RefreshColumbia.org » RefreshColumbia

January 2010 Meetup

RefreshColumbia — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:39:55 +0000

Well here we are in 2010. No teleportation devices or flying cars yet, but there’s a lot of new stuff going on in the world of web design. Advances in HTML5, CSS3 and @font-face are quickly making their way into browsers and therefore into our work flow. We look forward to covering some of these developments in the coming months, but none of those changes mean anything without design.

The Beautiful Web

Jason Beaird (@jasongraphix)
The key to designing beautiful, effective websites is learning to think like a designer. In this talk, Jason will explain how principles and theory can only take our designs so far. We’ll look at landmark designs from both on and off the web, digging up inspiration and discovering the secrets to being better designers.

New Location:

We’ll be trying out a new venue for this month’s meeting: The Faculty Lounge at USC’s Swearingen Engineering Center which is located at 301 Main Street in Columbia. Unlike the directions to most rooms in Swearingen, these are quite simple. If you come in through the glass doors on the Main Street side of the building, the Faculty Lounge will be the first door on your right.

Featured Book:

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we’ll be giving away a free book each month. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Designing Web Interfaces by Bill Scott & Theresa Neil. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in sheet ~~between the first and second talk~~ (Only 1 talk this month, thanks for catching this Levi) Be sure to show up for a chance to win.

When: January 27th, 2009 at 6pm
Where: USC Swearingen Faculty Lounge – 301 Main Street (map)
Topic: The Beautiful Web
RSVP: On Facebook

Holiday Game Night v2.0

RefreshColumbia — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:05:39 +0000

You are cordially invited to join us for our second annual Refresh Holiday Game Night. As with last year, we’re combining our November and December meetups into one festive party in early December. This year, we’ll be getting our Rock Band and Mario Kart on in the back room of Delaney’s in 5 Points and the Columbia Adobe User Group will be joining us as well. The party will go from 6pm – 10pm on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009. Be sure to bring your inner rock star and plenty of red shells because we’ll be shredding and power sliding all night long.

When: December 8th, 2009 at 6pm
Where: Delaney’s Five Points (map)
Topic: Holiday Game Night
RSVP: On Facebook

October 2009 Meetup

RefreshColumbia — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:05:24 +0000

Last year we titled our October meetup, “The Bleeding Edge of The Web”. Like a recurring nightmare, our topics this month again fit this bone-chilling theme. We dare you to drop in and be frightened by the latest technology to haunt the web.

Venue Note: We’re back at ETV again this month as the room in the Library wasn’t available. If anyone has a connection for a location that would be consistently available each month, we’d be love to hear about it.

The Lineup:

Bing Mashup

Chris Eargle (@kodefuguru)
In this talk, Chris will show how we can build an ASP.NET MVC website using various resources from around the web. He’ll be pulling in businesses from Bing Phonebook, displaying them with Bing Map and using Flickr to show photos of each business.

Google Wave 101

Rick Stilwell (@RickCaffeinated)
We’ve all heard about it, but very few people have received an invite to try out Google’s latest beta project, Google Wave. Rick was one of the earliest beta testers and will be telling us all about what it is, how to use it and how it will change the Web.

Featured Book:

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we’ll be giving away a free book each month. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Handcrafted CSS – More Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in sheet between the first and second talk. Be sure to show up for a chance to win.

When: October 28th, 2009 at 6pm

Where: SC ETV (map) – Bank of America Auditorium

Topic: Bing Mashup & Google Wave 101

RSVP: On Facebook

September 2009 Meetup

RefreshColumbia — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:43:50 +0000

We’ve got two very exciting topics this month and hope you’ll all be able to make it out for our September Meetup! Venue Note: We’re back at the Richland County Library again this month!

The Lineup:

Automated Website Testing

Matt Hooper – VC3
I’ll be presenting techniques for automated website testing using WatiN, an open source tool for browser-based testing. I’ll discuss ways to approach test writing, and the pros and cons this style of integration testing vs more focused unit tests. I’ll also cover how we have used it over the past year to test some of our web-based apps at VC3.

