For the past five years of my life, I’ve been a web developer. I’ve written probably a million lines of code and have developed at least 5 distinct medium to large-scale web applications or sites. Despite my accomplishments, whenever I get around other web professionals I feel like I don’t belong. Couple this with the quality of both the attendees and speakers at An Event Apart in Seattle, and I felt downright stupid. Everywhere I went, I saw lanyards containing some of the biggest names in the industry: Facebook, Microsoft, PageRank, and THQ. In this sea of giants, of people who have changed the face of the web, who was I? What had I accomplished? Did I really deserve to be here, or was my attendance simply a matter of paying for a ticket? Am I a fraud? That last question was the one I had to answer if I was going to truly gain anything from this conference.
The Typkit Pre-conference Party
Pre-conference parties are pretty standard fare: You show up, drink free booze on the sponsor’s dime, and schmooze about the room. For me, this event would set the tone of the rest of the conference. For starters, it introduced me to a lot of really talented people. But one in particular hard words of wisdom that I’ll be remembering for years to come: Kevin Jennings.
As I set down with Kevin, Brandon, and Beth I asked “How do you get over the feeling that you’re a fraud?” After a moment of pondering, Kevin responded (paraphrased):
The scariest thing about this industry is promising to do something you’ve never done before: a new type of design or maybe an application. But the reality is, you have all the skills to build what they’re asking for, you’ve just never thought to combine them in that particular way.
Those words would stick with me the rest of the conference. What Kevin said made me step back and re-visit all the opportunities I had turned down because the client asked me to do something I’d never done before. In reality, I had the experience to do what they wanted, I’d just never combined my skills in that particular fashion. I think of it like cooking: a meal is just a combination of ingredients prepared with a few basic skills. The greatest ability of any professional chef, isn’t having a library of recipes stored away in the back of their mind, it’s being able to break down any new recipe into a series of skills they already know and having the confidence to combine those skills to make something beautiful.
A Chance Encounter With Jeffrey Zeldman
One the memorable moments of the AEA conference actually occurred before it began. As I was getting ready to leave the registration area, the elevator doors opened and out stepped Jeffrey Zeldman. Now, for those of you who don’t know, Zeldman is a personal hero of mine. His work is not only amazing, but his contribution to my education as a web developer has given me the skills I use every day to provide for my family. And here he was, right in front of me. What could I possibly say to this man? What eloquent words of appreciation could I speak in order to thank him for everything he’s done? Well, I have no clue because the first words out of my mouth were “Oh my God! You’re Jeffrey Zeldman”. Classy, Levi. Classy. As if he was going to stumble back in surprise and say “By God! You’re absolutely right!”. Thankfully, he just smiled, shook my hand, and asked if he could take my picture (presumably for some sort of restraining order).
Revelations
Throughout the first and into the second day of the conference, I still had that nagging question in the back of my brain: Am I a fraud? Despite the amazing speeches, the inspiring stories and, the wonderful people, I still felt like I didn’t measure up. This all changed after Tom Coates wrapped up his speech with this (paraphrased):
We collectively connect more things everyday. We are the road-builders of the future. The planet and everything on it is our canvas and our brush.
The answer to my question didn’t lie with Jeffrey, Sarah Parmenter, or Tom Coates. The answer was in the eyes of every person I encountered at the conference. Every time I got a complete stranger interested my work, or inspired another developer to research some new technology; every time I put a smile on someone’s face and got them excited about the what the web would someday become, I became not only a more genuine web developer, but a more genuine person.
We’re all making a difference. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in this industry or what you’ve accomlished. As long as you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you belong here. You don’t have to be as CSS-savvy as Eric Meyer or as innovative as Sarah Parmenter. As long as you care about what you’re doing and aren’t afraid to learn from your failures, you’re as genuine as they come.
