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37signals Workshop Exploratory Committee

23 Mar 2004 by Jason Fried

Pretty soon we’ll be announcing our summer workshop series (including two with our friends at Adaptive Path and one with our officemates at Coudal Partners).

We’re trying to gauge interest in a new full-day session called “The Building of Basecamp.” The session would basically be a complete case study of the building of a real-world web app ( Basecamp). Topics covered would include key back-end/engineering decisions, interface design techniques and concepts, functionality choices and prioritization, usability considerations, information architecture/structure, working remotely (we’re in Chicago and the lead developer is in Copenhagen Denmark), and marketing strategies. We’ll be talking about what worked, what didn’t, and what ongoing changes we’re making. If there’s enough interest, we’ll also be bringing in David Heinemeier Hansson, Basecamp’s lead developer from Copenhagen to cover the key technical aspects of the project (including the decisions to go with Ruby over PHP, Python, etc.).

We’d price the full day session between $295 and $495 and we’d probably hold it in late July. If you think this might be something you’d be interested in attending, please email us or post a comment here. Thanks.

25 comments so far (Post a Comment)

23 Mar 2004 | JP said...

This is definitely something I'd be interested in, but you've got to bring in DHH.

23 Mar 2004 | Paul Hart said...

I'll second what JP said.

23 Mar 2004 | Sean Devine said...

I'm also very interested in attending and would love to hear from DHH in person. I hope that you keep him posting to SVN in the interim.

23 Mar 2004 | Gilbert Lee said...

If there is such a Basecamp session, I would hope to learn how you planned the project, wrote the requirements, and executed the plan in the months afterward. It would also be good to know what kind of design problems you faced and what solutions you came up with. I think these things are "transferrable knowledge" that I could use in my own projects.

I would also like to know how you gathered information from *people.* What did you learn and how did you transform those into software requirements?

Is this something you were planning on having? Is there an agenda we can see?

23 Mar 2004 | JF said...

Yes, Gilbert, we would be talking about all the things you mentioned. We have a pretty unique way of working here (we aren't very formal about gathering requirements and putting a plan down on paper -- we like to work off the cuff based on a broad vision, common understanding, and UI mock-ups), but I believe there is a lot to be learned about our way, your way, the right way and the wrong way.

This could be the start of the independent web-app annual (or semi-annual) summit.

23 Mar 2004 | Ben Scofield said...

I'd love to attend - and I'm even going to be in the area in mid-July for a wedding. Methinks it is time to start planting the seeds in the boss's mind, so that when the time comes he conveniently has a brilliant idea.

23 Mar 2004 | Gilbert Lee said...

Great. I would definitely be interested then.

I think the only hard part of working "off the cuff" is it's hard to estimate a bid for a client. The developers I work with want to see a detailed plan before starting a project as well. I would be interested how you guys do it. There's lots to learn I'm sure.

24 Mar 2004 | Derek at CD Baby said...

Count me in. I'd also like to hear from DHH but would understand if he needed to tele/videoconference himself in that day instead of flying all the way to Chicago. As long as he was able to communicate real-time with the attendees in some significant way while we're there.

24 Mar 2004 | andrew said...

I'd love to go to something like this.

24 Mar 2004 | Hilarie said...

Yes, would definitly be interested.

24 Mar 2004 | Charlie said...

Yes, strong interest here too.

24 Mar 2004 | Ed said...

I love the idea of this - and the fact that I live in Chicago only adds to the enthusiasm (something outside of NYC, Austin, LA - Midwest represent!) =)

What I would find VERY interesting is the reasons and determinations behind the technology choices. My online app is in .Net and uses SQL (for scalability, scriptablity, and portability to mobile devices as the main reasons). So,yes, why Ruby? etc...

Put me down for one - possibly 2 or 3 more. How exciting!

24 Mar 2004 | John Dale said...

Very interested, but it could be hard to justify travelling from the UK for a one day event. If you could timetable things so that other sessions/events happened on days relatively close to this one, so the travel costs were more justifiable, I'd be very interested.

24 Mar 2004 | Morten Busk said...

Idea: Come to Copenhagen, Denmark and do the show there as well. I'm sure you'll be able to fill the room....

24 Mar 2004 | Frederick Polk said...

This is a great idea. A fully-involved case study on building Basecamp can only foster great ideas, dialog about building, implementing and promoting of web-based applications.

My question is: What are your other workshops going to be?
As great as Basecamp is, I am more interested in other workshops you may have to offer.

24 Mar 2004 | Bryan said...

I'm in for sure. What I like about it is that it seems to cover a lot of synergistic topics at once. I find these sorts of workshops far more valuable than an entire day on just one subject (boring!).

24 Mar 2004 | jazer said...

Absolutely, without a doubt.

I like this too: "Midwest represent!" Can't we get some midwest love, already?

24 Mar 2004 | Matthew Oliphant said...

Turn it into a mini-conference for Midwest designers?

One more vote in favor.

24 Mar 2004 | Bob said...

If you run it, I will come.

26 Mar 2004 | Factory Joe said...

This sounds like a fantastic idea and would more than anything love to see the session offered as a media download of some sort... for posterity as well as those of us who can afford/attend the actual event!

I think that this would be a great marketing tool for Basecamp as well as an invaluable resource for those of us who so highly value 37Signals' work.

28 Mar 2004 | alvaro said...

Another vote for a european version of the workshop!!

31 Mar 2004 | Stuart Curran said...

I'm a satisfied customer of Basecamp and a web app developer, so yes, I would definitely be interested. Unfortunately I'm in the UK and would be hard pressed to justify the travelling costs, what with things being a bit slow work-wise right now. Would you consider making your presentation available as a download after the event?

31 Mar 2004 | Bryce said...

I would welcome such a workshop. Please notify me if you put it together. I'm a web application designer for AOL.

31 Mar 2004 | JF said...

Ok, put your money where your mouth is. ;)

31 Mar 2004 | JF said...

Ok, put your money where your mouth is. ;)

Comments on this post are closed

 
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