up with everything happening at Web Directions, as well as regular bursts of links to relevant articles & resources curated by John Allsopp - and we can promise you some exclusive and substantial subscriber benefits.
" ["post_title"]=> string(70) "Video Ristretto: Virtual Reality as Used in Our Reality - Aaron Spence" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(57) "video-ristretto-virtual-reality-used-reality-aaron-spence" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-08-30 11:22:27" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-08-30 01:22:27" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7642" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [8]=> object(WP_Post)#1058 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7630) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-18 09:30:01" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-17 23:30:01" ["post_content"]=> string(9734) "Back at Direction last year (that's the one that's evolving into Summit this year), Jennifer Wilson gave a compelling talk on using gamification to achieve behavioural change in health practices. One of the examples she used in her presentation was an app developed by her company The Project Factory for a government health agency, and Jennifer was kind enough to also write the following article for our Wrap magazine, which went into a bit more depth about My QuitBuddy. It's a pretty compelling case study and I think you won't have any trouble seeing where some of this leads.

Giving Up By Design

Jennifer Wilson, Director, The Project Factory

Jeniifer Wilson Five years ago, when we at The Project Factory built the Quit Now: My QuitBuddy app for the then Australian National Preventative Health Agency (ANPHA), I realised we had created one of the things I am most proud of in all my 30 years in this industry. We wanted to build something that would truly help people who wanted to quit smoking achieve their goal. Designing the app, we channelled smokers we knew, applied everything we’d learned from other projects about what created genuine engagement, and we trod very carefully through deep personalisation, behavioural dynamics and nudge theory to get the balance right. 700,000 downloads later, a clinical assessment has shown that QuitBuddy has the highest effectiveness rating of any quit smoking technique. I think we got it right. My QuitBuddy logo

Changing Behaviour

What we learned from QuitBuddy has influenced all the other work we’ve done, notably in the health field and specifically when addressing any form of behaviour change: • onboarding that allows the app to be tailored to the individual; • goal setting to aid in reinforcing intent; • personal growth feedback that enhances the intrinsic benefits of change; • gamified elements to encourage adherence and continued use; • permitted failure – where you can fail without major penalties; • and careful support through timed alerts, checkins and distractions. One thing that seems to really work is the ‘slip-up’ test. We ask those on the quitting journey if they are still smoke-free, or if they ‘slipped up’. If they do slip up, we then ask if it was ‘just a slip-up’  or if they need to restart their program. There’s no rebuke, no reprimand – just a suggestion they identify triggers to help stop this happening again. Interestingly, over two-thirds of people who say they slipped up do go on to restart their program – a fabulous level of personal honesty.

Vice Control

We’re now in a fascinating new space that really extends what we know. Smoking, like a few other negative behaviours (abuse, violence, bullying, etc) is binary: you either smoke or you don’t. While some claim to be social smokers, most of us recognise this as a black and white issue. But what about drinking? Or the odd recreational line of coke, tab of ecstasy or marijuana joint? Or the occasional night on the pokies? Or even that maxed out credit card, and those unworn dresses or shoes? I knew someone who so looked forward to their one glass of wine at the end of the day, they decided they had a real problem and so signed up to AA. Conversely, I’m sure we all know someone who thinks that a few bottles of wine a night or half a bottle of spirits isn’t adversely affecting them. Sure, they know it’s too much, but it isn’t having a negative impact on their life and they feel in control. Looking at behavioural change in this space is different. It is less about supporting someone on a journey to be free of a bad habit or vice, and more about helping them determine if they actually are in control of their behaviour, and whether they are really aware of its impact. The same elements we used for QuitBuddy do come into play, but need to be applied differently and some new tools need to be used. We need to set a baseline for behaviour, check in with the participant to assess how they feel about what they are doing, and get some understanding of their circumstances, moods, relationships, etc. This then forms a baseline we can track them against. Some, but not all, people will have goals  – and where they do, the process of defining a program to reach these goals becomes our primary task. This is more straightforward and similar to cessation goal setting: set the target; work out the steps, timeline and process to achieve this; motivate them along the way; support them where they fail; and encourage them to try again. My Quitbuddy

