BarCamp is a (geek) conference built like a wiki, we can have a democratic schedule built on the fly.  Want to discuss a topic?  Any topic at all?  Come to BarCamp and paste your topic and name in one of the many timeslots.  At first I decided to be a fly on the wall and sort of take it all in, but then I changed my mind and decided to join up with Bram Piyoto and be an “assistant” presenter where design meets tech.  Hopefully I come across as being less of a jackass than I really am, here’s to hope.

And then came Sunday, while sitting in on a panel discussing hacking existing WordPress themes I decided to address a need of how to build a theme from scratch. Because I once wrote a post detailing how to simply build a wordpress theme, I decided to build on the basic idea.  But instead of discussing building Eleven3, I discussed my most recent project, HomeSkillet Records.  As I did it last minute, I had a little tiny room with about 8 guests, it may have been light, but it sure was a captive audience! You’re sort of forced to listen with numbers that small – but I hope it was useful for people.

Mmmm Brain Power

Anytime a bunch of geeks get together there is a lot of brain power getting kicked around, so that’s pretty awesome.  What’s great is the general goodwill everyone has.  People are happy to be here and love a chance to have their thoughts and ideas expressed or learn new ones.  Traditionally, other conferences are a little bit idol worshippy feeling, which is fine (cause I am so into Shaun Inman and Jon Hicks), but this one is the opposite.  There are a few “names” here, but generally speaking everyone here is just here to geek out, prettttty awesome.

I had a blast and met many people who I have seen on Twitter – it’s always good to meet people in real life. I am not a stalker.

Speed is a trait of the entrepreneur, we make things happen quickly, we all think “I can do this or that.” It’s what makes us quit our jobs, it’s what makes us just start things for no reason other than our own thoughts, it’s also, as time goes by, a huge weakness. It’s super tough to rely on anyone else, but it is also absolutely necessary. Often times we think up a strategy and execute without consulting those who have proven valuable. Often times a knee-jerk reaction comes across as a painful execution and an even more painful blunder.

With the WTM website – I could have just designed and built the whole thing. But I know someone who can do it better – and without his help, WTM wouldn’t be where it’s at. It’s been a very slow rewarding process building out wtmworldwide.com piece by piece. We have more that we would like to do – but we are not rushing it. Well, maybe I am pushing it, but have realized a slow marinade is just what the site needs.

Why the entry then? We have carefully launched the We The Blog. WTB, I guess, is an aggregate of all We The Media member blogs. I’m already feeling the pressure because Nick Onken blogs way more than me – I need to keep up! It is just one more channel for us to spread our message of love for the creative souls out there.

Check it out.

networking gives me tears

Moving from college where one has a pseudo-something to offer to a professional setting where one gains their real value – I have experienced some profound insight. No, nothing new or original – but my tendency to learn by doing and emulating has given me the real reward of what networking truly is – connecting others.

First off – let me say something about the idea of what I call, “power-networking.” While in the short run – power networking is great, you meet all kinds of people, their baggage, and they are as interested in leeching off of you as you are of them. Be it the 3-minute elevator speech or the small talk. I hate small talk. I’ve been to a few “power-networking” events – they left me feeling small and angry. Just like I have never been good at pursuing women at a bar, I am not good at pursuing potential clients in short 3-minute bursts. It takes time to get to know me – and I am proud of that. It’s called being genuine.

I hate small talk

Here’s what I have found – generally speaking, just about every creative I have ever met has been genuine – even to a fault. And no fault of their own – it’s the fault of those who exploit them, the many who are good at brokering the 3-minute deals. I walk in both worlds – I have a business education and I am a descent designer. Seeing creative talent being exploited pissed me off the first time I saw it – it pisses me off now.

There are those of us creatives who are lucky – we meet one or two people who see value in what we do and want to help us out. Many are not so lucky. It’s easy to be cynical and say, “well, I’m not good at networking, so I will never be free from those exploiters.” This was my own stumbling block until I was introduced to a way of networking which had never occurred to me before; connecting people.

Exploiting Creative Talent is Wrong

To re-iterate – my understanding of what networking was came from a few trips to “power-networking” groups – to which I immediately reacted a resounding, “Nope, not for me.” And then through all of my hours spent developing my creative skills, I was connected into a world which I had never seen or imagined. A world that rewarded me for doing good work creatively and also boosted my network – all without sacrificing the one thing which feels right – being myself.

Through being myself and connecting, I have gotten the majority of my client work. What is this sub-sect of networking I am calling “connecting?” It’s the idea of putting people together that you have come to know through real relationships. That’s it.

