The Art of Honest Feedback

A difficult task of management and mentorship is providing honest feedback. Many struggle with separating personal feelings from performance. Since the best managers and mentors must give feedback on performance, how can we do that effectively, so the message is heard? Learn techniques for delivering effective feedback while caring deeply for those receiving it.

Modern Layouts for PHP Developers

Flexbox is here for layouts, and CSS Grid is not far behind. Are you up to date on the latest ways of laying out web pages with these tools?

While most CSS layout workshops try to be comprehensive, this one is down-to-earth and practical. Rather than learning all of the new properties, we'll focus on a handful that will make learning Flexbox and Grid quick and easy to pick up and use. You'll also get plenty of practice along the way, along with some homework, so what you learn is more likely to stick with you when you get back to work.

Five CSS Principles Every No-Coder Should Know

There's a lot of code in no-code. Most no-code software offers "The Box," a mysterious place where custom CSS code is trustingly tossed, and designers hope for the CSS to take hold. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, even with that !important added.

However, CSS doesn't have to be THAT mysterious, even for no-coders. In this session, Jen Kramer shows you five key principles you should know about CSS - none of which require any understanding of code. If you understand these five underlying CSS principles, CSS will make more sense and be easier for you to customize in your no-code tool of choice.

By the end of this session, you will have a conceptual understanding of how CSS works, immediately applicable to your next project.

Five Steps to Plan Your No-Code Website or App

How often do you get distracted by the latest no-code tool? Do you start with technology first, solving problems later? Or do you start with a problem but give up quickly, because you just can't figure out the "perfect" solution with so many choices out there?

Jen Kramer presents five steps to effective planning for your next no-code website or app. Based on her Harvard course and book, Jen will walk you through defining goals, audience, features and functionality, data flow, and brand to create an executable outline of work for your next project. Stay on task and reach success with a clear outline of process and worksheets to walk you through each step. Gain confidence in creating your next project and build more effectively with a plan!

The Rise of No-Code Tools

Surprise! The web is changing once more. Our first 30 years were dominated by hand-coding all kinds of solutions. They featured powerful and direct tools -- but many ran on the command line or required significant study to master.

While no-code tools have been with us for years in the form of Macromedia/Adobe Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage, and content management systems like WordPress and Drupal, all of these tools have left much to be desired for building websites and applications for those with zero coding skills.

The latest round of tools are inspiring and accessible for those wishing to make new applications and websites. As always, there are significant downsides to these tools which should not be ignored.

In this session, we'll quickly review the problems with older no-code platforms and briefly look at new no-code tools like Bubble, Webflow, Airtable, and Zapier. We'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages with these new no-code tools, including addressing the problems that still aren't being solved in web design and development.

Works as a typical 45-60 minute session or as a keynote. Could be designed as a hands-on workshop as well.