From the 12th to the 14th of May, Lisbon will be hosting some of the best speakers on User Experience, at the Ux-Lx conference. Presented by Ideias e Imagens and APPU the event features 2 days of workshops, with the last day reserved for the conference. I’ll be attending Dan Saffer‘s Brainstorming and Design Principles and Peter Merlholz‘s Product Strategy and Planning Tools, and probably drop by at some of the conference keynotes.

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Ux-Lx is organized by different levels of expertise, from beginner to advanced, with subject as diverse as Content Strategy or Game Design and Visualization. Not to miss are Steve Krug‘s talk (didn’t had the chance to order his latest book) or Luke Wroblewski‘s First Person User Interfaces. If you’re into it, it’s also a chance to get a book autographed, as many speakers are also authors (recipe for a successful conference, maybe?).

If you’re not attending, you can follow the conference in real time @uxlx , with the hashtag #uxlx. And i’m sure many of the slides will be released later on Slideshare.

P.S: Sorry Bruno, for leaving this post in draft for almost 2 months. That won’t stop Ux Lx from being a success, right ?

If you happen to be in Algarve this afternoon, it’s a chance we could meet at ExpoEventos.org. Don’t forget to check-in on Foursquare. Or Gowalla.

I’ll be giving the talk above, on how the new web has changed the event industry and how to use the new platforms and services.

We’re almost there: the 2010 Do It Yourself SHiFT conference is starting this week. The next 16th and 17h at Teatro Aberto, Lisbon,  we meet again to discuss and share Social and Human Ideas For Technology, after the 2 previous successful editions.

Tinkerers, thinkers, hackers, technologists or curious people by nature can find something of their interest on the several talks and workshops. Here’s a preview:

• 5 PARA A MEIA-NOITE, RTP2: how the first cross-platform show in Portugal made us re-think it all
  Bruno Lima Santos
• about starting a coworking space
  Christoph Fahle
• Branding Today
  Andrea Vascellari
• Deconstructing DIY
  Elmine Wijnia
• Grappling the “Zhou Dynasty” in emerging markets
  Kushtrim Xhakli
• Guerilla Tactics for Developers
  Wolfgang Wopperer
• Hack Your Way to Being a Recognized Expert
  Morgan Brown
• Open Source Hardware – Of Makers and Tinkerers
  Jan Krutisch
• SHiFT to Sustainable Prosperity
  Ken Nunes
• Stop thinking, its bad for ya.
  Fred Oliveira
• The birth of a company-wide wiki
  Joaquim Baptista
• Work like the Network: Six ways organizations are fundamentally reorganizing since the advent of the Internet
  Lane Becker

The 2 day event is more than a tech conference: it’s about how technology can be used to be achieve a positive change in society. The casual setting is a great chance to meet other people and learn about new things. Better yet, not only learn, but Do It Yourself.

Come and meet us in Lisbon next Friday an Saturday, as tickets are still available !

Disclaimer: i’m a  symbolic last minute helper of the fantastic team organizing the event.

Last week was short on posts, as i was busy finishing up my talk for Upload Lisboa, a meeting that gathered this Saturday about 300 people to discuss the impact of web 2.0 on society, marketing and communication.

First, congratulations to @VirginiaCP and @vanessaquiterio (along with @brunoribeiro and @brunoamaral) for having managed to build this event without any serious experience as conference organizers. Besides their entrepreneurship, the amount of enthusiasm and whuffie built on the web, does make this sort of thing possible. The event was mostly a success, and i do believe that next year we can expect even a better conference.

Next, thanks everyone who appreciated my talk. And since a few of you have been asking for it, i might as well share it right away. So here it is:

The talk will be soon available as an ebook at ToothlessTigerPress.com, with a few more notes and references, so stay tuned. From the great feedback i had, i should consider doing more talks and stand up for the job.

Last, it was a pleasure to meet in person some great minds like @joaopcastro @vmtrigo @rsaraiva @31darmada and @filipecarrera. Shame on me for not networking enough during the coffee break, but drop me a line and I’d gladly connect with you for any questions you might have.

Live long and prosper.

Taking place in Lisbon, the next November 14th, Upload 2.0 intends to discuss current web trends and their impact on Marketing and Communication strategies.

Organized by a team of active participants on Portugal’s social web, the event gathers several practitioners sharing their experiences and ideas on a series of short talks about the role of new media, consumer empowerment and new models of publishing. From marketeers, students, journalists, bloggers or just people with passion for the new social web, you’re all invited to register.

I’ll be giving a short talk on UFOs (Unidentified Flashy Objects). If you find the title unusual, then show up and listen the rest of the content.

