Web Directions Conffab
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Conferences, workshops and more for the Australian web industry–brought to you by the folks who've been at the centre of it for 20 years, Web Directions.
Featuring
- Developer SummitNov 27th & 28th
- NextNov 29th
- WorkshopsNov 28th & 29th
- SideshowsNov 25th–Dec 6th
web directions developersummit Sydney Nov 27 & 28 2024
A world leading conference for the people building the Web.
web directions Next Sydney Nov 29 2024
What's next in the world of digital design, product and strategy?
Workshops
November 28th and 29th
On November 28th and 29th we've got three very rare workshops on very timely topics by world leading experts.
Sentient Design
A workshop on resilient & maintainable CSS
Josh Clark & Veronika Kindred
November 28th 9am–5pm
Sentient Design is the already-happening future of intelligent interfaces—experiences that feel almost self-aware in their response to user needs. These are AI-mediated experiences that adapt to humans, instead of making us adapt to them. Sentient Design moves past static info/layouts and embraces UX as a radically adaptive story, experiences that are conceived and compiled in real time based on your intent in the moment.
This workshop explores the AI-powered opportunities that lie beyond the chatbot—and that will animate the next generation of our craft. This transition demands fresh perspective, technique and process. It also introduces new challenges and dangers. Sentient Design provides a framework for conceiving, exploring, and delivering this new kind of experience.
Cascading Style Systems
A workshop on resilient & maintainable CSS
Miriam Suzanne
November 29th 9am–5pm
New CSS features are shipping at an unprecedented rate – cascade layers, container queries, the :has() selector, subgrid, nesting, and so much more. It’s an exciting time, but the list can also feel overwhelming.
Do I really need grids if I already know flexbox? What problem do layers actually solve? Should I rewrite my styles with each feature release, or stick with the tools that I know?
Join Miriam for a deep dive into what makes the language work, and how we can harness its power to develop resilient and delightful experiences that hold up across browsers, languages, and device interfaces.
Web Components Demystified
dynamic, fast, resilient apps with standard web components
Scott Jehl
November 29th 9am–5pm
If you're like me, you've been hearing a lot about web components lately. Many of us are finding ways to transition to using web components more in our work, and all the while, many teams are struggling to get up to speed and figure out how web components fit into their workflows. A lot is happening with web components right now and it can be a little overwhelming to follow all that has changed.
If you're a designer or developer looking to gain a better understanding of how web components can fit into your workflow today and into the future, this is the course for you!
Sideshows
November 25th to December 6th
Keen to host an event the week of Web Directions Festival? Run your meetup, host an openhouse at your company or agency. With hundreds of industry professionals in town from all around Australia and beyond why not put on a show?
to make a proposal or to learn more
AI & Apps Sydney
presented by Couchbase
Tue, 26 Nov, 6pm - 8:30pm
free
Albion Place Hotel, 531 George St, Sydney
Join Couchbase for an evening of networking to discuss how search technology is evolving and the best way to AI-enable your apps as quickly and easily as possible. This event is taking place at: Albion Place Hotel, Sydney.
We’ll explore the impact of vector search, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), and the power of hybrid search functionalities, so any solution can be scaled to achieve high-performance, from cloud to edge.
You’ll enjoy complimentary drinks and delicious appetizers, and learn how Couchbase helps businesses accelerate the digital transformation of their mission-critical applications in their journey to innovation for AI-powered adaptive apps.
Don’t miss an engaging evening in this casual environment with great company, and the chance to connect with experts and peers in the data space to discuss the future of AI and adaptive applications.
Into Design Systems
Hosted by WiseTech Global
74 O'Riordan St, Alexandria
November 26th 5:30pm
free
Into Design Systems is a global initiative that connects design system practitioners and enthusiasts to network and learn from one another.
A hybrid event, it's designed to accommodate your preferences. You can attend in person at the fantastic WiseTech office or join online via the live stream. This way, you can fully immerse yourself in the talks from our three exceptional speakers.
For those attending in person there'll be food and drinks before the talks.
Speakers
Our three speakers will be announced soon. Stay tuned!
Future Tech Collective
Hosted by Bilue
Level 4/4-6 Bligh St, Sydney NSW 2000
November 26th 5:30pm
free
Where insightful talks spark conversations and collaboration, exploring how technology is reshaping the future of our world and our lives.
This event features Marguerite Pettit, Communications Lead, Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation and Anya Grichina, Psychotherapist, Principal at Intimate Matters
Inventing our Future at the Concept Lab
CSIRO Concept Lab
13 Garden St, Eveleigh
Mon, 2 Dec, 2pm - 7pm
free
Parliaments and Presidents, Committees and Kings. As they once commissioned symphonies and cathedrals, they now procure expert reports. All evidence has been considered, we say; but as much of it is very complicated and some of it is secret, people are ever more reluctant to take it on faith. It’s time to build tools and systems that bring more and more diverse minds to bear.
Join us at the Concept Lab in Eveleigh for a day of making — ideas, software, designs, protocols and systems to power informed and collaborative decision-making about the world we inhabit.
Sydney Content Strategy Meetup
Hosted by Atlassian
Mon, 2 Dec, 6pm - 8:30pm
free
Join Sydney web content strategists, content designers, information architects, website managers, digital producers and UX designers to discuss crafting the best digital strategy for users.
