WDANZ News & Events

Christchurch Conference 2007

Event ID:

1013

Date:

27 & 28 February 2007

Location:

Coringa Country Club, McLeans Island, Christchurch. (5 mins from the Airport)

Time:

8.30am - 5.00pm

Price:

Non-Members	$395.00
WDANZ Members:
Affiliate Members: (20% discount)	$316.00
Professional Members: (50% discount)	$197.50
Additional Attendees (staff, partners & invites)	$295.00
Corporate Members: (100% discount)	No Charge (numbers as per Corporate Membership pricing schedule)
Additional attendees (staff, partners & invites)	$250.00
Emerging Talent Conference Attendees (total 25)	$50.00
Emerging Talent Conference Scholarships (total 5)	No Charge
Emerging Talent SEO 201	$150.00
SEO 201 (1 March)	$450.00

Presenters

Scott Evangelou, Usable! brand Scott Evangelou has over 20 years experience as a marketing and usability specialist. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Information Design, a Graduate Diploma in information science, a certificate in adult teaching, and a bachelors degree in management/marketing. Scott is based in Dunedin and is currently conducting academic research into website consumer behaviour. According to Nielsen, usability is critical for survival on the Web. Research shows that usability optimisation doubles website sales; greatly increases customer satisfaction, task efficiency and effectiveness; measurably enhances customer loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals, and can uniquely differentiate the website product or service from a competitor's offering. Scott will introduce the basics of usability practice and explain that, in order to remain competitive, web developers must know how to design and test for usability in the web development process.
Russell Holland, E-C Internet Russell started WebFoot? in 1995 and is now team leader, visionary, and director of E-C Internet. A real Internet-Evangelist, Russell has used the CompuServe network since 1988 and was involved in the original Web Developers of New Zealand. Having evolved his business through the early browser wars and dot com bubble, Russell has seen and been a part of the key developmental stages of the industry and has a wealth of experience. For years, he wrote the SODA (Site Of the Day Award) in the early days of the Internet. He is an experienced programmer and systems manager, has held two photographic exhibitions and has written articles for Netguide and several online news & views web sites. Russell will be sharing on the emerging battle between Google and other vendors where he will be explaining how traditional rivalry between Microsoft and Open Source is being made redundant, with Google's Web 2.0, do-no-evil approach to business.
Scott Wattie, Bulletin Wireless As GM of Bulletin Wireless, Scott has been driving one of New Zealand?s leading wireless software companies into an international success story. He has worked within the New Zealand wireless sector for 12 years in entrepreneurial, telco and consultancy roles. He is a strong advocate for New Zealand companies and the exporting of New Zealand hi-tech innovations. Scott travels extensively and is acutely aware of the latest international trends in the wireless realm. Scott will be sharing on the role of texting within a business application and how the integration of wireless messaging can be a simple extension to a web developer?s existing initiatives. He will describe the Bulletin Wireless messaging APIs and illustrate how they are currently being used by organisations globally to provide a personalized interaction with customers.
Chip Dawson, ICT-New Zealand & Software New Zealand Chip Dawson, ICT-New Zealand & Software New Zealand Chip Dawson, Co-Chair of ICT-New Zealand and President of the NZ Software Association, is a highly experienced senior management consultant. He has over 35 years business experience and has held numerous senior management roles with both local and international companies (including Apple, Telecom, DEC, Exicom, Clear, Hitachi etc) in the USA, Asia, UK and New Zealand. Chip?s commitment to motivation and teamwork sees him in many key advisory roles for both government and private enterprise. In the first presentation, Chip will share how New Zealand business can break out of its lifestyle-based business mindset, in particular by working in collaboration with the likes of ICT-New Zealand and others in the IT industry. In the second presentation, he will share on the importance of relationship building considering the impact of convergence and emerging technologies
Dennis Smith, WDANZ & Gold Tick Services Prior to establishing WDANZ, Dennis was New Zealand's most prolific web developer, having personally designed and developed over 500 websites since he started playing with Netscape Navigator Gold in 1997. He is a passionate and an experienced small businessman with a creative and entrepreneurial leaning. The two recent initiatives, WDANZ and Gold Tick Services are the result of a mix of his strong leadership, single-minded determination and a passion for the web development industry. Dennis will be sharing how both initiatives are poised to have a positive influence in 2007, and will be likely to create excellent business opportunities for WDANZ partners, members and sponsors. With more than twenty years of experience in IT sales, and a professional teaching background, Dennis' explanation of the principles and practice of IT sales will be practical and encouraging to all attendees