Leveraging the Facebook Platform

Jimmy Sawczuk (@jimmysawczuk) – Startlike
I’ll start with an overview of the Facebook platform and why it’s a cool thing to use. Next I’ll show a working example, explaining how it works and how it can be modified for use by anyone who runs a Facebook Fan Page.

Win a Book!

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we’ll be giving away a free book each month. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Oreilly’s Designing Web Navigation by James Kalbach. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in sheet between the first and second talk. Be sure to show up for a chance to win.

When: September 30th, 2009 at 6pm
Where: RC Library – Bostick Auditorium (map)
Topic: Automated Testing & Facebook Platform
RSVP: On Facebook

Barcamp Charleston

RefreshColumbia — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:51:15 +0000

We’ve been excited about the upcoming Barcamp event in Charleston ever since the organizers gave us a heads up about it a month ago. The date is officially set for October 24th, 2009 and a website with the detail is up at http://www.barcampchs.org. Space is limited to 200 attendees, so register soon!

If you’ve never heard of Barcamp, the homepage puts it in as few words as possible:

“It’s an ad-hoc, user generated unconference, where participation not observation is key. It’s a day where people gather and share in an open environment.”

When: Saturday, October 24th, 2009 from 8am – 6pm
Where: Lowcountry Innovation Center, 1535 Hobby St, North Charleston, SC 29405
Cost: Zip, Zero, Zilch…Free!

August 2009 Meetup

RefreshColumbia — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:03:34 +0000

With topics like version control and iPhone development, we’re aware that we might scare off some our non-coding members this month. August means “back to school” though and for those of us working in the industry, it’s time to sharpen our minds and broaden our skill sets. Let’s all dive into these geektacular topics and get our learn on.

Venue Note: We’ll be meeting at ETV this month as the Bostick Auditorium in the library is under construction. We’ll be back at the library again for our September 30th meetup.

The Lineup:

Why you need Version Control

Jim Rubenstein (@jim_rubenstein) – Startlike.com

Those of you who attended ConvergeSC may have met Jim Rubenstein at the Startlike-sponsored after party. He’ll will be introducing us to Git and Subversion, and explaining how the Startlike team uses these tools to avoid catastrophic code collisions.

iPhone Dev with MapKit

Dayton Pruet (@daytontp) – Pruet Software LLC

Dayton is one a founding member of the local iPhone developer group and recently launched an app called Geek Search. He’ll be giving us an introduction to iPhone development using Apple’s MapKit framework.

Win a Book!

Thanks to the user group partnerships advertised in the sidebar, we’ll be giving away a free book each month. This month we’ll be giving away a copy of Oreilly’s Universal Design for Web Applications by Wendy Chisolm and Matt May. We’ll choose a random attendee from the sign-in sheet between the first and second talk. Be sure to show up for a chance to win.

When: August 26th, 2009 at 6pm
Where: SC ETV (map) Bank of America Auditorium
Topic: Source Control & iPhone Dev
RSVP:On Facebook (& become a fan of our page while you’re there!)

AIGA: CSS for Print Designers

RefreshColumbia — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:59:52 +0000

The Clarion Hotel Downtown
Camelia Room
1615 Gervais Street
Columbia, SC

Choose from two sessions:
Morning Session: 8:30 am 12:00 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:30 pm 5:00 pm

AIGA members: $40
Non-members: $55

In today’s competitive marketplace, design talent is not always going to win you the job. More and more often, clients and employers are looking for people who can do it all for them. Clients want to be able to get more value for less money and employers want designers with a full skill set, including web design skills.

If you are a print designer who has been looking for resources to advance your career and take your web skills to the next level, then this workshop is for you!

To learn more, and to register online go to: http://www.cssforprintdesigners.com

This is a hands-on workshop; you are required to bring a laptop.

Don’t wait to register—only 30 seats are available for each session.

Refreshments will be served at both sessions.

Coming from out-of-town and interested in staying in Columbia overnight? We have arranged a special rate with The Clarion Hotel. If you are interested in booking a room, call: 803-771-8711, ask for the “AIGA South Carolina” group rate.

