web directions north 2008

Web Directions North 2008 logoI’m a big fan of Web Directions, the conference series that was born out of two Web Essentials conferences in ‘04 and ‘05 and grew up into a South version (in Sydney) and a North version (in Vancouver) that between them lay claim to be the most important gabfests to focus on standards-based web design.

It’s been a few weeks since Web Directions South 07 finished and I’m still under its spell, going back over podcasts, slidecasts and transcripts to savour every kernel of positive influence.

Last year’s Web Directions North was the first in the series I couldn’t attend, partly because it’s not cheap to fly to Canada and back, and partly because it it’s not always feasible to take almost a week away from a family with two young kids.

Advance notice has now been received about the line-up for WDN08 and it looks the goods again.

Frankly, my mouth started to water as soon as I read “opening keynote delivered by the mastermind behind the web standards movement, Jeffrey Zeldman“. Wow. I remember his video address at the first Web Essentials in 2004.
Given that two of the organisers are Dave Shea and Derek Featherstone, themselves presenters at WDS who have changed the way I work, I have no doubt that this is going to be another Web Directions triumph, and another step forward for web standards.
Like many, I’ll be looking forward to seeing the conference line-up get fleshed out, and I’ll be dreaming of how I can get there.

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