There’s no way around it, you’ve got to get your 10,000 hours in. One way or the other, your tools have to disappear. You have to go from spending time thinking about how to lay something out, to where it just happens and you don’t remember touching the mouse. There’s a few minor shortcuts (agency life can give you an XP boost, as can taking on stretch projects), but mostly, you’ve just got to do a lot of stuff. The upside is that it’s crazy fun, and the people you meet along the way are exactly the kind of people you want to hang out with. And that’s a good thing, because every time you think you’ve mastered something and are feeling pretty good about yourself, something will prompt you to come back to revisit this stage.
Design is easy. All you do is stare at the screen until drops of blood form on your forehead.
— Marty Neumeier
A selection of the Work
My hours-building phase straddles both pre- and post-internet. My two takeaways: don’t ever stop learning, and nothing is impossible.
I return to this stage with enthusiasm whenever I can – through circumstance or necessity – building things always feels good.
I’ve picked some personal favorites here. They all taught me something new and there’s a story behind each one. The ones I remember the most allowed to do more than one thing – typically because my teammates or creative partners were indulgent and encouraging.
The Microsoft Windows Live film at the end is just in there for giggles, to remind us how far mobile has come.
In 2020 we went from producing events in cities across the world for thousands of people, building out conferences with hundreds of sessions, expo floors with scores of exhibitors, to: going 100% virtual. We adapted to crappy bitrates and unwieldy online delivery platforms and got it done. And then to keep it interesting, a year later we started putting on hybrid events!
We were stretched, and at first the quality was just OK. But the results surprised everyone. The ROI was through the roof, we tapped into market segments – particularly SMBs – who weren’t showing up to physical events. We kept people people engaged for hours, when we were expected minutes.
So now hybrid events are here to stay. Physical events still drive better ROI for enterprise, but with SMBs driving over 50% of our cloud bookings, there will never again be an event without a digital footprint.
This was a Stage I project for everyone. Necessity drove it, and we all benefited from the experience.
Taking events 100% digital, then turning the dial back to 50%
Did I mention I almost became a photographer?
Turns out, I was more valuable as an art director than as a photographer, but I still dabble – mostly so I can justify buying new camera bodies every couple years.
