Yes, it’s back on again! After the success of previous BarCampPerth events, in 2007 and 2008, BarCampPerth3 will be held on July 18, 2009 at eCentral TAFE.

If you’ve read my last post, Why you should attend two conferences a year, you’ll appreciate why these events are a fantastic opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.

Unlike a traditional conference, you don’t fork out any money, and you don’t get a slick conference bag or even know who is going to present before the event. You are also encouraged not to just sit on a chair all day, but get involved yourself.

A BarCamp is grass roots education and networking at its best. You come along, and offer to help in any way you can. That could be helping hand out name tags, it could be serving coffee, running AV equipment, taking photographs or doing a presentation yourself.

Everyone pitches in to do their bit, and the day turns out to be great. You meet new people, you learn about new topics, and you leave with a new respect for your craft, the work of others, and the ideology of a grass roots quasi-conference.

My experience of the last two Perth ones have been great. I’ve met plenty of passionate people, I’ve heard some great presentations, and I’ve even given one myself. I encourage you to attend BarCamp3 and see what all the fuss is about. It’ll be free entry, free (and fantastic!) coffee and possibly even free lunch as well - who could ask for more than that?

So why attend a conference? Let’s start with education. You’ll learn more from attending one conference than all the books and blog posts you can read in one month. This may sound like a tall order, but seriously, if you are actively listening to the presenter, it’s hard not to learn more than by simply being there.

Secondly, the fact that you are there in person (as opposed to, say, listening to a podcast) means that you participate in the full experience; non-verbal cues (such as body language or facial expressions), as well as presentation slides and Q&A sessions that are normally cut from the podcast, are all factors that can make a session more rewarding, and provide valuable insights too.

Then there’s the networking. Some may derisively call it schmoozing, however, this is a very important benefit of conferences that should not be underestimated. The contacts that you can make by grabbing a meal or a coffee during a break can be worth the cost of the conference alone. I’ve won at least $50,000 worth of business just by attending the last two Web Directions South conferences–and that’s without even really trying!

I’ve also found that by socializing with the presenters, I learn more about their areas of expertise than by just watching them on stage. I’ve become friends with a few speakers as a result, and have regular email dialogue now with my international contacts.

So how can you benefit the most from attending a conference? Here are seven tips:

1. Gain as much advance notice of the schedule as you can. Normally, with more than one stream, you’ll need to make some decisions–which presentations to watch and which ones to miss. You’ll want to read up on the presentation topics to ensure you make the best choices. Bring along a list of your preferred schedule to avoid missing an important session.
2. Make contact beforehand with other delegates you know personally. If you’re going by yourself, you can arrange to meet for coffees and not feel so isolated. If you don’t know anyone attending, you might like to introduce yourself on the conference blog, or alternatively, search the blog posts for other like-minded attendees and arrange to meet up with them.
3. Stay for the whole conference. Don’t get the day two doldrums and skip sessions. It goes without saying that the presentation you miss will be the one everyone raves about afterwards.
4. Don’t be hesitant to ask questions. If they don’t cater for question time during the presentation, seek out the presenter at the break and ask them; you’ll be amazed at how approachable they are.
5. Schmooze. You’ll meet loads of new people at the social events that accompany these conferences, who may eventually become friends, colleagues, employers, or clients. Be genuine though, and don’t set out to “work the room.”
6. Buy the book. If they are selling books, get hold of the ones you believe you’ll benefit most from, and get them signed whilst you’re there. It’s a great souvenir of the conference and a valuable education tool as well.
7. Find accommodation in the conference’s vicinity. You don’t want to be traipsing across a busy city every day, and you’ll probably need to charge that laptop or digital camera every so often.

This post first appeared as part of Issue 414 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.

It’s out of the bag; the Australian Web Awards are now open for entries, and have now been announced to the world.

What started as a humble black tie cocktail event in Perth four years ago has grown from 2005 to be a large glitzy event in Perth, and now, after many requests, we’re taking it nationally.

Previous winners and attendees of the WA Web Awards will tell you how great it is. Not only is it a great opportunity to don a more formal outfit and enjoy a great meal and networking with other web professionals, becoming a finalist is a joy for those who manage to get to this point.

We’re starting off ambitious however cautious. This year, we’ll have two cocktail events in two capitals; being Brisbane, QLD and Sydney, NSW first, before concluding with the national awards to be held at the end of the Edge of the Web conference, held in Perth.

I’m already being asked if we plan to grow to include events in other capital cities in the future - the answer is we hope so! It’s not an easy challenge both financially and logistically to hold these events, so our caution this year is to only hold two events before getting too big for our boots. We’d love to see them in every capital city; however that may take some time to achieve.

As for always holding the finale event in Perth, no, it isn’t set in stone for the future, so don’t be surprised if it does shift cities in the future - who knows what the future holds.

Thanks also to the amazing volunteers of the Australian Web Industry Association, who put this whole thing together in their spare time, along with the wonderful ladies from Red Horizon Events. This wouldn’t be possible without you, Helen, Jan, Kay, Myles and Rebecca - a HUGE thanks!

The Australian Web Awards are truly a showcase of outstanding work from Australian Web Designers and Developers. As they say, you need to be in it, to win it, so support this great initiative, by heading on over and entering your best work right now. Entries close July 7th, so get cracking!