What I’ve Been Reading – HTML5 for Web Designers

August 16, 2010


What I’ve Read:
HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith

There’s an underlying belief throughout the non-tech-savvy that computer and Web programmers are a secluded, arrogant group; fiercely loyal to their language, looking out for themselves, unable to share their findings lest they make themselves obsolete. It’s this belief that leads us to stop trusting our company’s IT department and automatically mistrust the kid Web developer signed on to work our church Web sites.

It’s not necessarily true.

In my experience, Web developers aren’t maniacally protective of their knowledge, but simply frustrated that no one else is bothering to commiserate. When you show up with the ultimate in ignorance – like asking a CSS expert to help you get rid of spyware, or expecting a .Net developer to automatically help you purchase a digital SLR camera – you’re not facing arrogance.

You’re facing exhaustion. That expert? He or she is simply tired of being misunderstood.

If there’s one thing I’ve discovered over the past two months in Web development, it’s that Web developers want to talk about Web development. They want to share their secrets, often to the point that your eyes glaze over.

Ask a pointed question, though, and you’ll discover something even greater: the Web developer’s desire to spread knowledge. Which brings us to A List Apart’s first publication, HTML5 for Web Designers – a short and easy to digest primer on the changes being made through HTML’s newest iteration.

As a Web guy whose exposure to HTML and CSS has come exclusively from the routine hacking of free WordPress templates, HTML5 for Web Designers dives into the subject at my level – highlighting the changes and features of code that could change how the Web is organized and developed. Even better, it does so in a way that’s akin to the “spreading the gospel” model of Web talk – 100% devoted to letting the reader understand the code.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not going to make my mom understand Web development.

That being understood, it’s a wonderful look inside the mind of a development evangelist; Keith’s knowledge takes a 900-page slog of a standards guide and boils it down to the 80-some pages you’ll actually need to read.

Because, you see, developers don’t aim to make people feel dumb. At least, not as long as we’re willing to listen and make a concerted effort to understand.

It’s our inability to grasp the nuances of technology that’ll take care of that for us.

Tags: Books, Career, Journalism, Literature, Technology, What I've Been Reading |

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A walk to the library

July 16, 2010


From where I work, it’s only a quick two block walk to the library.

So today, with my head swimming in tests, my mind frozen from the air conditioning, I got up and walked there.

No premeditation. No purpose. With just a hunch, I stepped into the heat, turned right, and kept walking.

For the past year or so, I’ve completely fallen away from reading books; the stack beside my bed grew, stagnated, and is in danger of being killed off. I barely read at all, actually – outside of the Sunday New York Times, a handful of work-related books, a blog article or two, there’s nothing. My mind has been consumed with learning new skills and adapting to a second child and spending time with my family.

Reading has taken a back seat.

So, this walk? It quickly became a big deal.

Our library is cool and new and stocked with great books and at once I was reminded of why I was always attracted to it. You see, this is where I was supposed to be. On these shelves. Writing books and stories, looking to make it big; my words sheltering others from boredom, my thoughts absorbed by strangers. I started this blog to practice becoming a better writer. I volunteered for magazines – writing about reading, no less! – and weaseled my way into a writing job at an ad agency. I read fiction and non-fiction and short stories and massive tomes like it was a religion – both because I enjoyed it and because, as they say, better readers make better writers.

And then, I kind of stopped.

I still write. But I no longer read.

Instead, I found two things I enjoyed a lot more, and I’ve jumped into them with full abandon: being a dad, and working in Web.

But they don’t have to be exclusive.

The potential made me dizzy. Or maybe it was the heat. Whatever. All I know is that I walked into the library, wandered around for a few minutes, grabbed Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays and Steinbeck’s The Red Pony and made a promise to myself.

To stop making excuses. And to head back to my roots. Because while my path veered from becoming a writer, there’s no reason it ever should have stopped me from becoming a reader.

Tags: Books, Career, Family, Literature, What I've Been Reading, Writing |

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Post-launch content schedules

June 30, 2010


Oh, man, the brain trust at Blend gave me the keys to the blog wagon and here I go posting about content strategy stuff again.

Chances are, most of the content strategy stuff that used to be here will now be over there, but don’t worry – I’m vain enough to link to it from the ol’ personal blog. Over. And. Over. Again.

