Derek Bender — design, art direction and illustration

BarCamp Miami / FOWA Wrap Up

Photo by markkrupinski

This past week I visited Miami to take in the sites and expand my knowledge a bit by attending BarCamp Miami and the annual FOWA (Future of Web Apps) conference. Both events were absolutely amazing and much fun was had by all. Here's my recap of the week in Miami.

Last Friday evening a few co-workers (Sterling, Elizabeth, and Daniel) and I skipped the usual NFi happy hour and drove down to Miami so we could get an early jump into the weekend where we'd be attending BarCamp Miami and on Tuesday, Carsonified's FOWA. BarCamp, which was Sunday, got off to a great start with a sea of people (500+) flooding the courtyard of the venue at which it was being held. (Oh, and for those who don't know what BarCamp is, read about it here.) I caught a bunch of great talks including one by fellow Orlander (Orlandian?), Greg Rollett and Adaptive Blue's Fraser Kelton, plus I did one of my own. I'm not gonna go too in-depth about it but it was really awesome to get up in front of an audience of your peers and present on a topic that you love and are knowledgeable in (web typography for me). For those who missed my talk or want the slides, you can get them here.

After the day wrapped on BarCamp, it was time for the after-party at the Mayfair Hotel's cabana rooftop bar (sweet!). It was great to meet and hangout with all the great folks who made it out to BarCamp, especially all the Orlando peeps who made it down in mass.

Next I hung out at Miami's co-working space, Brikolodge. That place is really a testament to Miami's tech scene. It was great to finally do the whole "co-working thing." (For more on co-working check out Orlando's Colab and co-working explained.) I also meet the guys from Done21 (thanks again Jim for the adapter) and some of the Grooveshark team.

Photo by alexdesigns

Next up, the big one: FOWA. I attended last year's Future of Web Apps, but this year definitely had better presentations, ideas, speakers and technology. An amazing event. Some highlights included Jason Fried of 37 Signals on Getting Real 2.0, Alex Hunter of Virgin on Brand 2.0, Aza Rankin of Mozilla on Ubiquity (very cool app) and of course Gary Vaynerchuk. The overall theme, which was stated pretty clearly in a few different talks, was how these new technologies aren't made for bringing people and information together, but for bringing people together. As contrasted with past years which were heavy on the side of social media and its importance, it was a fresh idea to bring to the table and ultimately, at least I think so, will have a lasting impact on the industry.

After FOWA wrapped for the day, yet another party was planned at Nikki Beach on South Beach. This is where things get a little fuzzy, but I meet a lot of great folks, including Ryan Carson and Gary Vaynerchuk. We actually stayed until they kicked us out (who says geeks can't party?).

All in all, I meet some fun people, had a few beers, learned a few things and had a great time in Miami. Already stoked for next year.