I had caught wind of a pre-party over at one of the local bars, so that evening I headed over. Small clumps of people leaned together with drinks in hand, speaking in their native Techie tongue. A couple noticed me casting around to find a geek group to join and came up to introduce themselves. Later on met a group of friends from Auckland. They were kind enough to let me join with them, and later some of us went out for late night pizza. That was a good time, thank you Darren, Dave, and Daniel (sorry, I didn’t get your card, no link!) for the food and drinks!

The next morning the “Conference Proper” began. The buzz of excitement was palpable as I entered. Eventually we were all let in to the hall. I was pleasantly surprised to see that, unlike the past two conferences I’ve been to, this was not a lecture hall. No, our planners knew that was boring and didn’t breed conversation. Dozens of white covered tables were placed tightly throughout the room, each with their own power source beneath. There were cheers as we began the day. In true Kiwi style, we were fed morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea. As well, once everything was over for the day, a cocktail party and “general merriment” (how many conferences have you been to with “merriment,” I ask you?).

Cocktails and dinner. This wasn’t some measly, “Here, go mingle and have some munchies while we prepare dinner.” No, this was excellent wine and champagne to go alone with tables piled high (literally) with an assortment of bit-sized seafood, beautifully arrayed. When the doors opened for dinner I stopped momentarily to speak to Lousie who works with Clockwork. We’d joked before about my ever-present hunger and how I was excited hostel and the event both had free food. She warned me I wouldn’t even recognize the room. She was right! The tables and chairs were still there, but the room had changed. Each table, now with a fresh new table cloth along with a runner, had a floral centerpiece, in variance, set in a large glass vase. Ferns and other native bushes had been placed throughout the hall. On the stage a live band was beginning to play some soft jazzy music. The place had been transformed! The dinner was absolutely excellent and the service (as throughout the entire conference) professional and friendly. This was better than many a restaurant I have been to. Maybe that was because everyone was buzzing with post-conference excitement (and a drink or two already), but it felt amazing. I thoroughly applaud the teams that pulled this off!

The speakers themselves were great! While I’d love to give a rundown of what they spoke about, I realized part way through transcribing my notes that it is going to take me a little while. I’ll write them up and post them separately. During the after-party I was able to chat with several different speakers. They were pleasantly down to earth and friendly. Dan Cederholm was a pleasure to talk with. I’ve always enjoyed his work at SimpleBits. Michael Lopp of Apple was kind enough to buy us both drinks and join our conversation. Earlier I sat with Liz and Jason from Happy Cog Stuidios and privately check out some of their latest work with them. They’re involved with a refresh of WordPress’ administration area. Jason is another prominent designer I follow on his blog. I was help them a little bit in sorting out their post-conference travel plans in the short time they had to explore this beautiful country.

All in all it was an excellent conference, one that I am very happy I chose to go to. It was a close call though, and I nearly decided not to attend. Thankfully that was not the case. Now I hope to take my new-found knowledge and continued passion for this industry into the next season of time to enhance my work.

All terms aside, I’ve been realizing over the past who knows how many months that this site does not do me justice (or perhaps it does and I’d rather it not). Maybe I’ve just slowly had a clearer realization of what I do and why I do it. At my core I am not a web designer, developer, architect, master, specialist, or any other fancy word. I am the guy that enables others to achieve their goals, dreams, and purposes. I absolutely love to be the guy behind the curtain making the one in front of it succeed. Is that odd? Is it opposite that I enjoy more being the unseen force rather than the face on the billboard? Maybe it’s because I’ve learned that the meaning in “Behind every great man, there is a great woman” applies to so much more; that there is this power in being the one upon whom it all hangs.

All selfish and moral issues aside, I get excited when I can do something to boost another. Be it being an audio engineer, a camera operator, an anonymous donor, or a website guy, it is my passion for others to make it big. Yes, I do this (what you see around here) for money, it is my job, but it is also the medium I’ve chosen to really do what I do. I think when people ask me what I do, I shouldn’t answer “Oh, I make websites,” but instead, “I enable people to succeed.” It has a different ring to it doesn’t it? One out of ten people will be interested in the first statement, whereas probably seven out of ten will be interested in the second and ask what I mean (the other three will simply be confused or were just making conversation).

I feel like I’m just doing show and tell on the surface of this subject. It is something I would like to expand with more detail in following posts.

All of this is to explain why I am redesigning this site: because I am realigning my focus. Content about what I technically do and how I can technically help a business is lame. I want content that excites someone about what they can do! So I am midway through this process. I have rewritten a load of content to better express what I really do, and I’ve begun to sketch a layout which I think will be more visually in line with this as well as attractive.

Expect some changes around here. When? Well, if I’m writing about it, it may just keep me more motivated and on track! Write a comment, keep me accountable to continue working on it! I’d love it to come soon.

PS - In case anyone gets the wrong impression, I’m not coming down on the realign vs. redesign terminology. I love Cameron‘s writing and design; I was simply using it to get a point across. In other news, I don’t think my version of sIFR or the font I chose likes apostrophes…

The restaurant has shut down for a month while renovations take place: now what? I refuse to become stagnant. With this extra time on my hands I have determined to learn other programming languages: I want to be more highly skilled. I plan on redesigning this website: it does not serve well in its current form. I also have aspirations to take extra time to stay fit physically, create quality time with people, and of course, build this business of websites.

It is that whole concept of life-long learning. If I don’t press forward, I am standing still - I am stagnating, and starting to smell. But the possibilities when one continues to learn are exciting. I will continue to learn, flowing forward.