OK – I have to say I work for a cool company. Not trying for brownie points here (can’t hurt) but a company that invests in the future to me – is awesome. So Aquent sponsored/is sponsoring some
great events in 2010 and I was a very lucky attendee for two of them.

• An Event Apart – for those of you not familiar with A List Apart – An Event Apart is an intense 2 day seminar for people who make websites with speakers discussing topics ranging from HTML5/CSS3 coding, content strategy, the future of web, and user experience. http://aneventapart.com/about/
• Internet Week NYC and The Webby Awards – www.internetweekny.com
  and www.webbyawards.com.

Let me first begin by saying that both events were very
different but offered stories/examples that I’ve been sharing with talent ever since. True story!

Biggest takeaway from An Event Apart:

Luke Wroblewski’s discussion regarding building mobile applications first, and desktop sites second versus simply shrinking a website to fit a mobile device. http://aneventapart.com/speakers/lukewroblewski/ This ensures an awesome interface and user experience. Can you say
GENIUS? Think of how awesome most mobile sites are compared to the larger ones. Case in point – ANY AIRLINE. J I triple-dog dare you to log into an airline site you’re unfamiliar with and find “check flight status” within 3 seconds. And then try their mobile site. :)

Also – if you ever want to understand the design process and simply don’t know which approach to take or even better, an approach that you SHOULD take, you have to listen to any discussion by Jared Spool. He’s funny and really explains the different design decision styles in a fantastic way. http://aneventapart.com/speakers/jaredspool/

Biggest takeaway from
Internet Week/Webby Awards:

Other than the fact that people LOVE free stuff? (ok.. guilty. I have added 4 new t-shirts to my wardrobe as well). But overall that people LOVE interactivity, Twitter/Facebook and other social media platforms are ONLY the beginning of connectivity and sharing, the Internet is only getting started and
will continue to evolve, and simply that these events are a GREAT way to
network and learn some fantastic tidbits about new technology, the importance
of content, new ways to engage in social media, etc.. the list goes on and
on.

Check out some of the photos/video from the week: http://www.internetweekny.com/
and of course the Webby Awards: youtube.com/webby.

That’s it for me this month. No advice you say? But that’s what this blog is about right?? You want advice – GET OUT THERE! To put it in perspective, a general

admission ticket to Internet week for the exhibition rooms was $10. Think of that - $10. Two cups of coffee. One martini in the city. Two movies On Demand. Now think of the return on that $10. Priceless.