Speakers also include Ricardo Teixeira, Rodrigo Moita de Deus, Filipe Carrera, Luís Rasquilha, Fernando Batista, Daniel Caeiro, Vasco Trigo, Paulo Querido, and Sérgio Bastos with panels moderated by Rodrigo Saraiva, João Morais and Domingos Pereira.

There’s no excuse of being at work (it’s on a Saturday) or being expensive (ticket at 28€ / 20€ for students). Find all about it at UploadLisboa.com or get the updates at twitter/@UploadLisboa.

P.S.:
Speaking of events, today it’s Ignite Portugal, where Alt.Prt.Sc will be recording a special videocast and my colleague Tiago is giving the Ignite talk “How to manage impossible projects with agility”. See you later.

In the past few days i’ve been browsing through most of the entries at the One Show and Webby Awards. Maybe one day this blog will have his own “Inspiration Awards” but until then, here’s an extensive selection of my favorite nominations:

Digital Content & New Media

• R/GA’s digital signage project for Club Nokia
  
  
• Yep, iPhone was really huge in 2008. Here’s one app for A4 Driving Challenge (appstore link), developed by Factory Labs.
  
• Another landmark in digital marketing for CP+B, with the Whooper Sacrifice Facebook app.
  
• I’m a sucker for Branded Applications. Here’s ‘Find It‘ developed by Dare Digital for Sony Ericsson, right on time for the next Summer festivals. So, where’s my tent?
  
• A website about design being nominated for a Webby Award on best copy/writing is no small achievement. Design Observer has my vote.
  
• I had to mention an ARG, with a subtle but effective sponsoring by McDonalds of ‘The Lost Ring‘, developed by AKQA.
  
• The Best Job In The World. This one’s a winner. By CumminsNitro Brisbane for Tourism Queensland.
  

INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING

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Following yesterday’s news, i’m sharing a collaboration between blog network Prt.Sc and OFFF, that are inviting all portuguese bloggers to OFFF Screen Challenge and win a chance to be at this renowned festival of post-digital culture, taking place in Lisbon, from 7th to 9th May 2009.

*Disclaimer: As an executive member of Prt.sc, I’ll be judging the entries. That leaves all other portuguese bloggers more chances to win the 3day ticket and show your project at the venue.

The Challenge

OFFF and Prt.sc are showcasing the best of portuguese digital culture: from the garage hack to your web project, OFFF Screen is giving the chance for those using social media to showcase their projects to a wider and interested audience.

The submitted projects are preferably within the broader Catalogue theme “THIS ISN’T FLYING, THIS IS FALLING WITH STYLE · FAIL GRACEFULLY @ OFFF”.  Unleash your creativity, don’t be afraid to fail.

How to apply

Each application must be submitted by a member of  the project that has been writing for a blog at least since December 2008.

Each blog must write at least 3 posts until the 1st of May, related to the project or OFFF Festival, and tagged with  offf and prt.sc. On this date, judges by the OFFF and Prt.sc team will select the 3 best projects. These will be awarded with a 3 day ticket and the chance to present the project on the venue.

Submissions should be sent to offf@prt.sc, with project description, name and contacts, and a permalink to the post announcing the challenge entry.

All posts related to the challenge will be agregated at offf.prt.sc. For further info, contact offf@prt.sc.

Missing the OFFF Festival posts lately?  It’s time with some fresh OFFF news, then:

• Amit Pitaru and James Paterson are in. Some experimental trippin’ expected.
• If there was an A-list for digital creators, if would probably be at OFFF: Paula Scher, U.V.A (United Visual Artists), Robert L. Peters, Chris Milk, Grey London, Stefan Sagmeister, Digital Kitchen, PES, Joshua Davis, Hillman Curtis, Neville Brody, Eva Vermandel, Kyle Cooper, etc, etc,
• Loopita rolls a customized venue for Raster-Noton, the german experimental music label.
• Nerdference panel is premiering, with a lot of D.I.Y. technologies, from open software and hardware, control surfaces, Arduino, tangible interfaces, the works. It’s evolution baby.

So, what’s your excuse to haven’t yet booked your flight to sunny (beach is within walk distance) Lisbon?

P.S.: There’s a open slot for sponsors, a great chance for companies working in creative business to be amongst a creative crowd of +3k and showcase your services.

Having a full day job and being a active blogger, makes it hard to find some free time to give presentations and worshops. But as I always wished for an active Adobe User Group in Portugal, it was hard to decline the invitation by Paulo Moreira, for the next meeting, February 27th.

I’m not really a full scale programmer, but having worked over 7 years with Flash, and being recently seduced by the advantages of web standards, the best i could remember for my session was the subject of Progressive Enhancement, or how to present  rich media experiences while delivering alternate content.

Here’s the meetup info:

RIAPT AUG

I’ll try not to be too technical, so if you’re interested in the subject, please drop by (signup required) . If not, i’ll post the the presentations slides here.