Speakers

Dave Benton

Interactive Creative Director

metajive

Dave is the driving force behind metajive since its inception in 1999.  Dave headed to San Francisco to become a 'hired gun' for a handful of the big agencies in the city. Dave worked on everything he could get his hands on which included Disney, Banana Republic, Gap and Mike's Hard Lemonade.  After settling in Del Mar, California Dave developed metajive. Metajive's high-profile clients include Quiksilver, DC Shoes, NASCAR, Microsoft, State Farm and Virgin America. Metajive also works closely with agencies such as JUXT, Eleven Inc, DDB, Deutsch & Grip Ltd on their top-level accounts.

When Dave isn't working he's trying to catch a few waves.

Learn more on Dave's background and expert insight.

Sessions:
The Device is the Message

Faz Besharatian

Independent Design Consultant

Faz started his migration away from print design in 1996 and has been building digital experiences ever since. Throughout his design career he has worked for AARP, AOL, US Airways, USWeb/CKS, and others. In addition to managing design teams he has taught a few classes. Today he is an independent design consultant focused on product design for companies big and small.

Sessions:
Designing Without a Plan — An Incremental Approach to Building Web Applications

Paul Boag

User Experience Consultant

Headscape, LTD

Paul Boag has been working on the web since 1993. He is a user experience consultant for Headscape Ltd, a web design agency that he founded back in 2002. Paul also produces and hosts the longest running and popular web design podcast at boagworld. He is a regular speaker at conferences and author of a number of books including Client Centric Web Design.

Learn more on Paul's background and expert insight.

Sessions:
Do I Need an App For That?
Unbelievable Ecommerce

Chris Butler

Vice President

Newfangled

Christopher Butler is the Vice President of Newfangled, where he directs personnel and marketing and consults clients on their digital marketing strategy. In addition to speaking at events for HOW, Recourses, and the AIGA, Christopher is a prolific writer. His articles have been published in PRINT, HOW, Smashing Magazine, Salon, and elsewhere, and he is the author of The Strategic Web Designer: How to Confidently Navigate the Web Design Process.

Sessions:

Jose Caballer

Chief Education Officer

The Skool

Chris Converse

Partner, Designer, and Developer

Cōdify Design Studio

Chris Converse has 20 years of experience in graphic design and interactive media, with a unique focus on both design and development. Chris possesses development skills across such languages as PHP, ActionScript, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and jQuery, making his design execution optimal across various media.

In addition to design and development, Chris is a featured speaker at various industry-related conferences, including the HOW Design Conference, AIGA, Adobe MAX and Emerge. Look for his books on your favorite online bookstore, watch his videos on Lynda.com, download free templates on Adobe DevNet, and take his Responsive Web Design course on Udemy.com. Learn more at codifydesign.com/chris.

Sessions:
Advanced HTML 5/CSS/jQuery
Creating Responsive Web Experiences

Steve Fisher

UX Director

Yellow Pencil

Steve is an internationally renowned interactive designer, speaker and open source evangelist. He has done work for companies all over North America and travels the world talking about design, user experience and open source. Currently Steve is working as the UX Director for Yellow Pencil, serves as the national vice president of web for the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada and can be found hanging out with some of the core teams contributing to open source projects like Drupal. Steve likes running, fancy shirts and twitter. Find him at hellofisher.com.

Session:
Responsive Design Process

Laura Franz

Associate Professor

UMass Dartmouth

An Associate Professor in the Design Department at UMass Dartmouth, Laura teaches a wide range of type classes — including a Web Typography class in The Graduate Certificate In Web and Interaction Design.

Inspired by the intersection of tradition and technology, Laura shares her web font recommendations on goodwebfonts.com and her typography knowledge via the book Typographic Web Design: How to Think Like a Typographer in HTML and CSS (Wiley) and the course “Typography for Web Designers” (lynda.com).

Jesse Friedman

Director of Web Interface and Development

Astonish Results

Session:
Wordpress Theming for Web Designers

Ginger Kochmer

Division Director

The Creative Group

Ginger Kochmer is the division director for The Creative Group, a specialized staffing firm placing a comprehensive range of interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals, in Philadelphia. Ginger joined The Creative Group in 2006 as an account manager. Previously, she owned her own marketing and sponsorship sales company for Professional Athletes in New York. Ginger is a member of many industry associations in the Philadelphia area, and has been president of the Art Director’s Club of Philadelphia since 2010. She also is a frequent speaker on staffing and industry-related topics. Ginger is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.