Making Honest Choices

We still need to make the experience as personal as possible – in many cases we are asking people to share what might be embarrassing or even illegal habits with us. Our feedback must then be honest, direct and targeted personally to them. We need, over time, to carefully repeat all those initial questions we asked in the beginning when we were setting a baseline. These need to be phrased differently, to come up at random times, to be appropriate questions to what they were looking at in the app – and definitely not feel intrusive. We can then report back to them on any impacts their behaviour appears to be having on their lives based on their own self-assessment. This might be increased mood swings, a worsening of a work or family situation, higher levels of anxiety, stress or financial concern, or an increase in recognised risk behaviour (eg unsafe sex). From here, the participant can choose their path. It might simply be seeking more information on the impacts of their activity – increasing their awareness and helping them make better decisions. Or it might be that they choose to take more control over their behaviour and work to reduce this to a point where they are more in control.

Regaining Control

It is this sense of control that is the key: whether it is to quit smoking, increase exercise, control our shopping instincts or even learn to deal with our anger. Digital offers uniquely personal and intimate support to help us be the governors of our actions. I believe that, as we explore this area, we can potentially develop a tool – a generic process – that can be applied to any behaviour where we need to  reassert our control over the activity. Which is just as well, as once we have our analogue habits under control, we may well need to apply this to our digital addictions! My QuitBuddy  

Got your ticket for Summit 17 yet?

Last year's Direction has morphed into this year's Summit - two days and two tracks of presentations crammed with ideas, challenges, techniques and breakthroughs in design, development and the overarching themes and concerns driving the breakneck evolution of our web and digital industry. It all takes place in Sydney on 9-10 November. Come and join us!  

Want more?

Like to see and read more like this? Be the first to score invitations to our events? Then jump on our once-a-fortnight mailing list to keep up with everything happening at Web Directions, as well as regular bursts of links to relevant articles & resources curated by John Allsopp - and we can promise you some exclusive and substantial subscriber benefits.
" ["post_title"]=> string(56) "Direction 16 Wrap: Giving Up By Design - Jennifer Wilson" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(53) "direction-16-wrap-giving-up-by-design-jennifer-wilson" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-07-18 21:04:03" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-18 11:04:03" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7630" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [9]=> object(WP_Post)#1059 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7625) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 12:24:57" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 02:24:57" ["post_content"]=> string(1009) "Our Call For Proposals to present at Summit is now open. Yes, we curate the conference, but we like to leave room for outstanding, relevant talks from local speakers, experienced or not. Sessions are 20 minutes long, and open to Australian residents. If you're successful, we'll fly you to Sydney, put you up, and treat you like any other speaker. If you have already registered to attend the conference and you are selected to present, we will happily refund your registration fee. If it's your first time presenting, we'll also give you every assistance to hone your talk. Come on, come and join the big league! The Summit CFP is open until 31 July." ["post_title"]=> string(61) "Web Directions Summit 17 Call For Presentations: Be a Speaker" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(51) "web-directions-summit-17-call-presentations-speaker" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 12:24:57" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 02:24:57" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7625" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [10]=> object(WP_Post)#1060 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7621) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 12:24:52" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 02:24:52" ["post_content"]=> string(6178) "With meanings including the highest point of a mountain, a peak of achievement, and a meeting between people on a particular topic, Summit seems a particularly apt new name for our annual Sydney-based summer conference. Web Directions Summit 17 is where we bring together some of the most renowned and advanced thinkers and practitioners in the world around technology, culture and society. Above all, we seek to learn, exchange and promote ideas that inform how we all approach and refine our own work, now and into the future. In returning to a 2-track format for our annual flagship event, structured so that attendees can focus on engineering, focus on design, or mix and match according to their own priorities, we're recalling some of the spectacular Sydney summer Web Directions conferences of the past, with our eyes firmly fixed on the future. And now it's time to reveal the first of our Summit speakers. (Do read on for your Early Bird discounts.)   Web Directions Summit

