For many years my number one tool on any of my computers is iA Writer. I love it and use it more than anything else. it does exactly what it needs to do, is fast and does not distract me from what I want to do, using the tool: writing.

Now iA is working on a text based presentation tool. Of course I had a look at it and so far I really like what I am seeing. The approach of iA Presenter is a completely different one than as for known tools like Powerpoint or Keynote. As iA Presenter is text based, the focus is on your written text. It is easy to then create your slides based on your paragraphs, after you have written what you want to say. Regularly written text is only visible to you, a little bit like presenter notes are in known presentation tools. Headlines that you define will be automatically shown on your slide. Split and join slides easily afterwards to create you structure. Integrated images are easy to configure to create interesting layouts that are full responsive, which means you don’t need to worry about fixed resolutions of your presentation or the resolution a projector has at an event you are presenting at. 16:9? 4:3? Landscape or portrait? All done with just the single version of your presentation, which – I think – is super handy. I also really like how easy you can define on which screen your presentation will be shown and where to see your notes.

In addition iA Presenter comes with a couple of really nice templates you can use. Whether you like color or more minimal use of colour, you pick and choose and surely you can also add your own templates to be used in your presentation.

It certainly feels very different to any presentation tool that I have used before, which mostly is Keynote these days, but I really like this approach and will give it a try for my next presentations.

If you want to give it a try, let me know. I have a couple of beta invites.

Once more Felix Braden has released a very tasty typeface over there at Floodfonts. It is called Sirenia and feels very organic.

The whole set contains 1270 characters and includes many decorative elements as well as swash variations. I really like the warm look and feel and can’t wait to give it a play for the right purpose. Maybe already for next beyond tellerrand in Düsseldorf ;)

But have a look yourself and see how nicely Sirenia looks and feels.

This was the first year back in New York after 2019. And here is my set of photos from Smashing Conference 2022 in New York.

I can’t believe someone would ever create a film about what I do. Totally excited, but equally afraid to see how it turns out in the end and what the story line of the documentary is.

How that all started? Well, there are those two guys. Their names are Andreas Brüggemann and Stefan Nitzsche. They both are lovely people. And they decided to make a documentary about what I do – beyond tellerrand. I think that is crazy 😳. But also nice and I am humbled. And excited.

See Trailer 3 of the film here:

Totally forgot about the platform for a while. I had reasons not to be on it back then, but now Vero seems less broken than things like Instagram.

So, I am on Vero to post photos. Let’s connect!

Three weeks before I ran beyond tellerrand in Berlin Léonie wrote me to ask, if I’d be up for co-hosting this years [Inclusive Design 24] online event. Of course I am!

The event takes place on September 22nd and even though it is the 17th birthday of my son at this day, I will find a couple of hours to co-host the show. I am looking forward to a full day of interesting talks from people like John Allsopp, who is speaking about inclusive online events or talks like “Power and Participation in Research” by Catherine Collins. You can find all so far announced presentations in the schedule of #id24. Looks great, doesn’t it?

The whole event is completely free to attend and runs for 24 hours (hence the name). You can also already subscribe to the playlist of the event on YouTube. And if you have a question to any of the presenters, then follow @id24conf on Twitter and ask your questions here.

Thats’ it. See you on September 22nd!

During beyond tellerrand in Berlin the ZDF has been in the house and followed Janis McDavid before, during and after his talk.

You can watch the short clip in the ZDF Mediathek and maybe you spot yourself in the film ;)

For beyond tellerrand I often team up with other events and we help to promote each other. The reasons are as easy as follows:

• There are a lot of other interesting and good conferences taking place all around the world
• Topics are covered that we don’t cover or don’t cover in such detail and depth
• Nice people run and attend those events
• Attending other events widens your horizon

This time I’d love to introduce you to an event taking place 15 and 16 September 2022. It is called Working Products, exists since 2016 and topics are agile product development, product management and product culture amongst others.

If you are someone who is responsible for digital products, like a product manager for example or a product owners, then this event is something you should have a closer look at.

👉 Information and registration

In 2011, on the very first beyond tellerrand conference I ran, Vitaly Friedman was part of the line-up. We had just got to know each other and met for the first time, when we did a road trip to the New Adventures Conference in January 2011. Together with Stefan Nitzsche, Andreas Dantz and Bastian Allgeier we hit the road in a van and drove from Essen to Nottingham. I remember interesting conversations, great fun and only have vivid memories of this adventure and caught a few of these memories in photos.

I was planning my first beyond tellerrand event also during this time, which was about to happen in November 2011. Vitaly was planned to be one of the speakers. He came and spoke and we became good friends. During beyond tellerrand in 2011, towards the end of the show, Vitaly took me aside and told me how much he loved the atmosphere and energy and asked if we two should start an event together under the umbrella of Smashing Magazine. And so we did.

In September 2012, we kicked of the very first Smashing Conference in Freiburg and I am happy that we continue this each and every year. Happy to be part of this adventure and to have met Vitaly.

Thanks Vitaly, for all the years of friendship, fun and the excitement we share! On to more adventures …

From time to time I get invited to an interview or asked to speak or, like this time again, to be a guest in a podcast. Often times the inviting people ask me to speak about what I do and how it all started with beyond tellerrand and I usually think ”Why should anyone be interested in this and what could I possibly talk about, that wouldn’t bore people to death?”

For some reason it seems to be interesting, though, and the feedback usually is really nice. Same counts for the last podcast I have been invited to, which is the Why We Create Podcast. I really enjoyed the conversation and could not stop speaking about events, community and why in-person events are important.

One reason, why it was such a great fun and so easy to chat about the things I do is, that Megan Davis (who runs the Wacom Experience Center in Portland) and Chris Diego made it so easy. They made me feel welcome and the best part was, that it was an in-person interview. Megan and Chris were in Düsseldorf and at the Wacom Experience Center Düsseldorf that opened not too long ago and where we held the beyond tellerrand Warm-Up before the Düsseldorf shows for the last times. It was wonderful meeting them face to face and recording this podcast while having a coffee with them.

If you want to listen to the podcast, do it here or at any other platform where it is listed

About Why We Create

Why we Create is a podcast brought to you by the team at the Wacom Experience in Portland, Oregon. In this podcast we'll be exploring the behind-the-scenes stories from artists, inventors and the daringly creative. Join us on this conversational adventure while we share stories with artists and creators from every corner of the world.