Session:
2013 Salary Trends: What Will You Earn in the Coming Year?

Troy Lachance

Bluecadet

Troy Lachance combines a liberal arts sensibility with more than ten years of experience in the interactive industry. He currently leads Bluecadet's design team in conceptualizing compelling user experiences.  

Previously a senior interactive designer for the Smithsonian Institute National Portrait Gallery, Troy specializes in schematic design, wireframing, content flow prototyping and experiential design. He earned a Masters with distinction in History from George Mason University, which has informed his work for museum exhibits and cultural institutions. His projects have been recognized by a number of educational and interactive design organizations including SXSW, Adobe, the Webbys, AAM Muse awards, HOW magazine and Communication Arts.

Session:
Wireframing for Fun and Profit

Rajesh Lal

Rajesh Lal is an internationally recognized digital product leader who has designed and developed software used by millions of people. He is an active member of W3C Accessibility group, where he is helping design standards for a web that is accessible to all.

He is passionate about HTML5, RIA, and Mobile technologies, and has authored multiple books on Desktop, Web, Mobile and Rich Internet applications. He is a distinguished Nokia engineer and has presented worldwide on HTML5 and Mobile technologies. His blog can be found at http://irajesh.com and his other presentations at http://slideshare.net/rajeshlal.   
Tweets @ iRajLal

Session:
Learn Accessible Design

Claudia McCue

Certified Technical Trainer

Adobe

Claudia McCue spent more than 20 years in real-world print production -- from paste-up through early electronic prepress to current Mac & PC systems. She now specializes in teaching both creative and production professionals how to use Adobe products without hurting themselves or others. She is the author of three books, a contributor to InDesign Magazine, and a frequent presenter at industry conferences. She is a Certified Technical Trainer, and an Adobe Certified Expert for Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Session:
Create Websites or iPad Apps Without Writing Code Using New Tools From Adobe!

Karen McGrane

Managing Partner

Bond Art + Science

If the internet is more awesome than it was in 1995, Karen McGrane would like to claim a very tiny piece of the credit. For more than 15 years Karen has helped create more usable digital products through the power of user experience design and content strategy. Today, as managing partner at Bond Art + Science, she develops web strategies and interaction designs for publishers, financial services firms and healthcare companies.

Prior to starting Bond, Karen built the user-centered design practice at Razorfish in her role as VP and national lead for user experience. Karen is also on the faculty of the MFA in Interaction Design program at SVA in New York, where she teaches Design Management, which aims to teach students how to run successful projects, teams, and businesses.

Session:
Adapting Ourselves to Adaptive Content

Patrick McNeil

Creator

DesignMeltdown.com

Patrick McNeil is a freelance writer, web developer, design lover and the creator of DesignMeltdown.com. He has diverse interests that have merged technology and design resulting in work that touches everything from high design to hard-core programming. Ultimately his love for design, inspiration, and sharing knowledge has fueled his passion for running Design Meltdown and writing his bestselling book series The Web Designer’s Idea Book(s). Patrick is also the Content Director for the HOW Interactive Design blog and community.

Session:
Web Hosting 101: A Quick Guide to Demystify the Technology of Web Hosting

Emira Mears

Co-founder

Raised Eyebrow Web Studio Inc.

Emira Mears is a veteran web strategist, who co-founded Raised Eyebrow Web Studio Inc. in 2000. Her firm has developed a reputation for helping clients in the non-profit and progressive business sectors use online tools more effectively to achieve their goals. She takes delight in working with smart and committed people who are as passionate about what they do as she is about the web. She is also the co-author of The Boss of You: Everything A Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run and Maintain Her Own Business.

Learn more on Emira’s background and expert insight.

Session:
Collaborating for Success: How to Effectively Engage Multiple Stakeholders in A Design/Development Process

Brian Miller

Owner, Design Director

Brian Miller Design Group

Brian Miller is the owner and design director at the Brian Miller Design Group, a small design firm that specializes in branding for the Web and print. He is also the author of Above the Fold, My Design Shop's number one selling book in 2011.

Brian was recently elected as the Secretary Treasurer of the Type Directors Club, and was also the Chairman of TDC58, their annual competition. He is a lecturer at the Shintaro Akatsu School of Design. Brian has a Masters degree from Pratt Institute in design management and a BFA in graphic design from the Hartford Art School.