The Speakers

Our first two keynote speakers each define and embody exactly our approach to this conference, and we feel privileged to bring them to Summit to share their insights with you.   Summit 17: Chris Messina & Genevieve Bell   Chris Messina invented the use of the hashtag for Twitter, a convention now adopted across almost all social media. But Chris's contributions to the web go far beyond this one small, significant innovation, from co-working (he was one of its originators), Microformats and Web Standards, to deep thinking about the broader impact of technical advances on society, the economy and culture, and working with companies as diverse as Yahoo!, Firefox, Google and Uber. A renowned cultural anthropologist at Stanford University, Genevieve Bell moved to Intel in the late 1990s, eventually becoming Director of Intel's User Experience Research Group. Now back in her home country as a Professor at the Australian National University College of Engineering and Computer Science, Genevieve focuses on "how to bring together data science, design thinking and ethnography to drive new approaches in engineering" and explores the questions of what it means to be human in a data-driven economy and world.

The Presentations

Summit 17 is going to be two very full days in November packed with inspiring, challenging, entertaining and thought-provoking presentations from our four keynote speakers plus over 30 Australian and international speakers addressing key topics relating to our role in the ongoing evolution of the web, digital technology, design and engineering. It's already shaping as a tremendously exciting conference, and the structure we have in mind is coming together. But there's an important element missing. You. Not just to attend, although we hope lots of you do and we know lots of you will (in fact, lots of you already have!), but as a presenter. If you have any interest in joining us a speaker at Summit 17, jump over to this page and get the details.

Pricing

We always keep our prices as low as we can, and we have complete confidence in the quality and relevance of our speakers and their presentations, but we also know that a little incentive can sometimes make it easier to find room in a limited budget, especially if you have to convince someone else. Thus, we have our Early Bird discounts. Register during the Primary Early Bird period up to 15 September and get $200 off the regular cost.
  • Classic Summit ticket (conference only) for just $999 (save $200)
  • Silver Summit ticket (conference plus videos) for just $1,199 (save $200)
  • Gold Summit ticket (conference, videos and speaker dinner) for just $1,299 (save $200)
Hot Tip: Can't allocate funds to this just yet? You can register now and pay later.  Tell me more about Summit 2017 We are constructing Summit 17 as a summer festival of sorts: a festival of ideas, challenges, people, organisations, approaches and understandings. In this way, we hope to advance the industry, and your career. One cautionary note: up to this point, before announcing any speakers or talks, about 15% of available tickets have been sold(the venue's locked in so our numbers are limited). Given that, and the fact that Code sold out completely before Early Bird even closed, it is probably wise to book your place at Summit 17 sooner rather than later. I hope to see you in Sydney this November. " ["post_title"]=> string(34) "First Summit 17 Speakers Announced" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(34) "first-summit-17-speakers-announced" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 12:24:52" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-07-12 02:24:52" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7621" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [11]=> object(WP_Post)#1061 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7615) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-06-30 13:28:30" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-30 03:28:30" ["post_content"]=> string(2243) "Sara SoueidanWe're going back to Respond 16 for our Video of the Week this week, when Sara Soueidan came to visit and delivered an inspiring, eye-opening keynote presentation on what can be done with CSS and SVG working together. It's an excellent talk, and really needs no more introduction than that.    

Want more?

