Each time someone was interested in a local web design meetup here in Austin I would receive an email alert. This has been happening for many months since the first time I sought out such a group. There are already a number of other corollary groups that I attend that relate to this industry, Refresh Austin being the one I’m most closely associated, but it seems our fair city was lacking official an Meetup presence in this area.
With 146 and counting persons interested in an Austin Web Design Meetup and no way to communicate to them, I felt someone had to start it up if only as a social meetup or to steer them to more appropriate groups on Upcoming or Google Groups. So, I gulped and plopped down the fee to initiate one. (Why does Meetup charge so damn much for a service that so many other sites provide on an ad-driven model?)
Find us here: http://webdesign.meetup.com/457/. Join. RSVP.
Our initial meetup will be Thursday, May 17, 2007, 6:30 PM @ Halcyon (218 W 4th St, Austin, TX 78701)
I hope you can make it!
Timed to coincide with this week’s print edition, the Austin Chronicle unveiled a newly redesigned website. Congratulations to their team for this effort.
Following Jeff Beckham’s review of this redesign and original critique of their old design, I’d like to offer my first impressions: 
It appears that the backend functionality remains the same as do the various components that made up their previous design. The biggest improvement that jumps out and smacks you in the face is the increase in whitespace. It also looks like the screen real estate benefited from a good deal of planning, rather than the seemingly unorganized layout that was present before.
The main page layout is much more readable now that each section is clearly marked. Readers can also easily access other options for viewing the Austin Chronicle right from each page’s header via RSS, email newsletters, and mobile content links.
The overall width of the design remains unchanged, but the amount of space devoted to content is markedly improved by removing the left column and placing all navigation in the header.
Interaction is also given more prominence as each article has a tool block which allows reader comments, letters to the editor, print & email functionality, and submissions to social bookmarking services such as digg and del.icio.us. I would also like to see Facebook added to this list. We live in a college town already teeming with Facebook users and those numbers will only increase now that they’ve started to allow anyone to join. Plus, digg and del.icio.us may be great for getting the Chronicle’s stories out to the world, but their biggest impact is and will continue to be local. Allowing readers to share local content and events with local friends can only bring good things.
Again, I’d like to congratulate the Austin Chronicle on a well done redesign. I look forward to their efforts in the future as they continue to engage their readers beyond their weekly editions.
