EECI 2009: Wrap-Up

Upon arriving in Leiden by train from the Amsterdam airport, I made the short walk from the train station to the hotel. Before I even stepped inside the hotel, I got my first introduction of the conference. Through the window of the lobby, there was none other than Leevi Graham, typing away on his laptop, most likely writing another new add-on.

That began the amazing experience of meeting familiar names but new faces in the community and hearing them speak about their experiences using ExpressionEngine to develop websites.

I have to acknowledge the conference organizers, Whoooz! Webmedia. Robert, Adriaan and their team put together an amazingly well-produced conference. The venue—an old factory building in the heart of Leiden—was unlike any other conference venue I’ve been to, equipped with a sound system, stage lighting and, most importantly, a bar. I’ve been to quite a few conferences, some done well, others not so much and I was really impressed with how they put it all together. If this is any indication of the future EECI conferences, you will want to attend one.

As is always the case with conferences, the real value is with the people attending; I had a lot of interesting conversations with other attendees and speakers. It was great to get to know people that I had only previously communicated with online.

The sessions were also excellent. Leslie Camacho opened it up with a look at the history and future of ExpressionEngine. We got to hear Simon Collison talk about Erskine’s use of ExpressionEngine, EllisLab Technology Architect Derek Allard explained how the development team works, as well as his experience and process while building the new File Manager in EE 2.0.

The talented Veerle Pieters walked the audience through her design process for the EE 2.0 control panel, starting with the creative brief, wireframes and then several design iterations. We learned how to sell add-ons from Brandon Kelly and how to build add-ons from Leevi Graham. Mike Boyink showed us his project planning process, including his project wall (which he recreated on stage). I really enjoy seeing how other people work on and plan EE websites.

The second day was filled with workshops on ExpressionEngine (and CodeIgniter). I started my day learning the ins and outs of add-on development from former EllisLab CTO Paul Burdick (not Lead Developer at Solspace). But there were also several other excellent workshops on Day 2.

It was a pleasure to meet so many EE users. I met people from South Africa, Greece, Germany, Switzerland and the UK; our community is thriving across the globe. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

After a long trip back to the States, I’m home again and ready to kick off our week-long look at EE 2.0. Stay tuned!