To power-networkers who do nothing but networking, this is an obvious point. Know as many people as you can so that you can connect them in ways that you see fit. But here’s the one caveat – how well does one really know another when they have only spoken in 3-minute bursts. How does one know if two people would really benefit each other? The truth is, there is no way to tell – you’re just playing a numbers game and your network, while big and strong – may be a house of cards. The real relationships come from being genuine and good to others. One must give selflessly for the relationships gained through networking.

Duh George!

Networking through connecting and being genuine has an insularly benefit as well – I know, because of the people I network with. They connect me with genuine, good people. Whereas with power-networking you get all types, the pleasant and not so pleasant. I like to think, in building my network slowly with solid genuine people, I’ve been able to shield myself from what bugs me most; bad people. Bad people make shitty clients – and if I get a vibe from a client of disrespect or an air of authority, I won’t take the work.

As a creative, one has to expect the road to be bumpy. Networking and relationship building fall a distant second to the craft you love. However, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. If your idea of networking is similar to what mine was, think about the people you know and how they may help each other. It’s a pro-active thought process – once you begin, it becomes difficult to stop. By helping people get what they need, giving selflessly, I guarantee you will be better off for it. The reward rarely comes directly, but the feeling of giving is a reward in itself.

Remember, be yourself, stay genuine, and give – the success will come.

Think Bro-conomy, Think Big

So how does one crack the bro-conomy nut? When I was at an agency I noticed the guys who were making the deals getting all sorts of cool shit. Occasionally it would trickle down and I would get something like the aforementioned hoody or a circle-hoe. But for the most part it stopped right before the schwag hit the creatives. I think the most important part is exposure to clients. Before the end of this long winded, much adu about nothing post, I’ll talk about web design, a few tips to help one thrive in the bro-conomy, and a few of my own personal bro-conomy stories.

Web Design and the Bro-conomy

I can’t think of a better profession to be in that web design for gaining access to the bro-conomy. Think about it – every single business in the world needs a website. It’s the new yellow pages minus the monopoly of the yellow pages (don’t worry, I will keep bagging on this waste of paper company later). There are usually two types of deals which arise, the pure-tradeout deal and the perks plus deal.

Pure Tradeout

Obviously this is the type of deal where no money exchanges hands – it is “I will do X for you, you do Y for me.” The cool thing about these types of projects is they are usually amongst friends and they’re usually low stress. Cause really, is he/she really your “bro” if they’re stressing you out?

The Perks Plus Deal

These a bit more straight-laced than the pure tradeout deal, a hybrid of the paying client and the bro. These deals usually come into play when a client doesn’t have a lot of money, but you appreciate what they’re trying to do and more importantly they’re just cool about it. A total cost of doing the work is estimated and then the price is knocked down for free schwag or other forms of services rendered (The IRS is going to come pounding on my door down for this.). These are usually low stress as well and help line the pockets with a little cash.

F the Man!! (-;

Sometimes a client will just throw free schwag on top to sweeten the deal – and those types of things go a long way in getting that extra effort out of a creative *hint hint*. Again, it’s a beautiful time to be a web designer, embrace your inner bro-ness.

How to Thrive

Like anything in life, this is all you. Well, occasionally a client will make the offer – but for the most part you have to hunt down your own “bro” deals and let people know you are open to them.

Hunting Down a Bro Deal

This is really a simple process that comes down to wants and needs. Do you want a discount on all of your outdoor gear? Then go to your local shop and offer to help out with their website.

A skill fit for a Mongoose

If the people working there can’t make the call – put yourself in front of the owner. For so many people, getting something they want in this way is begging – for the web designer, it’s offering up a highly sought after skill.

Sniffing Out the Bro Deal

This is sort of a Carpe Diem skillset – if a client hasn’t gone there, but can’t come up with necessary funds to start the project, this is where one would interject that trade out is an option. But don’t do it if the client doesn’t have something you want. A lifetime’s supply of gravel is hardly useful if you live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment. However, in thinking beyond yourself, you may be able to help out others (that need gravel).

Story Time with George Huff

Watch Company X

Watch Company X is a small high-end watch company based here in PDX – our deal consists of money and watches. I knew with them being a startup, they probably couldn’t afford to pay what I normally charge. Me, fancying shiny objects, was more than open to broker a deal involving trade. In our initial meetings I let them know I was open to cutting some of the costs down with trade – we reached an agreement and all is good.

