I recently (and I use that term loosely) gave two presentations on microformats. And, just because I love you, I wanted to share the slide deck from each.
InterLab
Back in November 2009 (not so recent), I had the honor of speaking at InterLab 2009, an annual workshop for web professionals in the Department of Energy complex.
I gave a 40-minute presentation, Microformats: Web Semantics and More, covering the basics of microformats, including syntax, benefits and publishing. I also gave several demos of microformats tools, including the Oomph Microformats Toolkit, H2VX and the Operator Add-on for Firefox.
The slides include links to all demos and resources mentioned, including authoring and validation tools:
My presentation was also recorded. You can download the video from the InterLab site.
Impressions of InterLab
I can't post my slide deck from InterLab without at least taking a few paragraphs to talk about what a great event it is. Not only was the 4-day workshop well organized (thanks to Gary Schroeder), but it was inspiring.
Inspiring to see and hear web professionals from labs all over the country getting together to share knowledge and ideas. I only wish my own employer had something similar to encourage innovation, creativity and collaboration.
And, of course, the people were great. I made some wonderful connections, including several fellow New Mexicans, and had a chance to catch up with my friends Joe Lewis and Whitney Hess, both of whom also spoke at InterLab. I also had the pleasure of meeting Jeffrey Zeldman for the second time (first time when I wasn't drunk; thanks SXSW).
It really was a great event, and I walked away feeling energized and inspired. I would love to be at future InterLabs, if only to attend and enjoy the interaction and other presentations.
E4H Workshop Summits
Two week ago, I participated in Environments for Humans' Workshop Summits, an online series of workshops from experts in the web industry.
My Microformats Workshop was a glorious 3 hours. And I say "glorious" because to really talk about microformats, an hour just isn't enough. So, that 3 hours gave me time to go into lots of detail.
I was able to spend more time on the benefits of microformats, their history and many, many demonstrations, including Google Rich Snippets, Huffduffer, IdentEngine, Optimus Microformats Transformer and much more. I also provided markup examples that attendees could download and work with to create their own microformats.
As with the InterLab deck, my workshop slides include links to all of the resources and demonstrations in my presentation:
I'm Hooked
I must say that this online format is right up my alley. I didn't have to travel. I didn't have to stand up in front of a crowd (and feel all the stress that comes along with that). I didn't even change out of my pajama bottoms and slippers.
As I'm sure you gathered, I also loved the 3-hour format. It gave me plenty of time to really get into detail, and I loved the ability to answer questions from the online chat during my workshop, rather than waiting until the end to address. Though it was virtual, I felt "connected" to attendees.
And then there are Christopher Schmitt and Ari Stiles, the two folks behind E4H. I would work with them again and again. I think their efforts to bring conference-quality topics and speakers to people's desktops is brilliant. I know I don't have the money or time to attend everything I'd like to, so this is a great alternative.
That said, there were technical hiccups. Fortunately, I didn't experience much more than a few delays in the online chat. However, some of the other presenters faced connectivity issues that I can imagine were frustrating. I feel confident, though, that Chris and Ari are working to resolve those sorts of problems for future online events.
I'm honored to have been a part of it, and I strongly recommend you check out their future events.
Forseeable Future
I don't have any speaking engagements lined up anytime soon. I am still pursing my professional goal of more public speaking, but I'm also trying to achieve more balance with my personal life.
So, I'm going to take a less assertive approach for at least a couple of months. If a speaking opportunity comes my way, I'll absolutely take it. But if nothing does, I'm going to enjoy a few months of not having to constantly put myself out there.
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