At the next meetup…
July 14th, 2009 at 06:30 PM
Don't make the logo bigger! Happiness for you and your clients
Can we make the logo bigger? Just try making the whole site green. Couldn't we get more of that content above the fold? Sometimes what a client wants doesn't mix with what we think is good design and usability.
When designing a website we're faced with all manner of requests from the practical to the absurd. Identifying client needs early in the design process is an essential for a successful project. Brad Colbow will share his experience working with clients to create memorable designs that meet the clients needs but also shine in your portfolio.
Who
Brad Colbow http://colbowdesign.com
Brad Colbow is an independent web designer in the Cleveland area and also the creator of "The Brads" a web comic that thrills and delights about a half a dozen people every week.
Where
Lean Dog 1151 North Marginal Road, Cleveland, OH 44114
Make your presence known and RSVP for this event on Upcoming.org
At previous meetings…
June 16th, 2009 at 07:00 PM
Springtime Social
It's Spring! Is your skin too pasty or does it have a greenish glow to it? Get off your computer and meet other geeks face to face!
We've all be working hard - or have been cooped up thanks to snow and other Cleveland weather conditions. It's time to get out of the house and meet other geeks who enjoy what they do. What better way than over food and beverages?
Where
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery 2000 Sycamore St # 260, Cleveland, OH 44113
May 5th, 2009 at 06:30 PM
Freelance & Startup Panel
What does it take to start a company? How do you find clients? Do I have to quit my job? This month a panel of professional freelancers and entrepreneurs will be taking your questions and talking about their experiences starting up and going solo at the Cleveland Web Standards Association.
Who
Craig Minch minchdesign.com
Craig has been honing his design and markup skills in the professional world since 1999. He got his start in the agency/consulting environment and worked his way up the chain before branching out on his own in 2006. Craig has been supporting, practicing and advocating web standards while building W3C compliant XHTML and CSS since its inception.
Dan Ott dtott.com
Dan is an independent contractor out of Bloomington, Indiana. He has worked for the past 5 years in the web development field, and full-time for the last year and a half. He has experience in back-end work like PHP and MySQL (and front-end javascript/AJAX), but his true passion is XHTML and CSS. He lives for the green bar on the W3C validator.
Lori Boos boosdesigngroup.com
Lori worked for large and mid-size corporations including, American Greetings, Blonder Home Accents, and State Industrial Products before embarking on her freelance career. Lori is active in the design community as a chapter board member for AIGA, the professional association for design. She is Treasurer for the Cleveland chapter.
Joe Walters rightclickmarketing.net
Senior Manager and Founder at Right Click Marketing & Management.
Where
Progressive Insurance 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Cleveland, OH 44143
April 7th, 2009 at 06:30 PM
A Programmers Guide to the User Experience
What would happen if programmers let the people who actually use an application design the user experience? It is often assumed that the people who engineer the software are the ones who should dictate how it is used. People who design fantastic user interfaces are those who are passionate about what kind of experience people have while using an application.
Josh Walsh will share fundamental concepts behind great user experiences.
- Deciding what the main focus of the screen is.
- Emphasizing priority by using greyscale and blurring the design.
- Removing elements which aren’t necessary (most of what you think is important actually isn’t).
- Making features prove themselves to be important by telling simple stories.
After quickly reviewing those points, Josh will illustrate the concepts by building a new interface in real time.
Who
Josh Walsh http://designinginteractive.com
Josh is an independent writer, speaker, and user experienceologist who’s based in Cleveland, OH.
Josh founded Designing Interactive, a web-software consultancy which built and maintains Simpli5, an ecommerce tool for serious startup to midsize companies.
Where
Lean Dog 1151 North Marginal Road, Cleveland, OH 44114
March 3rd, 2009 at 06:30 PM
Intro to Unobtrusive JavaScript using jQuery
We will go through a brief introduction to javascript and some demonstrations of the jQuery library. jQuery is a great and well supported abstraction that can help even non-developers do complex HTML transformations and CSS animation. We will explore some unobtrusive javascript techniques together and have some time for Q&A. Bring lots of questions!
Who
Jonathan Penn http://wavethenavel.com
Jonathan has been a web developer working with javascript for the better part of a decade. He’s watched the evolution of front end web technologies with great interest and loves keeping up with the new tools that come out to help us do our jobs better. He currently works as a software engineer at Within3 doing Ruby and Javascript work.
Where
Progressive Insurance 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Cleveland, OH 44143
February 3rd, 2009 at 06:30 PM
Introduction to Object Oriented Programming
Have you had to endure developers talking about objects, classes, interfaces, inheritance and the like and not really understood what they were talking about? Are you a beginning or self-taught developer, and are still trying to get your head around the concepts of OO? This presentation is for you. Dave Goerlich will explain the fundamentals of OO without getting code in the way.
Who
Dave Goerlich http://designinginteractive.com
With 15 years of experience in enterprise systems development, including a significant amount of real-time, mission-critical software, Dave Goerlich serves as the lead architect and database administrator for Designing Interactive. Dave has been a partner in Designing Interactive since 2005, where his responsibilities include both D-I's SaaS products as well as custom development projects for clients.
Where
Progressive Insurance 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Cleveland, OH 44143
January 6th, 2009 at 06:30 PM
CS4 Features Exposed!
Are you interested in what new and shiny functionality Adobe has added to the suite of tools used by most designers? David Mead will share points of interest from Fireworks and Dreamweaver based on his experience as a beta tester.
