Last Friday, I had the honour to speak at Western Australia’s premier web conference, Edge of the Web.

My talk, titled ‘Services, SItes & Snakeoil’ was a 45 minute run down on the state of the web industry, examples of possibly unsavory behavior amongst the industry, and suggested actions to put into place to encourage better ethical decisions in the future.

I also handed out paper, and requested people jot down some of their own thoughts, which I’ll be sharing here in the near future. Right near the end of the talk, I dropped mention of the wiki environment that a bunch of us have started, in order to work through the concept of a ‘Code of Conduct’ or some-such. I’d love to see you join us there, at www.webindustrycode.org

Please enjoy the presentation above, and if you like it, share it with your colleagues. Thanks to Matt Didcoe, Ashul Shah, Helen Burgess and the tram at Partner and Prosper for the great conference – it really was a fantastic event.

Feedback on my talk, or the slides above? Hit me up in the comments.

The cat is out of the bag, so to speak. I’m stepping down from my role as National Chairperson of the Australian Web Industry Association, at this years AGM. Since this forum post appeared, a number of people have been emailing or calling me to ask the inevitable ‘What’s up?’ and I felt that it was worthy of some explanation.

I rose to this role way back in 2002, when I did a call out for people to catch up for a pint and a chat with industry peers. The idea was low key, and it wasn’t long until we became an Incorporated Association under the name Port 80 Inc in July 2004. We then changed names to reflect our national focus a few years later. We’ve had great committee members come and go during the last seven or so years, and it’s been a great journey.

However, I’ve always been the Chairperson. Over the last eight years, we’ve really grown up as an Association, and I feel the last real change has been obvious for some time now; a changing at the top.

The reason is that I embrace the notion that great organisations need regular new blood to surivive, prosper and grow. We’ve had great new committee members join in the last few years (well, ever since the start), but I’ve always been there. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have consistency in management, but there must be a point that the Chairperson can change, and the underlying committee and structure becomes the constant.

I believe we’ve reached that point.

I’ll let my resignation email tell the story from here…

This hopefully won’t come as a surprise to anyone, however i’ve been thinking more frequently recently, that it is my time to move on from AWIA.

It’s been a very difficult decision, because since starting Port80 back in mid 2002, I’ve been involved in every decision and direction that AWIA has chosen. I’ve often felt that AWIA is one of my children, and I don’t want to stop being involved. I have, to a certain degree, felt resistant to leaving because I worry about the message that sends to our members.

On the other hand, I strongly believe that it’s important for any association to be seen to have fresh blood, and to reinvigorate the management committee frequently. It provides innovation, career paths (can you call this a career? :)) to fellow committee members and encourages fresh thinking. Over the last year, I have had less involvement from meeting to meeting, and it has been great that others have taken these duties and run with them.

My life has been very full the last 12 months. I feel that I’m not giving the Association the attention it deserves, and therefore not living up to the high expectations I personally have for somebody in the role of Chairperson for AWIA. A plethora of changes have occurred for me both professionally and personally, which has meant the time I have to devote to AWIA activities has become increasingly smaller for some time now. As a result, I’ve felt frustrated and guilty, in equal measures.

This is a long winded way of saying that after careful consideration, I wish to notify the committee that I will not be standing for re-election at the end of my current tenure, the August AGM. I would be open to being co-opted for a position such as ‘Immediate Past Chairperson’, which many Associations have as a way of reducing information loss, however I will not be standing as Chairperson. This has possibly been the hardest decision I’ve had to make in a long time.

I strongly believe that AWIA is in great hands, and the current committee have done a great job since the last AGM. Many of you have been on the committee for far longer, and a HUGE thanks for that. I wish to thank you all for showing through your actions your willingness to help foster a great web industry and strong member community. AWIA has an exciting time ahead of it, however not without some challenges, and I look forward to seeing where it heads in the future.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the committee members, both past and present, for giving their time up for such a cause. I’d also like to thank all Australian Web Industry Association members, for supporting the work that we’ve done, and will continue to do.

It’s been a great journey.

There is less than two weeks until Perth’s second ever web conference; Edge of the Web 2009 gets underway, and the excitement is building!

One large element of the social aspects of web conferences is the ‘twitter back channel’, you know; the thoughts and musings of people who are attending the conference posted on Twitter.

With this in mind, I thought it worthwhile to go through the impressive speakers list, and link those who are on Twitter so you can also watch what the speakers are saying, before, during and after the crazy week we have planned.

Derek Powazek @fraying
Anil Dash @anildash
Alex Payne @al3x
Dmitry Baranovskiy @DmitryBaranovsk
Gary Barber @Tuna
Ruth Ellison @RuthEllison
Lachlan Hardy @lachlanhardy
Simon Pascal Klein @klepas
Kevin Yank @sentience
Miles Burke @milesb
Ash Donaldson @ashdonaldson
Matt Balara @MattBalara
Matt Didcoe @mattman
Scott Gledhill @gleddy
Nick Cowie @nickobec
Myles Eftos @madpilot
James McCutcheon @jamesmcc
Justin Mclean @JustinMclean
Darcy Laycock @Sutto

Remember, if you are attending Edge of the Web 2009, you should use #eotw09 as the hashtag. It’d probably be a good idea to also follow the @eotw Twitter account too!

Australian Web Week is just a couple of weeks away, and the team at the Australian Web Industry Association have created quite a unique event for the occassion.