Like to see and read more like this? Be the first to score invitations to our events? Then jump on our once-a-week mailing list to keep up with everything happening at Web Directions. And you'll get a complimentary digital copy of Scroll magazine.
" ["post_title"]=> string(66) "Video of the Week: CSS + SVG: A Designer's Delight - Sara Soueidan" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(50) "video-week-css-svg-designers-delight-sara-soueidan" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-06-30 13:28:30" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-30 03:28:30" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7615" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [12]=> object(WP_Post)#1062 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7608) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 16:17:08" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 06:17:08" ["post_content"]=> string(2952) "Rob HowardOur short video today is a fascinating one from Code 16, where Rob Howard explored the notion that not all tools, methods, functions or operators are necessarily the best for what you have in mind. It sounds obvious but I'd wager most of us misuse our tools in some way, perhaps over-using what is comfortable even if it's not ideal, or under-using the right tools for want of knowing any better. Take 25 minutes to let Rob explain why it might be worth taking the time to find the best - the right - fit.    

Got your ticket for 2017 yet?

For Code 17, we've put together a truly remarkable two-day program of international and local speakers digging into front end engineering and development, coming to Melbourne (only) on 3-4 August. Come and join us!  

Want more?

Like to see and read more like this? Be the first to score invitations to our events? Then jump on our once-a-week mailing list to keep up with everything happening at Web Directions. And you'll get a complimentary digital copy of Scroll magazine.
" ["post_title"]=> string(53) "Video Ristretto: The Things You Can't Do - Rob Howard" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(38) "video-ristretto-things-cant-rob-howard" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 16:17:08" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 06:17:08" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7608" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [13]=> object(WP_Post)#1063 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7604) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 10:04:56" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 00:04:56" ["post_content"]=> string(3576) "We're opening registrations for Web Directions Summit today. Summit is our new peak annual flagship event at Australian Technology Park in Sydney on 9-10  November, which brings together all the tribes that make up our industry. Based on the format of the original Web Directions conferences, Summit is two days and two tracks of presentations by expert practitioners focused on what's happening now and in the immediate future in design and development. These talks will be topped and tailed by keynotes that dive into the big picture: where design is going, what the future looks like for engineers, how the disciplines have grown and branched out, ongoing issues like performance and security, plus the ideas, philosophies and breakthroughs that will influence our work into 2018 and beyond. Participants can choose to attend two days of cutting edge design talks, or focus their conference entirely on the development and engineering track, or jump between the two tracks according to what most interests them. And the keynotes will be chosen for their over-arching relevance and significance to our industry as a whole. We are deep in discussion with some of the world's leading thinkers and doers in web technology and beyond, and we'll be releasing the names of specific speakers as they're confirmed. We can say that we are committed to making Summit a true festival of and for our emerging digital industry, including the web as we know it now and whatever may come next. As we're 10 days out from the end of the financial year, we're opening up registration now for those who want or need to commit funds before the 30th of June. Being so far ahead of the event date, naturally we're going to offer some pretty juicy Super Early Bird benefits if you register now (even if you pay later). Register before 1 July and we'll give you to a Gold ticket (includes all the conference videos and a place at the Speaker Dinner) for the price of an early bird Classic ticket. That's $300 off the early bird Gold ticket price for ALL the goodies. There are plenty of other ways to register early and get significant discounts - take a look on the website for the deal that best suits you - but Super Early Bird is only until 30 June. Summit You'll hear lots more about Summit in coming months, including some pretty special events taking place around the conference, but you have an opportunity now to lock in your registration, take advantage of the discounts and upgrades available, and settle back as you watch Summit develop into the major annual conference for web and digital in Australia, safe in the knowledge that your place is guaranteed. Whether you register before the Super Early Bird finishes on 30 June, during the main Early Bird periods, or at the last minute in November - I hope you'll join me at Web Directions Summit." ["post_title"]=> string(64) "Registrations Now Open for Summit Conference in Sydney, November" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(56) "registrations-now-open-summit-conference-sydney-november" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 10:04:56" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-21 00:04:56" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7604" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } [14]=> object(WP_Post)#1407 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7586) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-06-19 23:08:00" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-19 13:08:00" ["post_content"]=> string(6675) "Localisation (or localization) is one of those things that seem simple at first glance, but the further you go into it, the more of a rabbit warren you realise it is. Fortunately, once you've worked out what's needed, it can become a largely automated or at least controlled process and, as Greg Rewis' talk at Code 16 demonstrated, one that can be managed to very positive effect. Here's our Wrap summary.

