I’ve had this idea of ‘thinking in pencil’ for a long time. The notion that one’s thoughts, opinions and ideas can shift and grow based on the information at hand, on any given day, at any given moment. Every new experience, sight and sound informs you as a person, an artist and as a designer. That commitment to exploration and the ability to admit and even embrace being wrong is one of the aspects of my own personality that I strive to improve every day. It makes me a better designer, a better manager, a better partner to clients - and a better person.
I try to focus on things relevant to web professionals, designers and other creative thinkers. Not always a successful endeavor, but variation keeps things interesting at least.
I was interviewed by Kimberley Donoghue ( @kydonoghue ) recently for the Providence Business News and it just came out today (view here). I’m really flattered - especially since PBN.com was one of the first big clients I had back in the 90’s and the first large-scale CMS I ever developed.
I gave a talk today at DrupalCamp ( #DrupalCampWMA ) on Web Strategy and how Drupal fits in that view of the world. I have to say I was hugely gratified with the reception - the room was packed and everyone asked a ton of great questions and sparked wonderful conversations. I've certainly written previously about what web strategy is and why I think it's so important, but what's equally vital is how Drupal can play such an integral role in enabling that strategic approach in designing and developing really compelling web solutions.
If you’ve been around the Providence tech scene for any amount of time, you’ve heard about Providence Geeks. According to Jack Templin ( @jacktemplin ) and Brian Jepson ( @bjepson ), this month marks the 4th birthday of the group, and they organize a monthly dinner/drinks/presentation by a local startup, usually at AS220. Not that many get the chance to present, and it’s usually a packed room full of some of the smartest technologists in the area.
Well, not a huge revelation here - but something that came out of my talk at #FOWD was a bit of inspiration. As web professionals we should remember that we do make AWESOME happen. The web has the potential to be the single most pervasive & transformative development in the history of business - but only if we learn enough about that organization to see how it can be applied.
I wanted to get these up here while it was still fresh in my mind. I can’t adequately express how humbling it was to see you all today for my talk, and my apologies for those who were not able to get in once the space filled! The response has been truly overwhelming.
I had my first podcast interview this week, and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. My friend Stephen Cross ( @stephencross ) emailed me and this fellow Andy Traub ( @andytraub ) saying something like ‘Andy, meet Jason. Jason, meet Andy.
I’m taking a page from @cameronmoll ‘s book and putting the outline for my talk @ #FOWD (Future of Web Design conference) up and asking for feedback. I’ve actually just finished my presentation, but it’s not really too late to make changes. Since it’s also a relatively un-talked-about topic (at least from my past few years of web-design-conference-attending experience) I though it might also help attendees decide if this talk is worth checking out at the risk of missing @nickla ‘s talk on Wordpress theming.
I wanted to add a bit more on the subject of my site redesign while it’s still fresh in my mind, and pass along some thanks to those who have provided some great inspiration and feedback. My wife Ellen and long-time friend PJ ( @pjmoore_1) had some really great insights that helped me ‘be my own designer’ better than I was, and really got me excited about the process of design and the ‘doing’ of it. The design itself came together pretty nicely thanks to the solid #Drupal framework already in place.
I’m really excited to be giving a talk in a couple weeks at FOWD. I’ve been attending this conference for a few years now and am still adjusting to the fact that I’m going to be on stage speaking this time around. I can’t wait!
Just a short note about my new site design. Lots going on lately and it was long overdue for me to have a site that actually reflects what I'm doing these days. I've been increasingly involved with more strategy and design work, and writing and speaking on the topic as well. This site started as just a blog but has become much more as my consulting practice has grown over the past year. Since Web Strategist, Designer and Technologist seem to be the monikers I go by it seemed to make sense to present myself in roughly that order right on the home page.