Wired Sussex event in Lewes for digital companies
23 April 2010
Yesterday evening, I went to an event organised by Wired Sussex in Lewes. It was fun an interesting to meet other companies involved in working with the web, making websites and other related fields like marketing, search engine optimization, social media and PR.
Other events about the digital industry
Wired Sussex keeps a calendar of Sussex events in the digital industry. They don't necessarily organise all the events they list on the calendar but they are all relevant to businesses interested in making websites or anything around the digital industry. Andy Keetch from Wired Sussex gave me a photo of the event (See below).
People I've met in Lewes
It's always good for a business to network with other businesses. I like to exchange views about our web industry and see what others think. Rather than argue ideas, I like to listen to what other professionals have to say about making websites.
Wolf Luecker from Luecker Interactive
Wolf runs a design and build agency that produces web applications for prestigious clients like the BBC. We talked about different technologies and exchanged ideas on what we think about them. I am passionate about technology, and although I'm happy to speak with my customers in non-technical terms, it's nice now and then to discuss the latest technologies related to making websites.
Jane Lee from Dexterity
It was great fun talking to Jane about Dexterity, her PR company, and her recent website redesign. Jane, like me, believes in being honest and truthful in business. I put to her that I fully disclosed a half hour downtime on my website in this blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. I was pleased and reassured to hear from Jane that in her expert PR opinion, it's best practice to be upfront with problems and clearly communicate them publicly to all my customers.
Robin Houghton from Eggbox Marketing
It was lovely to see Robin again; when she's not running her marketing business, she organises a great networking event in Lewes: First Friday Lewes. I found a new customer at her last event, Verity Crosbie Frost, and I'm currently building Verity new website, so I'll definitely be going to First Friday in Lewes again.
Peter Parker
Peter is a graphic designer for web and print. It was interesting to talk about the kind of technology he uses to build websites: PHP and open source content management systems (CMS). His current favourite CMS is "CMS Made Simple" because it's easy for his customers to manage their website and quick to implement for him.
Georgie Wright
Georgie is starting a new business, launching in June 2010. Georgie and her partner are starting a new web based business and we talked about the process of getting up and running as soon as possible. I mentioned the 37 Signals book "Getting Real" which develops a brilliant theory of web applications building.
"Getting Real" from 37signals
The main idea of "Getting Real" is that websites should be as simple to use as possible, with just the right amount of features for their users to complete their task. Moreover, websites need to be built fast and released early, so that real customers can have a strong input.
I do believe in this way of working; I always try to involve my customers in the design of their website by getting their feedback as often as possible.
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