Hecklewood + HomeSkillet = Love

Hecklewood Clothing is a peddler of the dopest streetwear. HomeSkillet Records (my labor of love) is a record label from the cold lands of the north who also put on a music festival every year called HomeSkillet Fest. The story goes like this, I sought after acquaintance Sam Huff (Hecklewood Founder) to design a tshirt for HomeSkillet Fest 2007. HomeSkillet Records, being as low budget as they are, could only offer up my web design services. Pure trade-out ensued and with the shirts being finished, I am indebted to Sam Huff to help him redesign and build Hecklewood Clothing’s website. So far the projects have been laid back and now Hecklewood Clothing store is one of my favorite places to just “pop-in,” and say hello. And I am quite convinced that I’m Sam’s favorite guest, and if not Sam’s, definitely Motley and Iggy’s – his two pitbulls.

Quality Trees Unlimited

Quality Trees Unlimited was probably one of my first non-bro tradeout deals. In the end the project didn’t work out – I helped the guy out the best I could, but he just didn’t deliver on any of the stuff I needed to complete the project. In hindsight, I feel bad – but I am getting over it.

The grey area of a sour deal

Danielle, my fiancee, decided we needed some trees in the backyard removed. Now before anyone screams bloody murder, these were ratty trees that were hazardous to our home. Anyhow, the guy she called shows up and first thing I do is notice the side of his truck doesn’t have a website, then I notice the business card doesn’t have a website, so I proposition him to get rid of my trees if I build him a website.

We reached an agreement and he handled his side of the deal. I ended up designing and building his website, but he couldn’t ever decide on a new domain name. He had previously tried to set a website up through the Yellow Pages “we’ll build your site and the screw you over” service, and they had the old domain he wanted. In the end he was unresponsive and just didn’t know how to get his stuff done. I tried to help, but couldn’t do anything because Yellow Pages would only talk to him. The last thing I could do was zip up the files and send them to him. I don’t think the site was ever launched. Not exactly an ideal bro deal.

Conclusion

I ended with the last story cause I wanted to illustrate not all bro-deals end up in an ideal place, especially if a person isn’t really your, “bro.” The best bro-deals are the ones where people actually know each other and strive to live up to their reputations. If the guy from Quality Trees Unlimited or myself decided to screw over one another – there would be no repercussions other than guilt.

The bro-conomy relies on people doing business with their friends and acquaintences, not some random Joe from company X. So really, the Quality Trees project was just a trade-out, not a bro-deal.

So as webdesigners (or whatever you may be), embrace the bro-conomy and thrive, and please share some stories, I always find them interesting. And remember, while the bro-conomy is something special, it’s not everything – ultimately money talks.

Cheers.

“Because the time was right.”

Uhh, right. Maybe because WordPress is kicking your ass? At least that’s what I have seen. I’m well versed in both platforms and WordPress is better at it’s core, and better in its community. The new dashboard for Movable Type 4 looks really nice, and I may install it on this blog (unless I switch to WordPress sooner, I am itching to redesign). Realistically, unless the open source MT4 is completely BONKERS, it may be too little too late.

Time will tell. Link.

There are many reasons why this is akin to shooting oneself in the foot. First off, if a user has a couple hundred pictures on Photobucket, they’re not going to suddenly upload all of those to MySpace. What they will do is get irritated with MySpace, and remember it.

The second thing this is doing is continuing to build the walls higher, so high not even they can see outside. When MySpace starts asserting that users have to use MySpace’s video, audio, or picture services they’re missing out on the bigger picture. Do they really want to compete with all of the little media startups who do the storing, the sharing, and the community so much better? Has anyone ever uploaded a picture at Photobucket or flickr versus uploading at “Oops we’ve encountered an error” MySpace?

In conclusion, I think the first problem is much scarier. The people I talk to tell of a MySpace that isn’t really fun anymore. It’s ridden with spam, fake friends, and a ton of errors. It’s in making moves like this that MySpace will really begin to sink. Their traffic is already on a downturn. The web2 is built on cooperation first, competition second. Either way, the users are most important, not the product. Social networks are the commodity, not the users.

Get a virb account.

The Obvious Side
Texting or Iming “I am eating pringles” is really useless information. People will see it and read over it, it will get no responses. But it was fun for me to know that Twitter-ers will see my words on their screen, whatever. This has no practical purpose except as a visitor to the site, it’s kind of interesting to watch, probably kind of like watching the Search Terms screen at Google Headquarters. From the outside, there is no draw in getting a Twitter account, just watching what other people are doing.

The Not So Obvious Side
And then I had the “ah-hah” moment where I realized when Twitter is really useful. Organizing events without organizing events. Twitter, to me, feels like del.icio.us did when I initially wrapped my head around the concept. Once again it’s tying in a bunch of different things and offering up the data in an entirely new and interesting way.

