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Az Caz & Co
Time to stand up and be counted!
March 15th, 2007 | 4 Comments
Now that I have a little break in my schedule I think it is important that I state my reasons for putting on The Highland Fling – Web Standards in Scotland conference as it is more than just getting kick ass speakers up to Scotland. I am very passionate about what I do for a living, I love building websites, I love talking about websites, I love meeting other people that build websites and what’s more is that I care deeply about the future of the industry.
We as web developers have a duty to do a good job and ensure that we are doing things right, I do not beleive for a long shot that the “standards war” has been won and I know for a fact that there is still a lot of work to be done. So long as your nephew, son, second cousin or even your mother are capable of churning out a website, the very value and stability of the web development industry is undermined and devaluated, I think it is imperritive to raise awareness of how things should be done properly.
Now I don’t want to slate the bedroom developer… heck… I even started as a bedroom developer but there is a difference in quality from what I did back then and what I do now. Over the years I have done one hell of a lot of reading and done my best to stay on top of emerging trends and techniques and pride myself on trying to do the very best I can but now I want to help others do the same.
Scotland isn’t a big place, in fact the UK isn’t a big place and it is invaluable to meet your peers and commrades in arms. By getting together and talking, you begin to build new horizons, relationships are formed, businesses are built, ideas are born and common goals become rife.
By putting on the conference I want to bring together the community in Scotland (and indeed anyone else who wants to come) and help beginning to build a united future of web development in Scotland. I want to help raise the bar of what we are doing day to day though education and help proliferate best practise so that the people doing things right will benefit from doing things right.
The reason I chose the subject of progressive enhancement for the conference is that it is at the very essence of best practice web development. Build for the lowest common denominator and then layer additional functionality / enhancements on top. This philosophy allows you to not only ensure that your websites will work on the widest possible selection of platforms, it will also enable you to add all of the bells and whistles you want to and be able to sleep easy knowing that the site will still degrade gracefully. What more could you ask for?
I read a wonderful article by Andy Rutledge about web standards and how it should be about quality and not standards. I agree, standards should just be how it is done, it should not be the selling point, reaching as many people and devices as possible should be the selling point.
I am really looking forward to the day now, the content of the sessions and the quality of the speakers will be fantastic so I really hope you will take the time to stand up and be counted. At the end of the day it is you that stands to benefit from it if you do…
Roll on April 5th!
Cole Author Comment
March 15th, 2007
hear hear and hats off to you alan for what you have set in motion.
i’m relatively new to the transition from bedroom developer to paid-up & paid-for member of the web community but am passionate about what i do and also about making my work available to all. on that i would be willing to stand up and be counted.
very much looking forward to hearing the papers at the fling (hopefully the first of many) and meeting like-minded individuals from north of the border (if that doesn’t sound too lonely hearts).
Nick Author Comment
March 15th, 2007
Well said! I’m looking forward to the conference and to meeting new, like-minded folk. Bring on the revolution.
Alan White Author Comment
March 16th, 2007
@Cole: I think a lot of web developers started off in the bedroom and this is not necessarily a bad thing. I love the fact that I was able to learn something off my own back in the comfort of my own home.
I think the interesting debate happens in the transition from bedroom to professional and how to keep balance in the web economy. It is equally important that new innovation takes place and that
canwill no doubt come from some kid messing in their bedroom at some point. The freedom of the interweb huh? I could go on about this for a while but will maybe save it for a rant on the day, or maybe even another post@Nick: Glad you are looking forward to it… viva la revolution indeed!
Nils Author Comment
March 16th, 2007
Of course I heard about this conference somewhere before. If I could only remember where
But good post. I myself have always liked ‘toying’ with the likes of Photoshop and Illustrator, but I never called myself a designer. Now that I’m taking my first steps in CSS, I realize everyday that there are tonnes more things around the corner that I need to wrap my head around. And that’s just CSS!
I fully realize I will never be a developer and unless and until I do, I won’t call me one.
I think that is the essence here. It is about quality when it comes to development, but it is about standards too: people have to realize the difference between knowing a lot of tools, and being a pro. The pros can only benefit from that, and the bedroom guys like me, in the end, will too.
Glad to see you get to post some more these days. And good luck with the Fling!