Blog

Before I jump in and tell you about my trip to the HOW Conference it seems reasonable to introduce myself. My name is Patrick McNeil and I am relatively new to the SimpleFlame team. I do however have a long history in web design and development; I am probably most well known for my blog Design Meltdown and my books The Web Designer’s Idea Book(s). At SimpleFlame I play a fun role, I get to help our integration team with the building of client sites and I get to drive new initiatives like our forthcoming Kiyuco.

This year I was fortunate enough to get to speak at the HOW Conference about web design trends and how to use them. It is a topic I am extremely passionate about and it was a lot of fun. One of the exciting things to see come out as a part of being at this conference surrounded by creative’s was seeing how Business Catalyst fills a need that is very evident to this particular audience. I had numerous conversations with designers looking to embrace the web and it was amazing how it always came back around to how BC could solve a lot of problems for them.

As a person rooted in technology it isn’t hard to imagine setting up a combination of things like Wordpress, Magento and Mail Chimp to create a full online business. I have become adjusted to the need to upgrade and maintain such sites. But when you consider all that BC does for you, and you combine that with the technical limitations designers face, BC becomes a powerful player. After attending HOW and hearing peoples stories and frustrations with embracing the web I have a much better appreciation of the power BC holds for such people.

I actually think Adobe missed a huge potential audience by not working BC into the HOW Conference. Sure they were there pushing CS5, but this isn’t exactly news to those attending. It would take some careful strategy to break through to the designers and speak their language, but I think Adobe would find a receptive audience.

I had a great time at HOW and I hope to be invited back next year. I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of great people and I look forward to working with creatives more in terms of helping them embrace technology and work in a field driven by it.