Instead of the usual pre- Web Directions South Port80 drinks and pizza affair, which we’ve held for the last few years, we’re introducing a new event to your calendar: WebWiz.

The concept is great; there will be a panel for four web experts, plus an additional two contestants hand-picked from the audience to compete for ‘millions of dollars worth of awesome web kudos’.

Guaranteed to be a great way to spend a Tuesday evening in Sydney!

All the gory details are:

Tuesday 6th of October 2009
from 7:00pm
Top floor
Pyrmont Bridge Hotel
96 Union Street
Pyrmont NSW 2009
(Google Map)

Entry is absolutely FREE – however there are only limited places available, so I suggest you head straight over and RSVP now.

During the evening (which will include free nibbles and a cash bar), we’ll also be announcing some of the finalists for the Australian Web Awards, just to make it even more exciting!

I hope that you can make it!

The Australian Web Industry Association is having our Annual General Meeting next month, which means we’ve once again got a number of committee positions available for nominations and voting.

The positions are typically for a period of two years, and involve a 1-2 hour monthly teleconference (Eastern States committee) or face-to-face (if in WA), as well as participation in our committee email mailing list (time requirement varies with role, typically 30 – 90 minutes of reading/replying per week).

The reward, being a volunteer position, is the great feeling and fame(?) that you are steering Australia’s longest running web industry Association, and helping shape events (such as Edge of the Web and Australian Web Awards), education and other activities that AWIA are involved with.

There are seven positions on the 12 member board this year, so there is no better time to get involved!

Nominations close at midnight, Friday 24th July. The only prerequisites are that you need to be a financial member of AWIA, and have a keen interest in the web industry. We encourage members from all states to be involved – this ensures a better national coverage.

To nominate for a position on the board, please email a nomination, consisting of a 50-100 word biography to secretary@webindustry.asn.au before the deadline. All nominee statements will be published on the AWIA website allowing people to read about you before voting (if required) at the AGM.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, catch me on Twitter (@milesb) or via email using miles@webindustry.asn.au

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?

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!

It’s true that I’m passionate about Port80 events; I’ve seen so many great things come out of Port80 Perth, I really want to see them established in other Australian capital cities.

Well, the Australian Web Industry Association are hitting the road again – this time, we’re bringing Port80 to Sydney and Melbourne, with aspirations that these cities then take the baton and grow their events locally.

Gary Barber (AWIA Treasurer) and I will be promoting the Port80 Melbourne concept on May 26th, along with fellow AWIA committee member, Harriet Wakelam, who recently moved to Melbourne from Perth.

We’re putting on some free nibbles, free entry and a cash bar at the funky Softbelly Bar. The full details are:

Port80 Melbourne
Tuesday 26th May, starting at 7.00pm, at:

The Lounge @ Softbelly Bar
367 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

You can see a Google Map here.

Then, Gary and I are also joining fellow AWIA committee member and Sydney local, Marc Lehmann, at Port80 Sydney. Once again, free nibbles, free entry and even a few free drinks (thanks to sponsor, Saasu!) on May 27th, at the Saasu offices in Sydney CBD.

The full details for this one are:

Port80 Sydney
Wednesday 27th May, starting at 7.00pm, at:

Saasu Offices
Level One, 111 Elizabeth St
Sydney NSW 2000

You can view a Google Map here.

If you’re going to be in either city on these days, I’d encourage you to attend. We promise no long boring speeches, this is a casual social affair. Port80 events are a chance for you to meet other web designers, developers, project managers and others in the web industry in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.

Mark these dates in your diary, and please feel free to invite your colleagues and co-workers in the industry. I hope to see you there!

The other day, we (committee of The Australian Web Industry Association) announced our latest event, Ideas5.

To be held at the Melbourne Hotel on Wed 22 April 2009, the event is expected to draw a reasonable crowd, to hear from two experts about the W3C recommendation of WCAG2.0, as well as hear about accessibility issues, particularly around the Adobe PDF format. Then there’s the free food and cash bar for further enticement.

A big thanks for our two speakers, Andrew Downie and Roger Hudson, who are travelling from Sydney to speak at this event, our sponsors, who help offset the costs of these events, as well as the committee, all volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to bring these events to Perth.

If you work on the web, and pride yourself on accessibility, then you’ll want to attend this one. The full details are on the Ideas5 page. I encourage you to grab a ticket now, and support these great events.

I hope to see you there!

On Wednesday night, approximately 80 web people came to the sophisticated new upstairs bar at the Flying Scotsman, Mt Lawley, to celebrate Christmas with Port80, at our official Perth Port80 Christmas Soiree, and to also celebrate the launch of The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Thanks to everyone who showed up, and I apologise that we ran out of books so quickly.

The feedback from everyone was great, both on the event and my book, and a huge thanks to everyone who bought the book!

Today, I’m pleased to announce that SitePoint have now started taking orders for the book, which will be officially launched next week on SitePoint.com. Read about the book over here, and then head to the pre-order page to grab a copy (Oh, and if you’re in Perth, bring your copy to a Port80 meeting, and I’ll happilly sign it for you as well).

When you buy the book, not only do you get a 30 day money back guarantee, but you can also get free shipping anywhere, if you buy more than just this one book. Have a look at some of the other great SitePoint titles.

Image: Photo from Wednesday, by Gary Barber.