Greetings from the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the Extreme Markover Committee.

Organizers:

World Organization of Webmasters (WOW)

 

General Chair:

Bill Cullifer, WOW Executive Director

Bill Cullifer - founder of the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW), a non-profit professional association established in 1996, providing community, education and certification for Web professionals worldwide. As the organization's executive director, Cullifer participates in a variety of industry, government and educational advisory boards that assist WOW in developing and delivering professional standards and improving communication between all Web professionals. He acts as the organization's chief evangelist to stimulate the continued growth and opportunities of the Web.

 

Co Chairs:

Leslie Jensen-Inman, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee

Leslie Jensen-Inman is Assistant Professor of Art, Design, and Technology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is also president and principal designer at MORE, a graphic design, marketing, and public relations firm. She is deeply committed to her profession and serves as a board member onthe Chattanooga Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), aswell as, on the Education Committee for the Association for Visual Arts (AVA). She is also an active member of The Web Standards Project Education Task Force (WaSP EduTF) and writes and develops courses and curriculum for the WaSP Framework Curriculum. Leslie is also a member of the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) Partners in Business and Education Executive Committee.

Kimberly Blessing, Author and Web Professional Consultant

Kimberly Blessing has run the gamut of roles in the computing/IT industry,from software sales and tech support to Web strategist and tech manager.Through it all, the one thing she's always loved to do is develop Web sites.Never one to shy away from a challenge, her particular specialty is fixingbroken and slow Web sites. A geek since childhood, Kimberly's early exposureto computers (such as the TRS-80 and Commodore 64) no doubt led to her laterinterest in pursuing an education and career in computing. However, despiteher interest in math and the sciences, a lack of encouragement from herteachers and counselors in high school had Kimberly more interested inpursuing languages and music studies.

 

Web Design World Liaison:

Jim Heid, Author, Writer and Event MC

Jim Heid is one of the most admired writers and instructors in the Macintosh community. A contributing editor of Macworld magazine since 1984, he also covers personal technology for the Los Angeles Times, as well as presiding over numerous Thunder Lizard Productions conferences, including Web Design World, Web Builder, and Macromedia Web World. He recently co-founded Avondale Media, where, as editorial director, he oversees the planning and production of DVD-based courses on all manner of computer applications. An indefatigable digital media maven, Jim co-hosts "Point & Click Radio," a weekly call-in show on KZYX, Mendocino (CA) County Public Broadcasting, and he's the onscreen host of several Avondale Media training DVDs.

 

Panel of Experts:

Aaron Gustafosn, Founder & Principal Consultant, Easy! Designs, LLC

After getting hooked on the web in 1996 and spending several years pushing pixels and bits for the likes of IBM and Konica Minolta, Aaron Gustafson founded his own web consultancy: Easy! Designs LLC. Aaron is a Group Manager of the Web Standards Project (WaSP) and is a member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS). He serves as Technical Editor for A List Apart and has built a small library of writing and editing credits in both the print and web worlds. Aaron has graced the stage at numerous conferences and is frequently called on to provide web standards training in both the public and private sector.

 

Panel of Experts:

Dan Rubin Principal, WebGraph

Dan Rubin is a highly accomplished user interface designer and usability consultant, with over ten years of experience as a leader in the fields of web standards and usability, specifically focusing on the use of (X)HTML and CSS to streamline development and increase flexibility and accessibility.

His passion for all things creative and artistic isn't a solely selfish endeavor eitheryou'll frequently find him waxing educational about a cappella jazz and barbershop harmony, interface design, usability, web standards, typography, and graphic design in general. In addition to his contributions to sites including Blogger, the CSS Zen Garden, Yahoo! Small Business and Microsoft's ASP.net portal, Dan is a contributing author of Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation (2nd Edition, friends of ED, 2003), a technical reviewer for Beginning CSS Web Development (Apress, 2006) and The Art & Science of CSS (SitePoint, 2007), coauthor of Pro CSS Techniques (Apress, 2006), and Web Standards Creativity (friends of ED, 2007), writes about web standards, design and life in general on his blog, SuperfluousBanter.org.

 

Panel of Experts:

Greg Rewis Group Manager, Web Evangelists, Adobe Systems

With nearly 20 years of computer industry experience, Greg spends up to 200 days of the year on the road, talking with customers, giving product demonstrations at trade shows and seminars, speaking at industry conferences, and leading specialized advanced training sessions featuring Adobe's Web Tools product line.

 

Panel of Experts:

Jared M. Spool, CEO & Founding Principal User Interface Engineering

Jared Spool. A software developer and programmer, Jared founded User Interface Engineering in 1988. He has more than 15 years of experience conducting usability evaluations on a variety of products, and is an expert in low-fidelity prototyping techniques.

Jared is on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute and teaches seminars on product usability. He is a member of SIGCHI, the Usability Professionals Association, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the IEEE. Jared is a recognized authority on user interface design and human factors in computing. He is a regular tutorial speaker at the annual CHI conference and Society for Technical Communications conferences around the country.