Does Your Web App Speak Schadenfreude?

Greg Rewis, Lead Developer Evangelist, Salesforce

Greg Rewis

Key points

The title refers to the German word for the enjoyment of another person’s misfortune, and is a way of saying this talk is about internationalisation and localisation. Research suggests that a website not translated into 16 languages is not a global site. Internationalisation (i18n) is the work that prepares a site for localisation (l10n), which translates sites from one language into another. Localisation affects more than words: also numbers, dates, currency, symbols and more. Culture plays a big role in how people perceive web pages, from where they look to how they move around the page to the balance between text and images. Edward Hall’s 1976 book Beyond Culture found there is a high-context culture (where images and animation play a greater role) and a low-context culture (where text dominates).
“Web developers have to stop thinking in the patterns that are specific to their own locale.”
Code 16: Greg Rewis

Takeaways

An example: Americans use dashes between the groups of digits in their phone numbers, but this will cause a form built by someone who does not use dashes to fail. Text on buttons can become problematic when the target word translated into another language is much longer or shorter than the word you started with, wrecking your layout. When setting font sizes, don’t go for 16pixels because it’s fairly standard in English – 20px is better for many languages, especially Asian. Use the lang attribute. Assistive technology like screen readers will attempt to read out a word like schadenfeude in English unless lang=de tells them otherwise. Google Translate will translate words not in English unless you use translate=no to tell it otherwise. This allows you to use non-English words without having them translated. Consider words and phrasing that are more universally understood, for example not all cultures understand are familiar with “from” and “to” when applied to dates – “start” and “end” are more widely understood, and still work in English. Think about how translating English into a language that’s read from right to left might change structure and maybe meaning. Test your layouts to see how they will look in different languages. Consider how colours can have different meanings in different cultures: red doesn’t always mean stop, and green doesn’t always mean go. Use resources like http://l10nchecklist.com to check your projects.
“Our culture – not just our language – influences the way we read a page.”

Caveats

Translation is not just swapping a word in one language for one in another language – the context has to be taken into account. Even within one language, words can have different meanings and different connotations, depending on context and cultural values. Phrases in one language might be single words in another, with no opportunity to break or wrap. Japanese uses three different alphabets, one of which uses characters that are individually wider than letters in English, thereby making text strings longer, even though they may use the same number of characters. Characters in some languages may extend further up and down the line height than in others. Capitalisation is another danger area – be aware that some languages have customs that are different to English, so don’t force capitalisation. Text decoration like bolding and italics may not work in languages where several words are combined into one – you can’t bold just a part of a word in some Asian languages. Some languages indicate emphasis in completely different ways, such as adding symbols on top of words, or putting words into a coloured background. Text embedded in images is not going to respond to translation. If you want to tell users other languages are available, be aware that, for example, “Spanish” is the English word for Spanish, not the Spanish word. Flags are not good indicators for language – they indicate nations, some of which use multiple languages, and many different nations use the same language.

Resources

@garazi slides website github Localization Checklist

Tweets

Code 16: Greg Reiws Code 16: Greg Reiws Code 16: Greg Reiws Code 16: Greg Reiws Code 16: Greg Reiws Code 16: Greg Reiws" ["post_title"]=> string(58) "Code 16: Does Your Web App Speak Schadenfreude? Greg Rewis" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(6) "closed" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(56) "code-16-does-your-web-app-speak-schadenfreude-greg-rewis" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2017-06-20 00:59:03" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-06-19 14:59:03" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(37) "https://www.webdirections.org/?p=7586" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" } } ["post_count"]=> int(15) ["current_post"]=> int(-1) ["in_the_loop"]=> bool(false) ["post"]=> object(WP_Post)#1048 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(7946) ["post_author"]=> string(2) "18" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2017-08-28 11:00:42" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2017-08-28 01:00:42" ["post_content"]=> string(11094) "

Chris Messina is coming to Sydney as keynote speaker for Web Directions Summit 17 on 9-10 November. One of his claims to fame, the hashtag, just turned 10.