For instance, there are a ton of people at SXSW who kind of know eachother. Some of them may know each other well enough to call, or well enough to text. For the most part though, the majority of people who are acquaintances and would really like the opportunity to know eachother better. So instead of me having to text people to find out where they are, I can just subscribe to the data they offer up. Whenever a twitter-er writes a new message, I can get alerts via SMS. I can keep all of my friends, but change my subscriptions to their alerts at any time.

Ultimately Twitter is just another tool to help you communicate with a large number of people effectively. They subscribe to you and what you’re doing. You only give up the information you want.

Seems like a perfect fit. This isn’t something I would use every day (I don’t think) but then again I haven’t had it for more than a day. It’s great for organizing a social life, it’s really an effortless task. I think it will be a little while before John Q. Public catches on, but when they do, it will be big.

Thanks to all the Twitter addicts who turned me on to it.

Currently Virb is in beta mode, which means invite only. Which means it’s the “Who ya know” network. I really want Virb to succeed, so after my initial invite frenzy, I have slowed down a bit and will only give invites to those who really will use the service to pass along to others. People should not be on MySpace, they are trying to build a walled-garden and the whole site feels cheap. Virb is the designer’s MySpace.

Having already skinned my profile page, I have a few feelings on Virb, what’s hot and where they can improve. And let me say this, I really truly love it.

Aesthetics - Right off the bat, anyone who goes to Virb and logs in (assuming they have an account) will notice one strikingly different thing. Virb actually looks really really nice. It’s almost as if they hired a graphic designer versus a programmer to do the design and layout (no offense programmers I truly aspire to be like you). Things are easy to get to and it seems like each page you visit on the managing your profile end, was well thought out. Perhaps this isn’t a big game changer for all those MySpace folks out there, let’s face it, the majority of them have pages that make us designers not be able to sleep at night. But, it is a game changer for us designers, who influence a large part of the internet community, whether it be friends, family, or coworkers. And don’t think for a second we won’t take the time to make our virb profile pages look first rate.

Flexibility - In making our profiles look first rate, we need lots of css hooks built into the html we cannot touch and lot’s of flexibility with the structure of html in the layout. The good folks at Virb did both. Not only can you change any CSS within the body of your profile, you can also change the way the blocks on the page are laid out. In fact, I think it’s possible to make a profile page look anyway you would like WITHOUT hacking together a layout. Hopefully this is something the people who are really into changing their MySpace layouts will be attracted to (Does the Virb community even want that?). I really appreciate the extra things they have done to add to the flexibility of profile layouts.

While someone like myself likes to jump right into the code and get their hands dirty, some people aren’t this way. Fortunately Virb has built a drag and drop Ajax interface to change all of the content to be in either of the two columns. It’s the little things like this that make Virb so brilliant.

The Little Things – Have a flickr account? Want to put it on your Virb page? No problem. No more building stupid slideshows with five pictures. This is the beauty of Virb, they aren’t trying to be the end all be all for any kind of media hosting/uploading. They want to offer you the service, but give you choices. Want to show your Flickr pictures on the profile and not your Virb pictures, no problem. It seems like there is a community of users building hooks into all kinds of other media services as well.

Things I would like to see

1) More Modules – The more the merrier, I would like to see these develop like dashboard widgets where companies are releasing them in an environment friendly to developers. So the development of widgets is a cooperation between Virb and any other party, versus a competition. I am sure as the community grows, tons of people will get in on developing modules.
2) Skins – This is another thing I think will grow as more and more users hop over to Virb. It would be nice if we as developers could export a skin we build, and then other community members could upload and install the skin for their profile. This would get so much love from designers. *Hint Hint*
3) Version Control – Of all of my “feature requests” this one is the most important. I would love to see version controls for changing the appearance of a page. Because there is none, it’s really easy to make a change (read mistake) and save over your old version. Personally I do a fairly decent job of remembering the changes I make, but I am sure the majority of people hacking around in there are doing so based on trial and error. They will only get frusterated.

Conclusion

Virb rocks. There are so many great things about it. There are so many things that initial users log in and say oh wow. I think it’s the real winner of any new social network sites I have seen. MySpace is a sinking ship (imo) and It will be good to see what people will do with their Virb pages.

What makes a good user experience good? What makes a bad user experience bad? Why is it that websites seem to go in and out like trends. Will people soon be too cool for a MySpace page? Or is MySpace here to stay? All of these are questions we can ask, however the answers to all of these questions becomes null if a user is not enjoying their time on a site.