Anyway, I’m over there with this nugget. From “On Post-Launch Content Schedules: or, Who’s Taking Care of the House?”:

In the Web industry, we build Web sites. But we might as well be building houses. Except, instead of populating homes with people, we’re filling them with information, application and entertainment. Words and pictures need a home on the Internet, and Web sites are the three-bedroom, two-bath ranch home they’re looking for.

Web companies exhibit pride of ownership, too. As long as we hold the deed to our site, we’re keeping up with routine upkeep. It’s easy for us – after all, the construction was all handled in-house, for the most part, so we understand the corners and rafters and concrete better than anyone else.

Then, we hand the site off.

We’ve prepared it for sale. The site is at its peak – top notch, totally updated, ready to move in. The paperwork is signed, the Realtor has been paid – we’ve reached the finish line, you’d think.

Nope. The launch of a Web site isn’t the finish line. New content will move in. Updating will happen. Upkeep will be needed.

Are you ready to handle it?

CLICK THROUGH FOR MORE! (Do it. Now.)

Tags: Career, Content Strategy, Grandpa Boyer |

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Searching for a new SearchTest

June 29, 2010


With search testing comes the need for original, unrelated words.

The goal, of course, is to make sure a Web site’s search function works. You throw unrelated words in, of course, so you can search for them. And while the standard “SearchTest” will bring up a series of specifically coded pages, that word is boring.

A total yawnfest, you guys. And predictable, which, apparently, my former ad agency self won’t allow.

So I apparently go for the angular. A recent set of test search words: “Waldo.” “Kraken.” “Yeti.” “Kilroy’s Revenge.” Sharp corners. Weird combinations.

Look at that. It’s like a Styx album threw up on your computer, right? I contend it could be part of a new phonetic alphabet.

Either way, I’m not far away from assigning search terms to the more memorable Final Fantasy elementals, or John Tenta wrestling aliases, and when I get to that point I fear I’ll have gone to far. Please keep me in your thoughts.

Tags: Career, Words |

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Opportunity or desire?

June 22, 2010


So, really, what I’ve learned in the past several years is that, when it comes down to it, your degree isn’t worth shit in today’s modern industries.

Oops. Did I say that out loud?

I did. Because it’s true. The college experience itself is valuable and important and incredibly rewarding. But for the most part – specifically in the case of degrees that don’t require graduate school – the title on the piece of paper you receive means less than the ink used to print it.

(For the most part. I HAVE to say “for the most part” because there are some of you who actually used your degree to get a great job that you’re still at, and there are some of you who are doctors and lawyers and you needed those four undergraduate years to study anatomy and law and whatever else a college convinces you to pay $20,000 for.)

Here’s why: we don’t know if we’ll ever like what we decide we’re going to do when we go to college until long after we’ve gotten our degree. Most majors spend three and a half years teaching you facts and figures without ever letting you experience the field – and even those experiences are watered-down internships that offer no real insight into what the career will really offer.

My example: I have a teaching degree, which proves that I know the details involved in teaching. I was licensed for five years to be a teacher in South Dakota. I passed all of the tests, I completed all of the projects and I worked pretty hard to learn everything I was supposed to learn.

But I never learned the nuances. I gained knowledge, but I never gained experience.

I never wanted to.

And there’s the problem.

I had the opportunity. But I didn’t have the desire. My degree said I could do it. My heart never wanted to.

What’s worse, I never realized I didn’t have the desire – at least, not until I had nearly completed all of my studies. Far too late to turn back. Far too late to understand what I’d really be getting myself into.

The disconnect is this: you don’t need major-driven classwork to find your perfect career – you just need to be willing to prove yourself. If you want to get into Web work, you don’t need the school-mandated study, the probably-already-outdated texts or the inflamed professor egos. You just need the desire to learn it on your own time.

As Deane points out, an entire legion of college-educated degree-holders are jumping ship to learn more lucrative and rewarding trades. They’re proving that the goal of choosing a career path at 17 or 18 – when you’re barely in a position to make career decisions – and going through four years of college to prepare for it may be both outdated and impractical. And Seth Godin piles on, confessing that the correlation between a degree and professional success is questionable.

College is important from a social standpoint – a finishing school that bridges the gap between parent-assisted living and full adulthood. Yes, you’re getting an opportunity for a safe career path. But you’re also pigeonholed into that safe career path; convinced that it’s your only option, you stop looking outside of the field, the myth of the degree forcing your hand.