This has attracted a great deal of attention, not just in web tech circles but also in the mainstream media. Chris himself published an article on Medium on 23 August 2017, the 10th anniversary of the first use of the # symbol being attached to the front of a keyword on Twitter to indicate a group, so let's start there.  

The Hashtag is 10!

Chris Messina

What the hashtag means to me 10 years after its invention

It may surprise you to learn that Twitter didn’t invent the hashtag. Indeed, the hashtag has become so ubiquitous that it’s hard to imagine that there was a time before the hashtag. But indeed there was, and it was over ten years ago today. On August 23, 2007 at 12:25PM PST, I tweeted a simple idea that would change how we use social media and communicate, possibly forever: Chris Messina hashtag tweet Two days later, I published a lengthy proposal clarifying my intention, with suggestions for how Twitter might adopt the idea, even though I never worked for Twitter. Instead, I was an early user and a fan, and a believer in the power of the internet coupled with free/libre technologies to bring people together.

Read the rest of the article at https://medium.com/chris-messina/hashtag10-8e114c382b06

Chris had presented the idea to Twitter earlier without receiving a very enthusiastic response, as Twitter founder Biz Stone acknowledged in his blog post published on the same day last week:  

The hashtag at 10 years young

Biz Stone

The hashtag was born on Twitter 10 years ago today, and it has become one of the most recognizable and widely used symbols of our time. Here’s how. In the summer of 2007, a web marketing specialist and avid user of Twitter, Chris Messina walked into our grungy office at 164 South Park (yes, people would just walk in back then) and made a suggestion to me and a few other Twitter employees who were sitting nearby. We were working frantically to fix a tech issue that had brought Twitter down, as was often the case in those early days. Many iconic features of Twitter have been created over the years by listening and watching what people who use Twitter do with it and then working to make it easier and better for them—we still do this today. Back in those early days, Jack and I even published our phone numbers on the front page. So, although we were somewhat frenzied, we wanted to give Chris a few minutes and hear him out. His proposal was simple, useful, and fun—just like Twitter. Because brevity is essential on Twitter, he suggested using the “pound” or “hash” character common on phones (this was pre-iPhone) to create groups of related Tweets. It was an undeniably elegant proposal, but I really needed to get back to work. I turned back to my computer screen to help get Twitter back up and running, hurriedly ending the conversation with a sarcastic, “Sure, we’ll get right on that.” Thankfully, Chris didn’t take offense to my reaction, he simply started doing what he had proposed.

Read the post at https://blog.twitter.com/official/en_us/topics/product/2017/the-hashtag-at-ten-years-young.html

There's actually been quite a lot of commentary in the past week about what the hashtag is, its purpose, impact and what it represents. Here are three of our favourite articles that offer some interesting perspective:  

Twitter didn’t invent the hashtag… Chris Messina did!

Andreas Sandre, Hackernoon
I interviewed Chris Messina in April 2014 for my book Digital Diplomacy: Conversations on Innovation in Foreign Policy (via Rowman & Littlefield and Amazon). Chris launched the idea of using the pound symbol for groups in a tweet 10 years ago today. The hashtag was born August 23, 2007 — and forever it changed social media and the way we engage online. [ … ] Anyhow, when I interviewed Chris for my book, the conversation not only explored the evolution of the hashtag, but also its use and mis-use, and the nature of the hashtag. [ … ] He told me: “Like most technologies, the hashtag itself is a neutral amplifier.” “Wielded effectively — he said — it can spark conversations or revolutions, or can be used to mislead or obfuscate. Therefore, it’s important to keep in mind that social media is a reflection of the people who use it and the contexts in which they’re found.” Talking about the nature of the hashtag, he said: “Broadly speaking, any technology that helps give a larger number of people a voice efficiently and economically is a good thing; then, once it’s been adopted widely, the challenge is to hone its use to increase social and cultural benefit.”

