Past speaking engagements

I've spoken at dozens of web industry events all over the world, some of them multiple times, as well as 3 different Ignite events, & a PechaKucha night. Here are some of the highlights.

SXSWi 2011: "5 Steps to Bulletproof UX Strategy"

Over 1,400 people attended this talk in Ballroom A at the Austin Convention Center. Some stood against the walls. Others had to wait in line outside. It took 45 minutes to read all the tweets posted during the session.

Staring out into that huge crowd was the highlight of my speaking career, because it meant that my subject had finally become important enough to fill that room.

Ignite Phoenix 9: "How to Save A Stray Dog"

The energy of the crowd at an Ignite event is infectious. With just 5 minutes to make your point — 20 slides, 15 seconds each, timed, with no notes — the pressure is on, but the audience is behind you all the way.

I'm passionate about dog rescue and fostering, so for Ignite Phoenix 9, I shared my techniques for catching them and keeping them alive to this crowd of over 800 people.

Watch the video

O'Reilly Ignite: "Everything Is Important"

In 2007, O'Reilly hosted an Ignite event as part of the Adobe MAX conference in Chicago. Of the 16 speakers, 2 were selected to give their talks again during the Sneak Peaks keynote on the last day of the conference. I was one of them.

The massive stage (that's a full rock band there on the left) was backed by three giant projection screens. Over 3,300 people were in the audience, including the CEO of Adobe.

My talk was about a small design change I once made to the WordPress.com homepage during a workshop I did for Automattic. With the revised page in place, the site's conversion rate shot up to an astounding 25%. The point of the talk was that every design detail can have a significant impact.

A (nowhere near complete) list

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