Space is limited.

Web Design Rockstar Position at Blue Acorn

RefreshColumbia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:25:45 +0000

Blue Acorn, a growing eCommerce consulting firm, is looking for an experienced Senior Web Designer to join our team. At Blue Acorn, we’re always looking at ways to be innovative in capturing online sales, and design plays a big role in those efforts. As we continue to grow, we’re looking for a senior web designer to join our team that strives for greatness. A talented, seasoned individual that can create compelling user experiences for our clients, and be an integral role in our pursuit of eCommerce sites that drive revenue. This full time position will require a talented individual to work on cutting edge designs for a variety of clients. The ideal candidate will be able to take creative briefs and requirements, and deliver CSS/XHTML designs to be used in PHP based theming/templating. Design capabilities should be up to the level of sites featured on popular review sites such as CSSdrive.com, CSSbeauty.com, UnmatchedStyle.com, etc.

Responsibilities

Web/Graphic design
UI development/theming
e-mail marketing design
Wireframing
Logo design
Promotional banner design

Requirements

Strong, creative design portfolio is a must
CSS expert
Strong familiarity with Javascript libraries: jQuery, mootools, scriptaculous, etc.
e-mail marketing experience
Adherence to web design accessibility standards and cross-browser compatibility
PHP theming/development (heavy programming not required)
MUST be local to Charleston, SC area or be willing to relocate. We are NOT looking for outside companies or contractors – this is a full time position.

Bonus

Advanced web development skill set (PHP, .NET)
Usability analysis experience
eCommerce design experience
Written articles, tips, or tricks for the web design community
Prior projects with positive feedback on CSS design review websites

About Blue Acorn

Blue Acorn is an eCommerce consulting firm located in Charleston, SC that works with online retailers to improve the revenue, and profitability through online retail sites. We accomplish this through an array of services from design, development, SEO, conversion optimization, marketing, analytics, and more. We work primarily with small businesses looking to take their site “to the next level” and focus on establishing long-term relationships with our clients. Candidates interested in working at Blue Acorn can expect an innovative and collaborative work environment, with a work-hard, play-hard attitude (not to mention we’re 10 minutes from the beach). Learn more about us at www.blueacorn.com

To Apply:

email resume, portfolio, and salary requirements to jobs [at] blueacorn [dot] com

Local Calendar

RefreshColumbia — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:34:17 +0000

It’s been 5 months since we posted about some of the other user groups in town and a little over a month since we collaborated with a few of those groups to put together Columbia’s first major web conference, ConvergeSC. Seeing the various tech communities grow and flourish here in the Midlands has been exciting, but it’s been hard to keep up with which group is doing what and when. To help us all stay up to date, Dayton Pruet has taken on the responsibility of setting up a shared Google Calendar of local meetups and events. We’d like to see all the local social/tech/creative groups listed on the calendar, so if you your group isn’t on there, email southeastusergroups at gmail to get them added. Also, we’ve set up a calendar page with the local calendar embedded so you can easily see what’s going on.

July 2009 Meetup

RefreshColumbia — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:24:41 +0000

The end of July is fast approaching which means it’s almost time for the next Refresh meetup. We’ll be gathering at the Bostick Auditorium again in the Richland County Main Library (directions) on Wednesday, July 29th.

The Lineup:

Sketchy Design

Greg Lunn – Cyberwoven

What is the role of sketching in the design process? Everyone who designs – whether it’s for print or the web – understands the importance of sketching out your ideas, but how can you improve the process of design and design thinking? Greg will explore what makes a sketch so beneficial, and how you can increase your creativity by refining your sketching process.

CMS Showdown

Moderated by Cerelle Centeno – Mad Monkey

Most websites today are built upon some sort of dynamic content management system (CMS). While there are thousands of CMSs available, Cerelle will be querying a panel of experts and leading a group discussion about the most popular options. Bring your questions and be prepared to share your thoughts about your favorite CMS.

When: July 29th, 2009 at 6pm
Where: RC Main Library (map) Bostick Auditorium
Topic: Sketches & CMSs

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