How do you start your own web design workshops

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So here we are — Alen Grakalić of CSS Globe fame and yours truly — preparing for our first very own web design workshop in Zagreb, Croatia. It’s all new to both of us and really, really exciting — even though the first one is just a case study, an experiment — to see if we (and the market) are up-to the task.

How we decided about holding web design workshops?

We found that there is a huge gap between top guns in the industry in this part of Europe and beginner-level CSS coders. At the moment it’s quite difficult to find at least an intermediate level client-side recruit. It’s even harder to hire a CSS rock star.

Various courses don’t provide web standards training at all, and only a few colleges in Croatia — by the share enthusiasm of the individual professors — barely introduced web standards through brief presentations and seminars.

Quite obviously, what’s current on the Internet now, will be outdated by the time it gets approved by the ministries responsible for the scholarship programs. And the materials will be even more obsolete when those students leave their schools and colleges in search for a job.

Why focusing on a single segment?

We decided to go with single topics, because we feel this is the best value for the money. We have been visiting conferences in the past, with broader range of presentations: from strategy, to branding, to user experience, to design, to CSS, to JavaScript, to server-side programing, to server management — all in one.

Not everyone is interested in everything. It’s rare that a web professional is intimate with all of the planes, so we are focusing on a single topic one workshop at the time.

Are you on your own?

Luckily not. We still have client work to do, so for the sanity, we formed some awesome partnerships:

  • Plus hosting covered operational costs and as a result provided lower registration fees.
  • Ivan Brezak Brkan is handling all the administrative/promotional tasks.

Misc F.A.Q.

  • Q: Do you plan to hold workshops other than about Web Standards, HTML and CSS?
    A: Yes, we do — some of the next workshops will introduce you to Design for Web, User Experience, Usability and Accessibility, Typography for Web, DOM and jQuery, WordPress Themes, Content Strategy and Production, Small Business Management, Client Relationship Management etc.
  • Q: Do you plan to visit other cities than Zagreb?
    A: Yes, we do — please DM @webradionice and we’ll consider bringing the show somewhere near you.
  • Q: Are you giving a certificate?
    A: No we don’t — we don’t test participants at the end of the workshop, hence there’s no certificate. We are never meant to be the judges or appraisers, we are aiming to educate people in a way we’d like to be educated — telling a real stories from the trenches.
  • Q: Alright, but what do I get then?
    A: You get the experience, tips and best practice advice from the experienced professionals.

Marko Dugonjić is a designer specialized in user experience design, web typography and web standards. He runs a nanoscale user interface studio Creative Nights and organizes FFWD.PRO, a micro-conference and workshops for web professionals.

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