WEGO – The Web Ego project Nov10 '04

It’s rare that Web Developers sit around and discuss other Web Developer’s work – and it’s a shame, because more people should do it.

The project and trend

I would like to start a trend, called "WEGO," that promotes inspirational work – whether it be people or content. In this case, it would be bloggers that would be mentioned that have inspired or influenced your own work, in some way.

The web is full of blogs that only speak of the author themselves. There is far too much ego out there, and not enough WEGO. After all, we learn together. We blog together. Let’s stop talking about ourselves, and start talking about those who have inspired us!

I would like this to get around the web, and have many bloggers participate.

All you have to do is title your headline, "WEGO – The Web Ego Project," and write your entry about a person who deserves an accolade for their web design efforts.

In fact, this could be done every few months. After all, there is not just one person who has inpired the masses. Everyone has many people/friends who help make their blogging a more worthwhile experience.

I will start us out

Jim Amos works really hard at what he does – web design, that is – and there seems to be times where he wonders where the next step in the ladder is.

I envy him because I wonder the same thing. I don’t necessarily voice it like he does, but that’s only because by doing so, I feel I would be showing weakness.

It’s true in the web community that there are some big names, that receive all the accolades – and there are other "extremely hard workers" who barely get noticed, even though these other hard workers produce similar, or better work than the big names.

It’s also true that the "old way" of designing web pages is not popular among Web Developers, yet it still seems to be hanging around web design firms, for severly unknown reasons.

Today’s web is not about nested tables, spacer gifs, and bloated code. It’s about achieving the same look with semantics, structure, accessibility, and DESIGN – above all else!

These foundations should be at the forefront of every person or organization who wishes to have a web site. But, sadly, they are not. And the web continues down the dirt road, which is turning into gravel, and then there will be no road to speak of.

But some people, like Jim, know what’s going on, and try their darndest to promote these ideals and technologies. They stand beside what they know, at all times, and develop all their sites with these standards in mind. Because... they know. They know this is the right way to do it, and the way that will lead to the future of the "semantic web."

This is the only way.

I recently checked out Jim’s site, and I am impressed by some of the changes he has made – and his ability to conquer the three most common issues that Web Developers face: combining creativity (design), functionality (programming), and usability (interface friendliness).

And on top of all that, Jim has no major ego that is represented in his work and writings, which makes him a perfect candidate for my WEGO project.

Kudos to Jim. And pretty soon, I’ll mention more WEGO individuals.

Categories: People , Projects , Web Development

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