Read the article: https://hackernoon.com/twitter-didnt-invent-the-hashtag-chris-messina-did-1020969abfcd

 

Twitter hashtags are 10 years old and they wouldn't have happened without old-school texting

Karissa Bell, Mashable Australia
Yes, it's really been 10 years. Twitter's most iconic feature is celebrating a big birthday today. Exactly 10 years ago, before there were iPhones, Android phones, or a Twitter app, one Twitter user came up with the idea of using the "#" symbol to group tweets together. That early Twitter user was Chris Messina, who has said the idea originally stemmed from what are now two major throwbacks from the early days of the Internet: IRC and T-9. IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is an old web standard that enabled messaging via group chat rooms. The format we now know as a hashtag, where similar messages are grouped together using the # sign, was already a well-established part of IRC in 2007, so it made some sense to bring the same dynamic to Twitter. It was also, as Messina points out, easier to type on old phones that used T-9, an early form of predictive text when you still had to tap out messages via your phone's keypad. (Texting was hard before touchscreens!)

Read the article: http://mashable.com/2017/08/23/twitter-hashtag-10th-anniversary/#1_mTLhpbfsqt

 

#Hashtag10: the best hashtag fails in a decade

Edward Helmore, The Guardian
Messina, who says he chose not to patent the idea because that would probably have slowed its adoption, has said he had no interest in making money from his invention. “They are born of the internet, and should be owned by no one. The value and satisfaction I derive from seeing my funny little hack used as widely as it is today is valuable enough for me to be relieved that I had the foresight not to try to lock down this stupidly simple but effective idea.” A decade on, and Messina describes the adoption of this simple system of information collection (globally, an average of 125m hashtags are shared daily on Twitter alone) as humbling. “It’s thrilling to see how this little idea that came out of a very specific moment in the evolution of the Internet took off and has grown into something far bigger than me, bigger than Twitter or Instagram, and that will hopefully maintain its relevance for a long time to come,” he told the Australian. But for all their benefits, hashtags have also proved a minefield for inattentive creators. The identity marketing blog loginradius draws attention to a number of miscued, careless or otherwise unfortunate hashtag misfires. First among them is the hashtag created for British singer Susan Boyle #susanalbumparty. “Su’s anal bum party” caught on for obvious but unintended reasons. Loginradius points out that capitalizing each word – #SusanAlbumParty – would have solved the problem.

Read the article: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/23/hashtag-10-years-old-social-media-technology

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Blog

Chris Messina and 10 Years of the #hashtag

Chris Messina is coming to Sydney as keynote speaker for Web Directions Summit 17 on 9-10 November. One of his claims to fame, the hashtag, just turned 10.

Two More Summit 17 Speakers Announced

With just four weeks remaining of the best ticket prices anyone will get, now is the time to lock in your place at Web Directions Summit 17.

We’ve already told you about six of our keynote speakers for our major end of year event in Sydney on 9-10 November – we’ll … Read more »

Code 17 in 100 Tweets

Code
Code 17 in 100 Tweets
Code 17 in 100 Tweets
Code 17 in 100 Tweets… Read more »

Code Leaders, Melbourne, 2 August 2017

That was quite a day!

I reckon very few of the 140 or so of us at this first Code Leaders conference in Melbourne had a clear idea of how the day would pan out.

