The geeks gathered in Leamington Spa, but the clouds got there first. On Saturday 9 August 2008 it rained, as it has for much of summer in the UK. But although our t-shirts were rain-spotted and damp, our spirits were not and Geek in the Park Rain Pub turned out to be the success it promised to be.
Multipack members were first on the scene, meeting in a pub during the afternoon. There were reports of brave souls in Jephson Gardens, sheltering under trees for the most part but emerging to juggle when the rain let up: a triumph of hope over experience, perhaps.
After a quick stop for pizza, we headed to the venue for the talks where we were joined by around 40 or so geeks eager to listen to Jon Hicks and Drew McLellan. Bruce Lawson welcomed everyone and introduced Jon’s talk about icon design. Jon outlined some principles and techniques for creating compelling and successful icons, drawing on his experience of designing for Firefox and Silverback, the new usability application from Clearleft, and letting his characteristic wit help make important points and answer questions from the audience.
A short break followed and then Bruce spoke briefly about the work Opera is doing to broaden the adoption of Web standards. He then introduced Drew, who took the older geeks on a trip back to their childhood with the help of Brian Cant. Cleverly camouflaged by photos of Humpty and Jemima from Play School was a serious look at the benefits of microformats. A computer freeze was sympathetically received by the crowd (we’ve all been there…) and Drew put his ideas across effectively and with obvious skill and passion.
The whole event was organized by Trevor Morris, who did a fantastic job co-ordinating everything. To hear speakers of Jon and Drew’s calibre for no more than a train fare and beer money is the best kind of value. Thanks, Trevor. There are lots of great photos of the event available on Flickr. I’m sure Geek in the Park will be back. We might even to get to have a picnic.