Who
David Mead http://davidjohnmead.com
David Mead has been building websites for over a decade either as a freelancer or for various successful companies including Progressive, Optiem, and Spinnaker Consulting. Now a resident of Ohio, David originally hailed from Essex. (That's England, by gum!) David is passionate about web standards and is a driving force behind Refresh Cleveland.
Where
American Greetings 1 American Road, Cleveland, OH 44144
November 14th, 2008 at 06:30 PM
November Social Gathering
As the holidays loom nearby, the Cleveland Web Standards Association will be taking a brief respite from “presenting” a topic in favor of a purely social gathering. Attendees are encouraged to bring a date/spouse/friend with them, if they so choose.
Since the cafe is only open until 10pm, we will continue to be social at one of the local pubs on Coventry or Lee. We will determine that at the Cafe when we are there.
Where
Vine & Bean Cafe 12706 Larchmere Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44120
October 8th, 2008 at 06:30 PM
User Research in the Design Process
Ever stared at a blank Photoshop screen and just needed to “get started designing”? Ever been handed a 40 page spec sheet that you needed to build from? Ever wonder if this feature should even be built in the first place?
Not to be confused with usability testing—user research can help get client, designer and developer all on the same side of the table. A solid understanding of the user leads not only to true “usability” but even better ideas to build in the first place. With the right combination of tools and process—even designers and developers will demand user research with every project to the benefit of all.
Who
Vince Frantz http://frantzid.com
Vince Frantz is an information designer and principal of Frantz I.D. Since 1996, he has spearheaded a broad scope of design projects across web, intra/extranet, print and motion media. Prior to that, Vince was an interaction designer and illustrator at Root Learning, Inc. After many years doing design and development, in 2005 he began designing a new form of organization that would enhance the user centered design and development process. In June of 2006, Sprokets launched as his own “ideal client” that would always align business strategy with end-user needs. Vince also founded the non-profit Public Square Group to help cities in Northeast Ohio employ a user centered approach to the design and development of sustainable skateboard parks.
Where
Progressive Insurance 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Cleveland, OH 44143
September 2nd, 2008 at 06:30 PM
Form Design: The Sequel
Forms -- We all use them. They are implemented in nearly every website in the known universe. From design to data collection to validation, this is the topic that keeps on giving. The previous roundtable discussion on forms scratched the surface of this topic, leaving participants wanting more. September's gathering delivers just that. Come prepared to gain and share best practices for secure and sexy forms.
Where
Tri-C West 11000 W Pleasant Valley Rd, Cleveland, OH 44130
June 3rd, 2008 at 06:30 PM
Search Engine Optimization for Developers and Designers
This months presentation is by Chris Caputo The Director of Acquisition Marketing at (of all places) American Greetings. Chris will be talking about search engine optimization and the role web standards play in the process. Check out the CWSA site for more details and to register (it’s free).
Who
Chris Caputo http://www.americangreetings.com
manage Search and Acquisition Marketing at American Greetings Interactive. Founded in 1906, American Greetings is the world’s largest publicly owned creator, manufacturer and distributor of social expression products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings employs approximately 18,000 full-time equivalent associates around the world and is home to one of the world’s largest creative studios. Our online brands include AmericanGreetings.com, BlueMountain.com, eGreetings.com, Kiwee.com, BloombyAG.com, HollyHobbie.com, and Care-Bears.com. Our sites receive over 150 million unique visitors per year and search marketing is a big component of that traffic.
Search marketing is a huge part of my day, and I love both my job and company. I like being a non-agency member of the ClevelandSEO group because it lets me spend time with individuals who understand and love Search Marketing as I do. The quality and knowledge level for Search Marketing in Cleveland is outstanding, and I am very proud to be a member of that group.
Where
American Greetings 1 American Road, Cleveland, OH 44144
May 6th, 2008 at 07:00 PM
It's not Magic: Programming for non Programmers
Have you ever used a website where you enter some information and it magically remembers what you enter? Or what about listening to programmers talk about databases and code? Come and hear Joe Fiorini, an experienced web developer, explain what programming is and how it can help your web site. You will learn the basics of object-oriented programming for the web, specifically how to get information from a form to a database and from a database back out to a screen. Don't know what a database is? No problem! He will explain that too! If you already know all about programming, never fear! Joe will also be showing how to get started using Ruby on Rails, a growing and extremely popular framework for quickly writing web applications.
Who
Joe Fiorini http://joefiorini.com
Joe Fiorini is a software engineer/evangelist. He is currently a member of the product development team at Within3, a local technology startup building a community platform for the healthcare industry. He specializes in software development with Ruby on Rails utilizing agile methodologies to deliver a working product quickly. Joe is also a strong technology evangelist. He has presented at numerous conferences and user groups on Ruby and Rails as well as to employees at Harley-Davidson and Progressive Insurance. In his spare time he organizes the Cleveland Ruby Brigade, is a core team member of the Cleveland Web Standards Association, and is a member of the planning team for other area conferences. This past year Joe was a member of the Rails Rumble team that developed MeetInBetween.us, a web application that suggests places users can meet in between their respective locations. Out of 250 applicants around the world, this site took first place. Voting was performed by the public for a period of close to two weeks. When not being geeky, he can be found spending time with his wife or playing flyball with his Bichon Frise dog.
Where
Tri-C West 11000 W Pleasant Valley Rd, Cleveland, OH 44130