Michael Brandon, SearchMasters Michael is recognised as a world authority in the SEO of vBulletin, a popular PHP Bulletin Board, and is held in high regard by all who have received his advice. He is an ex-IRD auditor, with an eye for detail, an inquisitive mind and is single-minded in seeking answers to technical problems. Michael is passionate about SEO and SearchMasters is the first joint venture between WDANZ and the industry. Michael's training events in Auckand, Whangarei, Nelson, and now Christchurch are the beginning of enormously important and badly needed ongoing training and support to the industry. SEO is currently a hot topic in our industry with a wide range of opinions, knowledge and expertise. Michael's presentation will address many of the unanswered questions about SEO. Michael will also be presenting SEO101 and SEO201 to the trade the day following the Christchurch Conference.
John Martin, IBM John is the Principal Security Specialist & Security Practice Leader for IBM NZ and has 26 years of experience in the field of security. He holds a Masters degree in Managing Information Systems, Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) and a GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH). He is a registered Security Specialist with the British Computer Society, and member of the New Zealand Computer Society. Online security has fast become a major issue with the proliferation of a range or malware, ransonware, phishing, spam, identity theft, and other attacks - much of which makes the "good-old-days" of the disk-based virus look tame. Such attacks are starting to threaten the very fabric of the Internet and eCommerce. Many experts are predicting that 2007 will be yet another year full of web based vulnerabilities and security turmoil. After a brief reality check, in which he will address recent security trends and statistics, John will present practical protective steps that developers need to be aware of when creating websites commercially, and offer various solutions to attendees and their clients.
James McGlinn, Nerds Inc James is a director of Nerds Inc, a specialist web development house. Recognised as one of the country's leading authorities on web application development, James founded and facilitates the New Zealand PHP Users Group, an active network of over 250 local developers. The first New Zealander to be Zend Certified, he has written technical articles on web applications and web security for online publication both here and abroad. James regularly lectures in online systems, web applications development, and security at tertiary institutes in Auckland. He is a member of NatColl's Curriculum Advisory Group and Media Design School's Industry Panel. E-Commerce is one of the most visible channels for generating revenue through a website and if credit card transactions are required, a payments processing gateway must be chosen. In this session James McGlinn will compare the established payments gateway services available in New Zealand and discuss implementation details (with examples in PHP) for each.
Greg Comfort, Christchurch City Council Greg is Knowledge Management Specialist for the Christchurch City Council. He lectures in information design at the Christchurch Polytechnic (CPIT) and was involved in establishing their IDCNZ usability lab. Prior to this he was web manager for environmental science company Landcare Research and ran their successful science publishing and bookselling business. He is an advocate for the user in everything he works on and believes that the key to good design is making time to think about it. Greg (along with Website Manager of Tait Electronics, Jaco Swart) will discuss the issues relating to using Web Standards from a practical perspective. They will be answering the question "When is using web standards a good option and when is it not?" and share some real world experience from the private and public sectors.
John Clegg, ProjectX (Zoomin) John Clegg, CEO of ProjectX Technology Ltd has over 10 years experience in developing and operating large web sites. John runs ProjectX, a Wellington based map services company that has built the ZoomIn and Smaps websites. John is obsessed with improving the speed and quality of web services in New Zealand. Previously, John was responsible for the operations side of the international auction sites Bidorbuy.com and Baazee.com (now heart of the Ebay empire). He helped build these sites from inception to serving several million pages a day. Prior experience includes Visa UK, National Bank and Department of Survey and Land Information.
Eaden McKee, WebForce Eaden has 10 years experience on the web and is Director of Webforce Ltd, Web Development Consultants. He is a talented programmer who has developed a wide range of solutions from global e-commerce websites to large Internet communities. He is also involved with various open source projects, having released his own software, and developed very large international community websites. Eaden will be talking about user-powered websites ? websites where the community makes the site what it is. This includes wikis, blogs and forums, but also sites such as EBay and YouTube, where the "power of the many" makes these sites what they are. Eaden will also share advice on how to start your own user-powered website.
David McLaughlin, McLaughlan Law David McLaughlin is the Principal of McLaughlin Law, a boutique law firm specialising in providing legal services to the ICT sector. He is an experienced advisor to many web developers, and has experience at the highest level in all major aspects of ICT law - from e-commerce to Telecommunications. With a solid commercial law background he is well placed to advise on the wider ICT commercial law issues. David will be presenting the pertinent legal issues currently facing the web development community including intellectual property ownership; standard documentation for web developers (and issues to be aware of with key clauses within this documentation); issues relating to raising capital for your business; and New Zealand?s new SPAM legislation.

