I will be speaking at this year's MinneWebCon, the University of Minnesota's web conference, on April 6th, 2009. This is the second year of the conference, providing a full-day of continuing education for web professionals. My session, entitled "It's the Little Things", will cover user interaction and design, and how the smallest of details can change your users' experiences.

This presentation will focus on trends and best practices in design and development conventions for user controls and how they affect the user experience—negatively or positively. Through the course of the session, we will discover various problems affecting smooth user interaction. Then I will identify ways to enhance controls and layouts in order to both speed up required user tasks and make them easier to use.

There are many other great sessions this year and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing and hearing from so many smart colleagues.There's limited space available and it's filling up fast. Head on over to the MinneWebCon site and register to attend today.

Is anyone else out there struggling with Facebook? I'm not talking about issues with their terms and data ownership or their new interface design. I'm talking about the issue of its crossover between work, friends and family. To be honest, Facebook started as a work tool for me. I graduated from college before there were laptops under 20 lbs. so I didn't take it with me from my days in school. I was already on LinkedIn for years thanks to a friend and colleague in San Francisco, which was designed for work and seemed like a sensible tool to try.

I also was coerced to join Plaxo about two years ago. I just kept getting too many invitations to ignore it, though now it seems to have dropped off the radar. I reluctantly signed up on Naymz (notworthgivingtheurl.com) recently to endorse a friend who is looking for a job, but don't waist your time. What a pain! Facebook came after Plaxo and before Twitter. Again, it started to pick up speed to the point where I couldn't ignore it any longer.

First it was friends that were also people I worked with. Then it was old colleagues and a few tech savvy friends. In the last year, it has become more friends, old high school pals and extended family. I knew it was crossing over when my mother-in-law and my nephew connected to me in the same week. The trouble is, I don't know if I like the mixing of these two worlds. I guess it shows my age, or my sense of privacy, or my fatigue at keeping all this going, but I don't know if I want clients to see all the fun, goofy, or political stuff my friends send me. I also don't know if I want to see their stuff either.

I had a ballet teacher who always used to say "distance lends enchantment". You don't want to see the sweat stains on the ballerina's costume. It kind of breaks the spell. I think distance lends enchantment in the work world of work too. Do you really want to know I worship garden gnomes and am devoted to the "Save the Voles" underground network? Really, do you want to know that? I don't know, maybe you do?

I think I'm finally beginning to see what's useful in Twitter. It took awhile. There is still too many "I'm washing my dishes now", or "am working on a deadline" tweets for my taste. But there are some interesting things happening out there.

First, I am able to follow some pretty remarkable people, both local and national, who are tweeting about their areas of expertise [favorites: jowyang, cbensen, nprscottsimon]. I learn more about their thought processes and their observations about what's going in the world right now. There's no delay, less editing and less filters then in almost any other communication channel. I can comment back when I want to and sometimes get a direct response from them, someone who I'd never get a chance to talk to in the "real world." It must be something about the quickness or the newness of Twitter. People are still experimenting with it, so they haven't closed the portals yet.

The other thing I like about it is the ability to see reaction real time during an event. We've used Twitter at speaking events to get realtime audience feedback. I was glued to it during the election. Chris, my biz partner, was tweeting during the Super Bowl. In fact, check out the NYTimes interactive map of the tweets during the game. Notice that words related to the commercials/ads versus the game were most popular in Minneapolis until the 4th Quarter. I think Chris had something to do with that.

Twitter will never be something my mother will use, but it is one of the most interesting things going on in the world of communications right now. We're still experimenting with it. How it will evolve will be something to watch and tweet about [Find Us: Helmin7, Azul7, Verde7, CCortilet].

Joe, Paul, Liina and I started our 4 hour putt journey through the skyway at approximately noon last Friday. We battled through holes with a variety of obstacles - anything from marshmellows, extra large bundt cakes, road blocks to an impound lot. The most memorable hole consisted of a 12-inch wide metal beam. It seemed so simple - all you had to do was putt the ball across the beam and into a plastic 'hole'.

Liina was the first soldier to be wounded with a 10 putt max score, followed by 10 strokes from Joe and another 10 from yours truly. With a feeling of hopelessness setting in, we turned to Paul. Despite the long dreadlocks and sunglasses, Paul shot a hole-in-one, keeping us in the game. Each one of us had miraculous putts that left us with a glimpse of what Happy Gilmore felt: utter accomplishment. The ball may not have always gone in the hole and some balls were lost in the skyway, but there is no doubt that Azul 7 was the most ridiculously good looking team to putt the Skyway Open. Ever.

View additional photos here

Azul 7 staff members Joe Sonka, Liina Lundin, Katie Hamilton and Paul Armstrong are "doing it for the kids" at 12pm this Friday, February 27th. The foursome will be participating in the Downtown Council's Skyway Open which benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities.

Azul 7's offices are located at 510 Marquette, just off the Westin and Gaviidae skyways. Come find us for a free Azul 7 golf ball.

The current economic climate has most of us feeling insecure and uneasy. Chances are good we all know someone close to us that has been affected in one way or another. The grim economic state encourages increased pessimism and feelings of defeat. It creates the perfect opportunity for the negativity to consume you.

The perfect storm has been brewing of blind trust, innocence, hope and optimism for too long. As is human nature, we can only take that stance for so long before we eventually give up hope. This breaking point is a fairly normal and reasonable human reaction, especially for those who have been directly affected by the downturn.

However, I believe, this is an opportunity to recapture your freedom. Utilize this tool that we simply underuse and forget about in tough times. Be smart and well-prepared, but use this opportunity to extend yourself. It will be our human nature to become reserved, protective and overly cautious, all of which should be avoided.

We became such a successful nation by our ability to think outside of the box, or rather, outside of the whole damn warehouse. Be strategic, but be creative. Don't let the hesitation of failure keep you from taking a step forward, that step is often what will put you back on track.

Follow your passions and push your boundaries, for that matter, make new boundaries. Take this opportunity to redefine yourself. Take a stance and believe in it. The same would be true with a great idea, figure out a way to make it work. Don't let economic misfortunes destroy your spirit. Our spirit is what got us to the summit of success that we now fall from. Just make sure you don't fall too far before you begin your climb back up.

An opportunity is simply that. It doesn't become a good or bad one until you do something with it.

Azul 7 was recognized in a January 30th, 2009 article in the Twin Cities Business Journal for their web design on the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce website. The site was officially launched January 29th, 2009.

I just started teaching a class at the College of Visual Arts (CVA) in St. Paul. The class is Graphic Imagery; a sophomore-level foundation class for graphic design and illustration students. I can hardly believe I qualify as old and experienced enough to be an instructor. Didn't I just get done with school? What? That was almost nine years ago? Gulp. The offer of the adjunct faculty position thrilled me. And scared me.

Paul Armstrong, Azul 7 technology development lead, and Joe Sonka, account executive at Azul 7, will be speaking at this year's University of Minnesota Ad Summit.