This is a fun and collaborative meetup run by Elle from Elle Geraghty Content Strategy.
Case study
Luke Ellery will share a case study about getting Atlassian Rovo ready for launch.
About Luke
Luke Ellery is a Senior Content Designer at Atlassian, based in Sydney. With almost seven years in the content industry, Luke specialises in collaborating with his cross-functional partners to design accessible and delightful software experiences. Currently, he's contributing to the development of Atlassian's AI product, Rovo, within the Central AI team.
Aussie visionOS Day
Hosted by Contxtual
Fri, 6 Dec, 9am - 5pm
free
For our Sydney event there will be two half days;
Design will be in the morning Enterprise will be in the afternoon You are welcome to attend both, but please only get the sessions you intend to turn up for. We are expecting there to be a waitlist for both sessions.
There will be a stellar line-up of presenters covering a broad range of experiences for the Apple Vision Pro
Conferences, workshops and more
With our Developer Summit and brand new Next conferences taking lace this week, alongside workshops and more, there's plenty to choose from.
Starts in
Festival Gold Pass
$1995
Includes
- Dev Summit + Next in person attendance
- Dev Summit + Next conference videos
- closing night party
- Conffab Pro 12 months access
Dev Summit + Workshop Pass
$1995
Includes
- Dev Summit + Workshop in person attendance
- Dev Summit conference videos
- closing night party
- Conffab Pro 12 months access
Next + Workshop Pass
$1495
Includes
- Next + Workshop in person attendance
- Next conference videos
- closing night party
- Conffab Pro 12 months access
Sentient Design Workshop
$895
Includes
- Sentient Design workshop with Josh Clark
- in person attendance
Web Components Workshop
$895
Includes
- Web Components Demystified workshop with Scott Jehl
- in person attendance
CSS Workshop
$895
Includes
- Cascading Style Systems workshop with Miriam Suzanne
- in person attendance
Or attend an individual conference, or workshop
In person
In-person conferences and workshops are fully catered (morning and afternoon tea and lunch) including any dietary requrements. Our conferences feature amazing coffee (and more). Developer Summit and Next also feature a reception.
Streaming
Streaming passes include access to the conference livestream on our very own platform Conffab, includiing live captioning and chat, access to the stream on demand after the event and to the conference videos when they become available.
Learn more
Learn more about Developer Summit, Next, and their associated workshops and pricing.
Our venue
Web Directions Festival including Dev Summit, Next, our workshops and closing night party 2024 will take place in November at UTS Sydney.
Getting there:
There are numerous public transport options, and parking available close by.
Accommodation:
If you're coming from out of town, there are many hotel and serviced apartment style accomodation options in and around the area.
Live Streaming
Not everyone is ready, or able to get back to in-person events. Others find online conferences provide greater accessibility. So we'll be streaming our two festival conferences, Dev Summit and Next on our very own streaming platform Conffab.
Drawing on our lessons of hosting over a dozen online conferences in recent years, streaming attendees will get live captions, and be able interact with in-person attendees, ask speakers questions, and feel a close as possible without being at the venue.
Partner with us
Keen to reach hundreds of the leading web engineers in the country? We bring them together in one place, fuel them with coffee and amazing talks and reignite their excitement.
We work closely with our partners and their technologies to deliver world leading online conferences. Contact us to talk more about how we work can work with you to help you be even more awesome.
Keep up to date with Announcements
Want to keep up to date with news about Developer Summit? Let us know below and we'll email you as things develop.
John Allsopp
John Allsopp has been working on the Web for nearly 30 years. He's been responsible for innovative developer tools such as Style Master and X-Ray, and his ideas formed the foundation for Typekit, now Adobe Fonts, and the entire concept of Responsive Web Design. He's spoken at numerous conferences around the World and delivered dozens of workshops in that time as well.
His writing includes several books, including Developing With Web Standards and countless articles and tutorials in print and online publications.
His "A Dao of Web Design" published in 2000 is cited by Ethan Marcotte as a key influence in the development of Responsive Web Design, who's acclaimed article in 2010 begins by quoting John in detail, and by Jeremy Keith as "a manifesto for anyone working on the Web".
John brings his deep knowledge of and passion for the web and all things digital to every aspect of Web Directions.
About Us
Co-founded and now run by John Allsopp, Web Directions has for nearly 2 decades years brought together leading developers, engineers, visual, IxD, UX and product designers, Art and Creative Directors, product managers indeed everyone involved in producing web and digital products to learn from one another, and the World's leading experts across this vast field.
We spend our lives thinking about what comes next, keeping up with trends in technology, practices and processes, and filtering the hype, to make sure you don't miss trends that matter, and don't waste time on hype that doesn't.
We promise attending one of our events will leave you significantly better versed in the challenges you face day to day, and in solutions for addressing them.
Code of Conduct
For over a decade, we've worked hard to create inclusive, fun, inspring and safe events for the Web Industry.
As part of our commitment to these values, we've adopted a code of conduct for all involved: ourselves, our speakers, our partners and our audience.
If you have any concern or feedback, please don't hesitate to contact us.