 

Panel of Experts:

Jeffrey Zeldman Founder/Executive Creative Director HappyCog.com

One of the first web designers, Zeldman has had a pronounced impact on themedium and the profession. In 1995, the former art director and copywriter launched one of the first personal sites and began publishing widely-read tutorials on methods and principles of web design.

In 1998 he co-founded The Web Standards Project, a grass roots coalition that persuaded Microsoft and Netscape to support the same technologies in their browsers. That same year he began publishing A List Apart "for people whomake websites." It has become one of the most respected and influential magazines in the field.

He has written many articles and two books, notably Designing With Web Standards (now in its second edition), and is a favorite of lecture audiences around the world. In 2005, he and Eric Meyer co-founded An EventApart, a traveling conference on design and code.

 

Panel of Experts:

Lance Loveday, CEO Closed Loop Marketing

As the CEO of Closed Loop Marketing (CLM) Lance Loveday is a recognized thought leader in the online marketing industry. He is a regular speaker atindustry events-MacWorld, Search Engine Strategies, Web Design World and South by Southwest, to name a few-where his strategic, humorous and down-to-earth approach inspires designers, online marketers and business executives alike.

Lance's experience in the world of search marketing stretches back to 1998,when he became web site manager for a Fortune 100 company in Silicon Valley. During this stint, he developed a passion for transparent, results-focused online marketing that motivated him to start Closed Loop Marketing. Since its inception in 2001, CLM has become a highly sought after agency serving awide array of clients-from startups to big brands like Hewlett-Packard, Brocade, and Lockheed Martin. To each client, CLM brings a deep expertise in not only online advertising platforms but also the user experience-what happens "after the click." It's this combination of skill, experience and knowledge to which Lance attributes his company's success.

Lance is co-author of the break out business strategy book Web Design for ROI, which was published in 2007 by New Riders Press. His educational background includes an exploratory tour in law school, preceded by a BS in Managerial Economics from UC Davis, where he is honored to guest lecture on occasion.

 

Panel of Experts:

Monique Stover, Web Developer and CEO SeaGreen® Software

Monique Stover, Web Developer and CEO SeaGreen® Software. Established in 2006, SeaGreen Software provides web developers and designers with the finest professional-grade software for the creation of web-based forms. Based in Los Angeles, SeaGreen's flagship product is the first of its kind, combining form design, database table creation, and an administration module all in one application.

 

Panel of Experts:

Nishant Kothary, Sr. Evangelist Microsoft

A creative schizophrenic at heart, Nishant was once human - pure flesh and blood - but now seems to be best identified by a set of IP addresses. Upon discovering the Internet in 2000, Nishant made his transformation from human to emoticon over a number of years that involved traversing a variety of roles: from teaching standards-based development and interactive media at Purdue, to writing books on Flash, to overseeing the release of Amazon Unbox to working as a UX designer on Amazon Kindle to working with the top design agencies in the world. Nishant has worn the hats of designer, developer, business owner, marketer and much in between, eventually finding himself at the Death Star - Microsoft - where he now works as a Senior Evangelist. As and when he can, he helps organize and presents at national and international conferences on computer graphics, web technologies and design, such as, the annual ACM SIGGRAPH Conference, Conference on Designing for User Experience, Webmaster Jam Session, MIX, and others. Nishant lives in Kirkland, Washington with his wife, Pita, who effortlessly manages him and their mini-zoo consisting of a Weimaraner by the name of Yoshi, and two bossy tabbies, Izzy and Mango. Check out Nishant's severely neglected blog at rainypixels.com.

 

Panel of Experts:

Stephanie Sullivan Founder/Principal, W3Conversions

Founder and principal of web standards redesign company W3Conversions, Stephanie Sullivan is a Dreamweaver, accessibility, CSS and XHTML expert, whose services are in demand by top firms across the United States. She's a top gun that companies go to for troubleshooting problems, training their web team, or to work behind-the-scenes transforming their in-house designs into functioning standard-based websites.

She wrote the CSS Layouts included in Dreamweaver CS3, serves as co-lead of the influential Web Standards Project (WaSP) Adobe Task Force and is a partner at Community MX, a site offering over 2,300 tutorials to web developers seeking to increase their skills. Though an admitted workaholic, she escapes from the little people inside her computer to play beach volleyball. Her guilty pleasure? 80's music.

 

Local Organizing Committee Chair :

Kris Silva, Manager, Customer Experience, BizLand Web Hosting

Kris Silva - As head of BizLands reseller team and a key player in its customer experience initiatives, Kris spends much of her time working with Web developers and their clients. With a deep understanding of their needs and expectations, she brings a focus on service to all aspects of her work, and currently leads a team that supports more than 20,000 clients. Kris holds degrees in business and accounting, and earned a Premier Service Certificate. In her off hours, she enjoys spending time with her time with her two girls and is involved with several childrens advocacy groups.