24 web experts in Perth for the 2013 Edge of the Web conference, featuring keynote speaker Matt Barrie, CEO of freelancer.com

February 27 2013, 10:48 am | BY Martin Trevaskis | No Comments

MattBarrie_BLOG.jpgEleven world leaders and thirteen Australian web experts are converging in Perth for the 2013 Edge of the Web Conference on Thursday 14 March and Friday 15 March at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

This two day conference organised by the Australian Web Industry Association offers digital agencies, creatives, developers and digital marketers a unique opportunity to connect with the latest in web design and development and explore the key opportunities and issues facing the digital community in Australia.

The Australian Web Industry Association 2013 conference offers a stimulating program of international, national and local speakers around a theme of “Cowboys and Indians: the frontiers of exploration, ethics and competitive advantage” and is programmed to explore edgy and sometimes taboo issues for the web industry.

The conference program offers three streams focused on design, business and development. There’s something for everyone – from the pros and cons of outsourcing to digital agency business models, from SEO to WordPress themes, from user experience to web apps, and from online media strategy to social media ROI and the latest results from social media case studies.

Key highlights of the Edge of the Web conference program include:

Matt Barrie (pictured above) – CEO of freelancer.com, the world’s largest outsourcing marketplace who will present an insider’s view of the world of outsourcing and explore the potential impact on web developers, designers and digital agencies in Australia.

Ryan Holiday –  best-selling US author, media strategist and Director of Marketing at American Apparel since he was 21. This 25 year old whizz kid demonstrates how easily the 24/7 cycle of news media can be manipulated to generate publicity. His campaigns have been used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube, and Google and have been written about in AdAge, the New York Times, Gawker, and Fast Company.

Ryan Holiday says, “I’ve manufactured controversies, done stunts, planted fake stories. There’s no question that I think it’s great that people have access to publishing in a way they have never had before, but there is the law of unintended consequences and what that’s done in this case is make misinformation a lot easier.”

Domenico Bartolo – International designer, director and co-founder of Melbourne design and communications agency, 21-19 will look at collaboration in the creative process; how the cocktail of the minds is best shaken. He’s been the creative driving force behind brands such as MTV Brand New, Lifestyle, Smash Hits, Disney XD, Discovery, ABC, Fox Sports, The Comedy Channel and many more.

Other key sessions include:

  • Troy Dean on measuring the ROI of social media,
  • Sessions exploring the business models behind digital agencies,
  • Miles Burke on the 3 evils for digital agencies,
  • Bret Treasure on what psychology can teach us about web design
  • Keith Critchett with actual, successful social media case studies.
  • Design A-lister Samantha Thebridge – (ex-Atlassian), perhaps the most experienced design skills coach in the country.
  • Saasu founder Marc Lehmann will talk about how they re-aligned visually and ideologically using design thinking.
  • Chris Lienert on forms that people don’t hate.
  • WordPress plugin developer Maeve Lander on theme development
  • Plus UX maven Will Donovan.

Bret Treasure, Chairman of Australian Web Industry Association says, “We’ve organised the most practical, business-centric web conference ever held in Western Australia. It’s about ROI, outsourcing, design thinking and business models, and technically it’s about faster sites, JavaScript, APIs and User Experience. We’d like to see a show of force from local agencies, designers, developers and companies at the conference. This is a great opportunity for the Western Australian web industry to interact and network with an outstanding line-up of international and national speakers.”

The program and pricing options have been scheduled for maximum flexibility to enable attendees to choose to attend either full day or half days, so that the time-poor can attend only the sessions directly relevant to them.

Full conference tickets are $620, or select a one day pass for $340 or a morning/afternoon half-day session for just $220 (including lunch). Or take advantage of the bulk ticket discount and bring a team of 4 or more from the one organization for just $500 each.

Check out the program of speakers at www.eotw.com.au and purchase tickets via eventbrite.com.au.

You can also join the Australian Web Industry Association for just $150 for business membership or $50 for an individual membership – more details at http://webindustry.asn.au.