It’s probably fair to say that no-one except John Allsopp, the event’s creator and the … Read more »

Four More Speakers Announced for Summit 17

A few weeks ago, we announced the first two of what will be 28 speakers in total for Summit 17, our end of year design and development conference in Sydney on 9-10 November.

The response to the announcement of Chris (Mr Hashtag) Messina and returned Australian technologist Genevieve Bell has … Read more »

Why is Web Directions Holding an Artificial Intelligence Conference?

Well, that’s a fair question.

Why are we even hosting this Web Directions AI event in Sydney on 28 September, given that our conferences typically focus on digital design and development, predominantly in a web-based context?

Over the last 12 to 18 months, I’ve been become increasingly aware that adding even a little intelligence to … Read more »

John’s AI Reading Links

As we get ready to fully launch our newest conference, Web Directions AI, I’ve pulled together some particularly interesting perspectives on AI for your reading pleasure.

Watch out for an email today with all the details of the one-day conference in Sydney on 28 September.

Cheating at AI

Hopefully, it’s clear by … Read more »

Video Ristretto: Virtual Reality as Used in Our Reality – Aaron Spence

  • In: Blog
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  • July 19, 2017
  • Comments Off on Video Ristretto: Virtual Reality as Used in Our Reality – Aaron Spence

Delivering a conference presentation about the commercial use of virtual reality technology is a pretty thankless task, a bit like trying to demonstrate colour on a black & white television set.

Back at our end of year Direction conference in 2016, Aaron Spence took this on by having his fabulous … Read more »

Direction 16 Wrap: Giving Up By Design – Jennifer Wilson

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  • July 18, 2017
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Back at Direction last year (that’s the one that’s evolving into Summit this year), Jennifer Wilson gave a compelling talk on using gamification to achieve behavioural change in health practices.

One of the examples she used in her presentation was an app developed by her company The Project Factory … Read more »

Web Directions Summit 17 Call For Presentations: Be a Speaker

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  • July 12, 2017
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Our Call For Proposals to present at Summit is now open.

Yes, we curate the conference, but we like to leave room for outstanding, relevant talks from local speakers, experienced or not.

Sessions are 20 minutes long, and open to Australian residents. If you’re successful, we’ll fly you to Sydney, put you … Read more »

First Summit 17 Speakers Announced

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  • July 12, 2017
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With meanings including the highest point of a mountain, a peak of achievement, and a meeting between people on a particular topic, Summit seems a particularly apt new name for our annual Sydney-based summer conference.

Web Directions Summit 17 is where we bring together some of the most renowned and advanced thinkers and practitioners … Read more »

Video of the Week: CSS + SVG: A Designer’s Delight – Sara Soueidan

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  • June 30, 2017
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Sara SoueidanWe’re going back to Respond 16 for our Video of the Week this week, when Sara Soueidan came to visit and delivered an inspiring, eye-opening keynote presentation on what can be done with CSS and SVG working together.

It’s an excellent … Read more »

Video Ristretto: The Things You Can’t Do – Rob Howard

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  • June 21, 2017
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Rob HowardOur short video today is a fascinating one from Code 16, where Rob Howard explored the notion that not all tools, methods, functions or operators are necessarily the best for what you have in mind.

It sounds obvious but … Read more »

Registrations Now Open for Summit Conference in Sydney, November

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  • June 21, 2017
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We’re opening registrations for Web Directions Summit today.

Summit is our new peak annual flagship event at Australian Technology Park in Sydney on 9-10  November, which brings together all the tribes that make up our industry.

Based on the format of the original Web Directions conferences, Summit is two days … Read more »

Code 16: Does Your Web App Speak Schadenfreude? Greg Rewis

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  • June 19, 2017
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Localisation (or localization) is one of those things that seem simple at first glance, but the further you go into it, the more of a rabbit warren you realise it is.

Fortunately, once you’ve worked out what’s needed, it can become a largely automated or at least controlled process and, as … Read more »

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