Converge SE Web Developer Conference Showcased at IT-oLogy (Day One)

Web Professionals Get “Famously Hot” in Columbia, South Carolina @ IT-oLogy

HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, API’s, Web Type, iOS and Email Jujitsu…

On the face of it, you might think the above terms are reserved for two guys sitting in a basement, watching the original Star Wars Trilogy, hopped up on Skittles and Red Bull, programming a website in a code-a-thon for 72 hours straight. Truth is, you’d probably be right.

However, what I learned during the Converge SE Web Developer Conference (www.convergese.com – @convergese) this past weekend, was that these terms and the “experts, wizards, wookalars, and noobs” that hone their craft with them, are continuing to build the infrastructure and websites that power over $1 trillion in US online sales and web-influenced retail sales.  (Forrester Research)

IT-ology’s mission is to Promote, Teach and Grow IT – so when Gene Crawford brought Converge SE to IT-ology to serve as the hub of this awesome IT event, the two organizations’ philosophies aligned (as well as the stars..).

Day One.. Let the Workshops Begin

Lonnie Emard of IT-ology welcomed the crowd of over 200 web professionals from 15 different states. Then Kevin Hale co-founder of WuFoo (www.wufoo.com – @wufoo) keynoted the masses with the message that we as web professionals are not just designing and coding, we are practicing a craft:

“Now, just to make sure we’re on the same page, craft is a type of profession that requires the application of skilled work. It’s work we cannot do when we come out of the womb. Craft requires knowledge that must be harnessed from the world and because that work is by definition “skilled” it is knowledge that must be practiced.”

…Thus, why we attend conferences like this.

The rest of the day was structured into workshops in Design, Development, Mobile/iOS, and Business/Marketing.

I learned “iOS for Web Designers” from Kevin Smith – a “must” for web professionals as the internet gets more mobile.

We were entertained with the comedic scripts (and practiced bad acting) of the boys from Paravel in Austin, TX – Trent, Dave and Reagan (www.paravelinc.com – @paravelinc). Oh, and we learned something about “Designing with Web Type” – a cool way use CSS3 to duplicate print images on a website, while protecting your SEO (search engine optimization) interests.

The highlight for me was Grasshopper Group’s Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay (@grasshopperbuzz) with his talk “Traditional PR is Dead!” He reminded me of two major ideas essential to success in online business:  The first is “listen – listen – listen… and then react” to make sure your customers start to love you. The second major idea about successful online business, is remember to take it “off-line” whenever you can, because your customers are not businesses – your customers are people who happen to run those businesses.

And not to be overlooked at all, Nicole Cendrowski of Sandler Training (www.rdavis.sandler.com – @SandlerGvl) made sure that as web professionals, we need to remember we still need to make money – so we need to sell.

Tune in tomorrow, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel for: Converge SE Day Two.. Multitudes of Keynotes

***Photo by Converge SE’s Facebook Page…check it out for all the pictures!