Session:
Principles of Information Architecture: A Guide to Thinking Like an Information Architect

Cameron Moll

Founder

Authentic Jobs

Cameron Moll is the founder of Authentic Jobs, a targeted destination for web professionals and the companies seeking to hire them. He’s also the artist behind a unique series of letterpress type posters that re-imagine buildings as if constructed entirely of type.

Cameron is a sucker for anything that involves his four sons and sports equipment. He lives in the coastal town of Sarasota, Florida with his lovely wife Suzanne.

Session:
Tools for Building Your Interactive Dream Team

Mark O'Brien

President

Newfangled

Mark O’Brien is president of Newfangled, a web development company that has been helping marketing firms plan and build websites for their clients since 1995. Mark speaks regularly on marketing, and his first book, A Website That Works: How Marketing Agencies Can Create Business Generating Websites, was released in June 2011. Check out Mark's Web Development Business Management Blog at http://www.newfangled.com/mark_o_brien_blog

Session:
The Modern Marketing Website

James Pannafino

Faculty Member

Millersville University

Matthew Richmond

Founding Partner, Executive Creative Director, Developer

The Chopping Block, Inc.

Matthew Richmond is a founding partner, executive creative director, and developer at The Chopping Block, Inc., a full-service graphic design studio founded on the principle that good design spans all mediums. He graduated from The Cooper Union School of Art in 1998, where he additionally studied two years of Architecture.

Matthew's professional experience includes several notable design internships within New York, a design internship with Microsoft in Washington state, and a photographic internship with Richard Avedon. His work has been recognized by Communication Arts, ID Magazine, HOW magazine and Flash Forward. In 2003, Matthew and the Block were featured in the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum's Triennial Exhibition. Notable clients include Adobe, Scholastic, MoMA, NBC, They Might be Giants, Phish, Time Inc., and Turner Entertainment.

For the past fifteen years, Matthew has presented and instructed on all aspects of digital and analog design, photography and illustration. When not in the studio, Matthew can be found teaching digital illustration, branding, identity and advanced techniques to the graduate students at the School of Visual Arts.

Learn more on Matthew's background and expert insight.

Session:
Tools of the Trade

Jim Sabia

Creative Director

Creative Director with fifteen plus years of experience designing focused, relevant user experiences for interactive TV, desktop, web, and mobile applications. Expert in usability, workflows, wire framing, and visual design. Proven ability to motivate and inspire creative teams to deliver superb creative work under tight deadlines

Session:
Designing for Opportunity Not a Platform

David Sherwin

Principal Designer

frog

David Sherwin is a principal designer at frog, a global innovation firm, and the author of Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills and Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers, both from HOW.

He is a senior lecturer in the BFA in Interaction Design program at California College of the Arts, and has spoken and taught workshops on creativity, business, and user experience design at SxSWi, Interaction 11, HOW Interactive Design Conference, and many colleges and universities around the U.S.

Session:
Know Thy User: The Role of Research in Great Interactive Design

Stuart Silverstein

Senior UX Designer

Fandango

A Los Angeles native, Stuart Silverstein’s design career began in visual design and brand development—first as a production artist, then as a designer, for the Woo Agency (2002), the California Endowment (2003), and Where magazine (2004). But a love of lifehacking and usability translated into a transition from visual designer to UX designer in 2007 and he hasn’t looked back. UX is where his heart is. In fact, Stuart is obsessed with making shopping carts work, maximizing usability, and making sites easy to comprehend.

In his 11+ years in the design business, Stuart has worked with brands like Activision, Gateway, The Mattress Store, and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. He is also a contributor to UXBooth,  and Smashing Magazine, as well as featured speaker on strategy, design and process flow. Stuart graduated with honors from the University of Miami, and is an avid yogi, skier, and hiker, as well as a raw Vegan enthusiast.

Learn more on Stuart's background and expert insight.

Session:
Creating Actionable Insight with Competitive Analysis

Dan Willis

Director of Mobile Experience Design

Marriott

Dan Willis is Marriott’s Director of Mobile Experience Design. He has been launching robust Web sites and applications since the mid 1990s. Willis was washingtonpost.com’s first User Experience Director and had the same title at PBS.org. He has designed and coded major Web sites; designed, facilitated, and analyzed usability testing; and managed design, IA, and Web analytics resources. He is the creator of UX Crank, a highly opinionated resource for UX professionals. He has presented at several South by Southwest Interactive Festivals and a variety of national and international user experience industry conferences.

Session:
HOW to be a UX Designer

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