Programme

Tuesday 27th February
8.30am	Registration
8.45am	Conference Welcome - Background, past success & future directions - Dennis Smith, WDANZ CEO
9.00am	Search Engine Optimisation - Michael Brandon, SearchMasters
10.00am	SpeedNetworking
10.15am	Break
10.30am	Online Security - John Martin, IBM - Security trends and practical protective steps for Web Developers
11.45am	SpeedNetworking
Midday	Break
12.30pm	E-Commerce - James McGlinn, Nerds Inc - Comparison of gateways and implementation details
1.50pm	SpeedNetworking
2.00pm	Location Based Mapping Services (LBS) - John Clegg, ProjectX (Zoomin)
2.30pm	Optimising High Volume Websites - John Clegg, ProjectX (Zoomin)
3.00pm	SpeedNetworking
3.15pm	Break
3.35pm	User Powered Websites - The inside story on Wikis, Blogs, Forums and Community driven websites - Eaden McKee, WebForce
4.30pm	Selling IT - process, principles and practice of IT sales - Dennis Smith, CEO WDANZ
5.00pm	Twilight Golf (optional)
6.00pm	Dinner (optional)

Wednesday 28th February 2007
8.30am	Gold Tick? - Online & Seminar Training, Certification and Lead Generation, Dennis Smith, Gold Tick Services
8.45am	IT Law - David McLaughlin, McLaughlan Law
10.00am	SpeedNetworking
10.15am	Break
10.30am	Usability - Scott Evangelou, Usable! brand
11.45am	SpeedNetworking
12.00am	Why Use Web Standards, Greg Comfort (Christchurch City Council) and Jaco Swart (Tait Electronics)
12.30pm	Break
1.00pm	Google, Open Source & Microsoft Windows - Russell Holland, E-C Internet
1.45pm	SpeedNetworking
2.00pm	SMS/TXT in Business - Scott Wattie, Bulletin Wireless
2.45pm	ICT-New Zealand, Chip Dawson - Breaking out of life-style based business mindset - working in collaboration with others
3.15pm	SpeedNetworking
3.30pm	Break
3.45pm	Emerging Technologies - Software New Zealand, Chip Dawson - Relationship building in the light of emerging technologies
4.15pm	NETGUIDE Panel - Discussion with questions from delegates
5.00pm	Conference closes
5.30pm	Sponsors' Hour - Join our Sponsors, Speakers, Joint Venture Partners for drinks and networking
6.00pm	Dinner (optional)

Thursday 1st March 2007
8.30am - 10.15am	WDA15 - Entering the Web Development Industry - 15 things you should know about web development as a career - Presented by Russell Holland, Michael Brandon & Dennis Smith . (Note: This is a FREE public seminar suitable for anyone interested in entering the web development industry. Suitable for high school students, university students, and adults changing careers)
10.30am - 11.30am	SEO 101 - The Three Simple Secrets (that will get your website higher on Google) - Michael Brandon, SearchMasters (Note: This is a FREE public seminar that will be promoted independently to the Christchurch business community)
11.45am - 4.45pm	SEO 201 - The SearchMaster's Secrets - Michael Brandon, SearchMasters - $450.00 (Note: Available to both the public and the Trade. Attendance at this paid course is deemed the equivalent to completing SEO201 online and is a prerequisite for Gold Tick SEO Certification. Lunch is provided)
12.00 noon - 2.30pm	WD121 - 21 Tips for website owners - Presented by your local WDANZ Member. (Note: This is a FREE public seminar that will be promoted independently to the Christchurch business community)

Registration

Registration is via the WDANZ website or you may call (09) 486-6410 for a personal booking. Upon receipt of payment you will be emailed confirmation of your booking.

Venue Details

The Christchurch Conference will be held at the Coringa Country Club, located 5 minutes from Christchurch Airport. The Coringa has a lovely country atmosphere, great catering and good parking,

Coringa Country Club Map

Scholarships

Emerging Talent Scholarships Five Scholarships and twenty five Emerging Talent tickets are available. Applications for Emerging Talent tickets should be made through your teacher, lecturer or training institution principal.

Payment Terms

Terms are payment in full at the time of booking. Registrations are NOT confirmed until payment has been received. We accept VISA, Bankcard, Cheque, Bartercard Gift Vouchers, Ozone Barter or Direct Internet Payment. Sorry, cheques cannot be accepted after 20th February 2007.

Cancellations

For cancellations received prior to 5.00pm, 20th February 2007, Conference Fees will be refunded in full. Conference Fees will not be refunded after this time.
If the Conference is booked out and a ticket can be resold, a refund will be made less a $50.00 rebooking fee. Tickets are transferrable, so that should you be unable to attend at the last moment, you are welcome to give your ticket to another staff member, colleague, subcontractor or friend in your place. Should this be necessary, please advise WDANZ to avoid embarrassment during registration. Coringa Country Club Rooms

Accommodation

Accommodation can be arranged for delegates at several motels in Papanui Rd, a short driving distance away.

Transport

Rental vehicles and car pooling can be arranged for delegates.

Travel Subsidy

WDANZ will sponsor 50% of your travel costs up to $100.00 for Professional & Corporate Members travelling more than 100km to attend the WDANZ Christchurch Conference.

Internet Access

A wireless broadband connection is available in the conference venue.

Social Functions

Catered Golf Kitchen Dinner - from 6.00pm Tuesday evening - $15.00 pp - pre-bookings and payment is preferred at time of booking.

Golf - 9 holes Twilight 5.00pm - 7.30 Tuesday - $5.00 pp - clubs hire $15.00 - pre-booking is preferred as numbers are limited. For those of you who have never tried golf, Twilight Golf at Coringa is a perfect way to get started. (9 holes is a comfortable distance taking just under 2 hours to play in the cool of the late afternoon. It is common to experience a lot of goodwill extended to "golf newbies" at Twilights and there is always someone around to help you learn the basics of the game).

Additional Comments

WARNING:
The venue is limited to maximum 100 attendees. Based on very positive early feedback, we expect to sell out, possibly well before the actual Conference dates.
If you wish to come, DON?T LEAVE IT TOO LATE TO BOOK!

Posted by Dennis A. Smith ~ Saturday 11 November 2006