Get the degree. Enjoy the time. Frame the diploma. Or don’t – learn on your own, prove yourself and get noticed.

Then, keep looking forward. Perfect your craft. Stop worrying about what you went to school for, and start worrying about whether you’re continuing to learn.

It takes more work, but it’s much more rewarding.

Tags: Career |

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A personal note about going off grid

May 27, 2010


Some people soak in the attention that comes with a Last Day of Work. I, however, sort of bristle at it.

And, for real, this might come as a surprise considering my habit of documenting every personal thought I’ve had for the past five years, but, hey, give me this. This is my thing. It’s not that I hate goodbyes – I just hate the attention that comes with them.

So let’s keep this short and sweet. Today was my last day of work at HenkinSchultz, a job that treated me well and taught me a lot and really I couldn’t have asked for a better place to break into the creative services world. And, in ten days, I begin again, doing what I’d hoped I’d be doing, workin’ the Web and enjoying being a full fledged part of making things on the Internet, at Blend Interactive.

In the meantime – an expanse of time in which I will literally be unemployed – I’m going to make myself scarce. As of tonight, I’m going off the grid. I’m recharging and resting and cleaning out the cobwebs as I prepare to change my direction entirely.

Thanks to HenkinSchultz for taking a risk four years ago. I appreciate it.

See you in 10 days, Internet.

Tags: Career, Meta, Vilhauer |

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Sometimes, Big Picture sucks

May 26, 2010


A project is made up of smaller parts. Each smaller part is developed on its own. The success of the project depends on the smaller parts, working together, doing their smaller part thing and being of general use to everyone involved.

A Web site or a marketing campaign or a book or anything creative – they’re all created using some combination of strategy and action and implementation, and within each of these stages is a billion more pieces, and after those pieces are thrown together there’s another round of revision and .. seriously.

What a lot of work, right?

It’s no wonder we often let little mistakes slide. We go through a lot to get it close to a final project, and we fall in love with our mistakes because they came from us. They’re part of us. They make it us.

So we ignore them. And we chalk it up to seeing The Big Picture.

The Big Picture Screws You Up

I’m the kind of person who looks at the complete picture. That’s important. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s what it says in all of those fancy marketing books, and that’s what you learn in college and, so, you know, it’s got to be true, amen.

But sometimes, looking at the big picture can distract from the details.

Sorry. Did I say sometimes? I meant all the time.

The Big Picture blurs the details. It allows us to forget the mistakes. It projects success to areas it may not belong, creating a net effect not unlike an optical illusion, our mind filling in the holes with what we assume should be there. It’s an effective way to plan, but an awful way to execute.

See, here’s the reason the Big Picture sucks sometimes: every detail matters, and when you’re working Big Picture, you have a habit of forgetting the frames therein. There’s a balance, dude. A balance.

A Real World Example: The Albums of Pink Floyd.

Yeah. I’m going there.

In the annals of Rock Stardom, Pink Floyd is often pushed into the top 10, especially by those who grew up in the 60s and 70s. They were innovative and wrote some great albums and opened up the airwaves to weird experimental stuff.

Growing up, I loved Pink Floyd. Could not find a single item of fault, from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn to The Division Bell, I was utterly in love. They could do no wrong.

Essentially, it was a Big Picture fandom. At the time, I didn’t possess the filter that allowed me to love a band while simultaneously hating an album FROM that band. I couldn’t do it. So while there were certain albums I’d never listen to – because, you know, I didn’t really like them – I couldn’t transfer it to the band as a whole.

There’s a reason Pink Floyd isn’t mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles. Outside their stretch of five albums in the 70s, in which no one could touch them (Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall), they put out a lot of crap.

Big Picture, they’re a classic band. Look at the details, and you’ve got The Final Cut. And that album is an absolute piece of shit.

Which Brings Us To…

Okay, so here’s the awful truth: changing our process from campaign-driven to detail-driven is impossible.

Well, hey. It’s POSSIBLE. But it’s not RECOMMENDED.

Because, when it comes down to it, we need the Big Picture. Without it, we have no direction.

But we need to change our mindset, understanding that the overarching strategy and plan is a roadmap toward a final product, not the final product itself. And, we need to understand that the Big Picture may change as we wade through the details, and we need all parties on the same page, realizing that the Devil’s in those details, and the Devil never wants to make things easy.

The Devil would just as soon you not notice him at all.

Tags: Career, Music, On... |

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