I’ve been asked to speak at Rain on How to Network. I took it in a slightly different direction.
Here’s the short description:
Networking Sucks
Networking has a lot of benefits, sadly it usually requires that you are self serving, false, and act, generally, like a tool. In this session we’ll be looking at alternatives and how you can feel more comfortable as a part of the interaction community.
Starting in January, I’ll be joining the Adobe XD team under Ethan Eismann.
I’ll be working with Jacob Surber, and Deepa Subramaniam, with the Flash Catalyst the and Flex teams, respectively.
I joined Rain in February as an opportunity to work in an agency setting and to get a change of scenery from Las Vegas.
Working at Rain has been a fantastic experience. I’ve been able to work on wonderful projects with some remarkable people.
As far as I understand, I don’t think my involvement with the community will change much. I still intend to speak at conferences, work on the next Flex Cookbook (whatever and whenever that might be), and continue recording podcasts.
Though I won’t officially be an ACP or UGM, I plan to continue working with Rachel Luxemburg and Liz Frederick wherever I can be of assistance.
Right now things are getting worked out on the future of RIA Radio. Regardless of what happens I will continue to record episodes. Podcasting has become too much a part of my week to give it up quite yet.
Liz Frederick (@lizign) asked me to help out with Tech Wednesday last week.
I presented a slightly modified version of one of my MAX sessions, and renamed it “Good UX with CS5″.
The recording is online if you missed it and my slides are embedded below.
This year’s MAX was a busy one for me.
Last session in a series after Your Flex App Looks Like Poo, and Decrapping Your Application.
I was hit was inspiration the night before and finished the slides with 5 min to spare.
You can buy it at 360|Flex
It was a blast being a part of the panel with the RIA Radio gang. Thank you Dave Schroeder for inviting us.
It is vital to have effective workflows and communication between roles on interactive projects. In this session we will be comparing common workflows and discussing the latest releases of tools including Adobe CS5 (specifically Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks), Flash Builder 4 Professional, and Omnigraffle. It will be hosted by a panel consisting of Garth Braithwaite (Interaction Designer), Leif Wells (ActionScript Developer), Zach Stepek (Server-side Developer), and Stacey Mulcahy (Information Architect). Following the indroduction from the panel it will be opened up for discussion points from the audience so feel free to bring questions. Questions this session will address: What roles should be covered in an interactive team? What are the pain points of some commonly used workflows? How do you avoid said pain points? How can you improve communication between team members?
I was happy with how the session went and I appreciate all those for attending. Thanks also to Elad Elrom for putting together the conference and inviting me to speak.
Note: This presentation was the second in a series. I’ve also posted the slides from the first and last presentations.
Follow up to Garth’s 360|Flex session: Your Flex App Looks Like Poo.
Richer interaction requires a better grasp of Interaction Design (IxD).
As Flash/Flex/Whatever developers/designers/whatevers you need to know your IxD crap; at least well enough to communicate with those who know what they’re doing.
In the session we’ll be looking at why being aware of IxD is important, how to get up to speed, and how to Flex 4 and Flash plays into it.
My session went well at 360|Flex. Thank you everyone for attending.
Note: This presentation was the second in a series. I’ve also posted the slides from the first and second presentations.
With the new skinning tools in Flex 4 you no longer have an excuse for your apps looking like cookie cutter crap. We’ll cover skinning basic components (like button, radio, checkbox) and mutilating advanced components (DataGroup, Lists, ButtonBar, SparkComponent) beyond the point of recognition. As an extra exercise we cover how to quickly create a custom loading screen.
Come see the results of InsideRIA’s public vote (record-setting numbers for InsideRIA’s polls) to select the five best RIAs of the year, based on innovation, creativity, and general popularity. Session host Garth Braithwaite will run through the finalists and the audience will vote for the winner.
