A tale of two conferences - part 1 of 2

In the past three days I've been to two conferences. One was the Future of Web Apps (FOWA) conference in Kensington, the second was the Talk About Local Unconference 2009 at Staffordshire University.
It's going to take a bit of time to write up so here's the first part, devoted to the first day at Fowa...

FOWA 2009 - the Future of Web Apps

There is nothing as inspirational as the story of success, or so goes the theory behind trade and business conferences.

Pictures from FOWA 2009 - taken by oreillygmt

So at a time when the future of newspapers is the subject of much brow-furrowing and debate I decided to spend a couple of days of my holiday at the Future of Web Apps (FOWA) conference at Kensington Town Hall.
As with any good technology conference there has been the mix of big-name speakers and bleeding-edge technology, but beneath the polish it is clear that the sheen of tech start-up has been dulled by the recession.
My first experience of the Future of Web Apps conference was in the concrete, steel and mirrored glass of the Docklands' ExCel complex, a perfect setting for such an exhibition.
I was left dizzied but inspired by a series of talks ranging from the future of news, how to use maps in web apps, achieving a work-life balance in a start-up, the launch of Facebook Connect.
I might not have represented the stereotypical young, tech-savvy male designer/developer/entrepreneur, but I can flag up experiments/projects in Adobe Air, Flash, AJAX and technologies such as Google Maps that were directly prompted by lessons I learned.
Halfway through the two-day conference and I'm also suitably impressed, although it is clear that the impact of the recession has curbed the bullish tone that marked last year's event.
Just take the venue. The town hall location might be historic - dating back to xxx - but it was perhaps ill-suited to a technology conference. After all, whereas the perk of free wi-fi internet for the assorted geeks was taken for granted at the Docklands, it stymied at least three talks trying to demonstrate new technologies on the world wide web.
Then take registration. Whereas every visitor last year collected a goodie bag - containing a glossy itinery - and a bright laminate which allowed delegates to quickly identify would-be networking opportuniites, this year everyone had to fill in their own pass details which formed part of a timetable document.
That said, the restraint helped demonstrate a back-to-basics approach by the organisers to focus on the nitty-gritty subjects to get start-ups off the ground and soaring despite the pressures on the global economy.
Last year, the conference was split into two 'tracks', with a developer-focused speaker often talking at the same time as a business-oriented subject. Often, I would have the feeling that I missed the best speaker having plumped for one rather than another.
There does appear to have been much tighter control on the scheduling of the talks to ensure balance for every interest in the conference. Don't get me wrong, I was left baffled by the fine detail - and sometimes otherworldly metaphors - of Dustin Diaz's talk on Javascript frameworks, but at least he was entertaining and made me want to find out more.
Web start-up golden-boy Kevin Rose was a safe bet as the big name opener of the event (as last year), although his top 10 tips for getting a web site from one to one million users left me thinking it was little more than an extended blog post.
Although I'm hoping to write and post my notes from each speaker over the next couple of days, here's a brief view on each speaker and workshop I saw on Thursday.
Kevin Rose (Digg, WeFollow) - Taking Your Site From One To One Million Users: Solid talk from the founder of Digg, co-founder of Revision 3 and now investor/advisor on how to build a web app in the B2C sector. Top tip: keep a web app simple, and make users feel great for using it.
Mike McDerment (Freshbooks) - Three Vital Marketing Systems For A Successful Web App: Commonsense advice tips on recording marketing stats. Top tip: Freemium model allows start-up to maximise users who you can convert into paying customers
Dustin Diaz (Twitter) - The Future Of JavaScript Design Patterns - Unleashing Full Object-Oriented Capability. Technical, slightly rambling presentation on the strengths and weaknesses of JavaScript in its various flavours. Top quote: jQuery is like cocaine
How We Built HelloApp (panel) - Panel led by Ryan Carson on how developers built the app used at the conference to help delegates network.
Addison Berry (Lullabot) - Passion and Paychecks. Drupal and Open Source evangelist on how to work in Open Source and still pay the mortgage.

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