The very first web conference I attended was the second ever An Event Apart in Atlanta in 2006. Don’t believe me, here I am eating a hamburger. I still have that grey undershirt by the way.

I remember that trip and that day well. I specifically remember Zeldman’s advice to never respond to an RFP longer than two pages. I can’t recall any other specific insights gained, but I remember walking away feeling like I had tons of work to do to be a real web developer.

Well in the 11 years since, I think I’ve done alright.

When I saw the line-up for Seattle 2017, every single session will help me improve. Here are some sessions I’m particularly exctied about and what I’m hoping to get out of them.

  • The Codependent’s Guide to Design Collaboration - Zeldman leads the day off with something where all developers can do better
  • Practical Branding - brand is a big part of what we do at A Brave New
  • Onboarding for Any Situation - we have a few clients that build software and having a framework for a positive first-use experience will be helpful
  • Motion In Design Systems - ahh animation, all the cool kids do it, but how do we make it classy
  • Design Beyond Our Devices - pattern languages are my love language(s)
  • Evaluating Technology - this is my primary area of expertise so I’m interested to learn how others go about this process
  • New CSS Layout Meets the Real World - grid is almost brand new to me and I can always brush up on flexbox
  • Designing with Grid - perhaps the session I’m most exited for, from what I’ve read the grid will save my soul
  • Design for Real Life - Eric Meyer is respected for a reason, he could talk about rocks and I would go
  • The Joy of Optimizing - I am doing some cool stuff on the code side, optimizing images is another matter
  • 10 Things You Can and Should Do With SVG - dabbled in SVG, and want to know more
  • Let’s Build a Website - can’t wait to follow someone’s process start to finish and steal the good stuff

This event will will be 11 years to the day since my last An Event Apart. A lot has happened since April 2006, but all that time I’ve proud to be part of the blue beanie wearing club. I’m looking forward to sharpening my skills even further.