KickApps at An Event Apart

We spend a lot of time at KickApps working to build a product that lets web designers truly express themselves to create a seamless experience between their sites and our platform. In my view, there’s no better way to learn about the art and science of web design than to hear it directly from the best, which is exactly what me and my colleague David Marvasti did on Monday and Tuesday in Chicago.

We went there to attend An Event Apart, the world’s premiere conference series for web designers and developers, and all I can say is “Wow, that was cool.” Produced by the founders of the legendary website A List Apart, AEA brings together CSS/Web-Dev Czars from all over the world to share best practices and discuss everything cool under the standards-based sun.

The event kicked off with Eric Meyer delving into a precise discussion on using advanced CSS techniques to transform table-based markup. An incredible start, but it didn’t end there. From Dan Cederholm’s engaging discussion on UI design to Lou Rosenfeld’s insightful talk on search analytics, this conference had it all.

It’s difficult to walk away from an event like this without a fresh perspective on CSS and the DOM, a head-full of elegant design techniques, and enough inspiration to catapult our work to the next level. Thanks and shout-outs to Jeffrey Zeldman, Dan Cederholm, and the entire AEA crew. We’re looking forward to the next event! Did someone say San Francisco?

Left to right: Me (Dwayne), Dan Cederholm, and Dave Marvasti

KickApps Enables Web Video on iPhone

As of today iPhone users will be able to view our affiliates’ videos using the iPhone’s Safari web browser. Why is this so cool?

The Flash plug-in which most browsers use in order to play video on the web, is not included in iPhone’s Safari browser. Unfortunately, the absence of the Flash plug-in leaves the vast majority of the world’s user generated rich media (videos) unsharable by and inaccessible to one of the most exciting “gadgets” to hit the marketplace in a long time. We’ve solved this problem for our affiliates.

As of 8/22, all video uploaded by affiliates are automatically transcoded to H.264 and Flash. By adding some JavaScript, we’ll be able to detect which format is required and will deliver the video via a compatible format; in the case of the iPhone, videos accessed through its Safari browser are displayed via H.264 and Quicktime.

Also, we’re providing details that will enable affiliates to optimize their sites for the iPhone’s 3.5 inch widescreen display. You’ll be able to create iPhone specific pages that feature a singular, scrollable column in a fits nicely in the display. By adding a second stylesheet and some JavaScript in the header, the platform will be able to automatically detect if the user is on the iPhone and serve up the iPhone optimized pages. Check it out here: iPhone Tutorial.

We’ve created a demo site to show what’s possible: KickFlix.net

It’s Big. Really Big!

We made a few pretty cool upgrades to the platform last night. I particularly like the new enlarge and download features for photos.

Here’s what a standard photo looks like:

We added these options:

Check out the enlarged photo!

For more details about last night’s release, check out the release notes on KickDeveloper.com: http://www.kickdeveloper.com/tutorials_2-3_notes.html

SXSW Panels: Vote Today

South By Southwest, the phenomenally hip festival of music, interactive media and film that takes place each spring in Austin, has posted a list of panel discussions for your consideration in the 2008 Interactive conference.

KickApps has three panels up for vote, and we think they’re pretty interesting, so check them out before you pick your favorites. This is a great way to have a hand in what kind of discussions take place this year.

Here’s what we submitted:

• What Social Media Can Learn From Message Boards
  Long before MySpace, Facebook and blogs, message boards were the web’s first (and stickiest) social media communities. But today, the so-called ‘Boardscape’ is far from dead, comprising hundreds of thousands of communities and hundreds of millions of people. What can ‘modern’ social networks learn from these giants?
• Monetizing Syndicated Content: Can Small Publishers Get a Fair Deal?
  Easy content syndication through embeds sure helped YouTube. Now developers are creating business models around Facebook widgets. But what’s in it for the small content publisher other than fame? What are the best ways to monetize your content without making it too restricted? Can small publishers get a fair deal?
• Beyond the Page View: Measuring Social Media Engagement
  Page Views, Time Spent, Pages Per Session, or something else? Applying old-media metrics to online experiences may make it easier when buying advertising, but are they a valid proxy for real-world audience engagement? And what is engagement, anyway?

Go vote, and we look forward to seeing you this March in Austin!

KickApps at the Web 2.0 Meetup in NYC

I was invited by Brett Petersel to speak at the New York Web 2.0 Social Networking Tech Meetup last night. It was a really well put together event and Brett was an extremely gracious host. Also presenting were Matt from CafeMom (Matt shared some amazing stats about CafeMom’s growth. AMAZING!) and Toby from Mint Digital.

I first heard of Meetup a few years ago when people were getting together prior to the elections and have recently talked quite extensively about it with Chris Keane, our VP of product management (Chris used to work at Meetup and has some great insight into viral marketing from his days there). This was the first event I attended and it was a great experience. I met some people working on very interesting sites. I hope that after hearing about KickApps they’ll see that we can add a lot of value in helping them grow and sustain engagement from their audiences :-).

Thanks again to Brett! I highly recommend this Meetup if you’re in the NYC area.