This guest post is by Kirsty Burgoine, an experienced web designer and developer running her own business in Shropshire. Previously a php developer building custom content management systems, she has worked in the web industry for 6 years and now specialises in building bespoke websites, using WordPress, for clients both large and small.

Over the last few years, the economy has changed as we slowly come out of recession. It has shaped and changed the web industry as much as any other. But I believe it has changed our industry for the better. Whether this is true of other industries I can’t say, but for the web industry, it has picked off the weak and only the strong survive.

I think this impact can be seen in web conferences. Gone are the days of the dominance of the “Goliath” events. Enter David …

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …

(Please stick with me as I go on a journey through time and space which will hopefully bring some context as to just *why* I think “grass roots” conferences are so important.)

At the end of 2009, I was working at a local digital agency as a PHP developer. I was frustrated with my job generally. I wanted inspiration and I watched from afar as web conferences came and went. I could never convince the company I was working for at the time to pay the huge ticket price, travel / hotel expenses or allow the time off work.

Then, in January 2010, I saw a tweet about a new evening conference that was being held in four towns across the north of England. It was called Speak the Web and organised by Dan Donald and Rich Clark. Each evening featured some amazing speakers and the tickets were only £20.

I immediately booked a ticket and headed to Liverpool. Afterwards I felt utterly inspired and I came to two major realizations:

1. I really, really wasn’t happy in my job and needed to make the leap to being self employed so I could do work I really cared about. And ..

2. The casual format of the Speak the Web conference proved that a successful conference didn’t have to be a huge 3 day, 2 track, formal event after all.

So, a couple of months later (I’m no where near as spontaneous as I would like to think I am), I set up in business for myself. And along with Zach Beauvais (one of the co-founders of Shropgeek) we started to make plans to organise our own conference. Exciting times!

Another Brick in the Wall …

One of the things I was really looking forward to about being self-employed was that I would finally get the chance to go to some of the bigger conferences I had watched from a distance.

But, I was now the person that had to cover all travel expenses, hotel bills and ticket prices. Not to mention the fact that, not only did I not get paid for the time I would be away but actually, by not being able to work those days I would be losing significant money.

Nightmare!

Plains, Trains and Automobiles …

This year has been different. I have attended around 8 conferences so far, I must have found a way to enjoy pot noodles, and taken up hitchhiking over long-distance trains right?

Well, other people clearly had the same frustrations I did and so started their own “grass roots” conferences.

Some of the events I have attended include New Adventures in Web Design, The Digital Barn (twice, the 2nd time was my first speaking event for a web orientated audience. Scary!), Port80, WordCampUK, CanvasConf, and of course, The Theory of (R)Evolution (which I organise with Shropgeek) here in Shrewsbury.

And finally, I will be finishing the year with WebDevConf again.

With the possible exception of New Adventures, every one of these was “grass roots”. If you add up the ticket prices it probably works out to be roughly the same cost as a ticket to FOWD. I’m not criticising the more expensive conferences, honestly, if I could justify the price I would definitely go.

I’ve still had the opportunity to hear a wide variety of inspiring talks though. Harry Roberts has been a stand out favourite, and I believe he has been the rising star of the year. Also, seeing Mike Kus and Neil Kinnish talk openly about why they came to the difficult decision to close Workfu and the lessons learned was fascinating.

Neil Kinnish and Mike Kus discuss Workfu at The Theory of (R)Evolution 2012

Other favourites include Andy Davies, Jake Smith, James Whittaker, and of course, Paul Annett talking about the VERY exciting changes ahead for .gov.uk

Jake Smith discussing app development for D&AD at The Theory of (R)Evolution 2012

Not only have these conferences introduced me to new ways of thinking, they have also introduced me to some fantastic people and many new friends. Some are already very well known in the web industry, some will be very well known in the future.

We Are The People

I love the web industry because it is a real community. We all have the same goal and that is to create awesome websites.

This community creates a safe environment for people to talk about their experiences, the mistakes they have made, what they got right, and the lessons they have learned. They share these lessons without the fear of criticism or negativity. They are admired for their open-ness and honesty and willingly share with others so that we can all learn.

Conferences have always allowed this, but the “grass roots” events have opened this up to a wider audience. As I said at the beginning, the recession has changed our industry. There are now more freelancers and small companies than ever before and all of those people now have the opportunity to be inspired and learn from others as well.

Neil Kinnish and Mike Kus talk to a packed room at The Theory of (R)Evolution 2012

“Grass roots” conferences have essentially levelled the playing field.

This can only be a good thing. By challenging us all and not just those that can afford the expensive tickets we make the web as a whole a better place. In order for the web to evolve we, as an industry, need to be able to learn from others. The web is open, and so should the knowledge be.

I am already excitedly looking forward to 2013 and the promise of many more awesome conferences to come!