If one thinks about the life span of a popular site (or any product for that matter) there is a definite trend starting with the rise and ending with the fall. Narrowing down further, to sites with a spice of social web 2.0 goodness, one can see many sites that have risen lately, many sites striving to rise, and sites that have fallen. And looking even closer at the rise and the fall, one can see a trend going from too few users to too many users. The former leads to a site never getting wings, and the latter leads to a bloated system (in some cases) that is doomed to fail for various reasons.

Too Few Users

I will begin by stating the obvious, if you have the best possible idea/site in the world, and you don’t have any users, it will fail. But why? Part of the glorious benefit of belonging to a site with a hint of social goodness is the benefits one gains from all of the other users.

Digg allows me to see all the other news entries the rest of the community deems important with a fairly democratic voting system. I can participate and digg stories, as well as comments, up or down. Without people, none of this happens. Obvious right? Digg is a no-brainer, it needs people to make it move.

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking service, a social…bookmarking…service…MmmmMmm. Social, relating to society or its organization, Bookmarking, relating to a record or address of webpage, Service an action of helping or doing work for someone. Uh oh, I am going to state the obvious again, without a good sized user community, del.icio.us wouldn’t be useful. Wrong! Del.icio.us doesn’t suffer from too few users as it does from too many. There are many people using del.icio.us who aren’t using it’s too it’s full potential.

Having too few users in a community is a no-brainer on the path to never getting off the ground, however some sites do offer enough of a lift without the social side of things to function fairly successfully.

Too Many Users

Having too many users can tip the balance of a successful website in a few different ways. Anytime there is a whale, it’s going to attract sharks, or maybe the whale gets hungry and eats all the food in the sea. Metaphors and analogies are NEVER a good way to get to the point, let me elaborate.

Attracting Spammers – AKA the Shark Theory – Wherever there are big crowds, there is money to be made. Beggars aren’t on empty streets asking for change (at least the ambitious ones, ironic). The internet’s beggars are spammers. Hey look at this and click on me. In other words, the spammers are going to work to figure out how to get their message out to the most people in quickest way. The density of a very popular website is a sure fire way to achieve results. I wrote recently of del.icio.us spam I have been receiving through my RSS feed. Somewhere, someboty (gasp!) is populating the sites they are getting paid to promote into my del.icio.us feed. I get myspace messages and friend requests from people who are deleted by the time I get to looking at it. Sharks I tell ya. Not that either one of these services are doomed, but this is the kind of shit that really annoys users.

Trolls – Shark Theory Continued – Are there trolls on unpopular sites? I can’t remember cause I am so trendy. With a popular site full of Apple fanboys (guilty) there are bound to be a good number of Apple hating trolls. Trolls make reading through comments/forums annoying, decreasing user experience.

The Ego – When a site gets so big, a la MySpace, it may forget the users that go them there in the first place. Here’s a scenario: MySpace get so big that they start their own competing services to offer photo slides, skins, and video uploading services to their users, while at the same time shutting out all the services that allowed users to do that in the first place. No problem, they will just have to conform to “our” way. Anyone see the flaw in this logic? Maybe a person has built up their youtube profile equally as big as their myspace profile. Or maybe, social networking site x offers a cleaner interface and encourages you to piggyback on the profiles you have already created, people start moving, MySpace begins it’s fall. People don’t like their walled garden closing in on them, nor do they like unexpected change (look at Netscape and their blunder), be thoughtful with your upgrades.

Coolness – Just like it was once cool to dance like NSYNC (at least to me) it was also once cool to have a MySpace profile. Unfortunately, everyone got that, the service got popular they forgot about the users, and people started migrating. Have we really seen any nice improvements to MySpace since it got popular? Think about how decent hotmail seemed until Gmail came along. I’m getting off topic, but my point ultimately is that once you have a MySpace page and your mother has a page, maybe it’s time to ditch the service.

Conclusion

Ultimately the people pulling strings on these big sites need to achieve a balance. Don’t get too big unless you can be assured your users’ experience on the site isn’t compromised. If you’re small, start hustling (like you need me to tell you that) and get some users. I don’t think we have even come close to the ceiling on this social thing. The other day I sold my Mom on del.icio.us telling her about subscribing to other people’s tags. All we need is someone out there stating the obvious, and that’s what I do!

Cheers.

More specifically, the cnet article gives out some numbers:

Companies charge as much as $15,000 to get content up on Digg, said Neil Patel, chief technology officer at the Internet marketing firm ACS. If a story becomes popular on Digg and generates links back to a marketer’s Web site, that site may rise in search engine results and will not have to spend money on search advertising, he said.

I would be curious to see how acurate these figures are. It seems strange that somebody could manipulate digg to this effect.

Read the whole article here.