

Get-together for Math Geeks in the UK - the MathsJam - ColinWright
http://www.mathsjam.com/confindex.html

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ColinWright
This is the event I'm running in November this year. Last year was a huge
success, and I'm convinced many HNers in the UK (and outside - we had several
people travel to the UK for this) would really enjoy it.

There's a 10% early-bird discount that closes this week. I know that's
imminent - I didn't want to saturate HN with adverts for this. There's also a
10% discount for the unwaged.

Last year we had 50 5-minute talks, and 40% of the time was in
conversation/working/networking.

It was brilliant fun - and I'm sure some of you would like it too.

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sgentle
This is really cool - I wish there was something like this happening near me.

I know it's impolite to say this, but I hope you understand it's coming from a
good place: your website is awful. That may not seem important but a first
impression like that nearly made me skip this post entirely when the only cost
involved was reading it.

My suggestions:

1\. Make the website look prettier. If you google for "free css templates"
there's a site that has hundreds of them with the only requirement that you
link back. They come with pre-made HTML that you just chop around as you see
fit. Just looking a little different from the bland defaults stands for a lot.

2\. Reorganise your visual hierarchy[1]. Your main page makes my eyes bounce
all around the place because the different elements are fighting with each
other for attention. MATHS JAM! SIGN UP! LOG IN! NEWS! - it can't all be
important at once. If you look at something like the Business of Software
front page[2], the order of importance is clearly name > when & where > price
> register button > description. Different priorities are okay, but it's
important to understand visual priority is a ratio, not a sum - adding 10 to
everything leaves the values unchanged.

3\. Multimedia = social proof. Back to the Business of Software page, there's
a video halfway down that gives you a description of the conference. Why do
that when it's already written out in more efficient text that you don't have
to click anything to read? It's because you get to see all those beautiful
panning shots of the crowd, and earnest people (just like you!) talking about
how excited they are to be at the conference. Words are good at conveying
facts, but if you want to convey an experience it's got to be pictures and
video. If you have pictures of the last MathsJam, they should be sitting right
on that front page. If not, it's worth making happen for next time. You want
an image that says "we're having a fantastic time, just like you will".

There's some other stuff, but I hope that helps a bit. Again, I'm not
criticising to be snarky. I think what you're doing is great and I'd rather
see it have a good website than a bad one.

[1] <http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/visual-hierarchy/>

[2] <http://businessofsoftware.org/>

~~~
ColinWright

      > your website is awful
    

Yup, I know.

    
    
      > Make the website look prettier
    

Yup, I know. Not going to happen. There's no one I know who has any real
skills in this area and who also has both the time and the interest to do
something "properly."

This isn't me simply ignoring or dismissing what you say. I know that proper
web site design is both an art and a skill. I know that with the investment of
time and effort it can be made enormously better.

I don't have the time. Really, I don't.

In truth, I'd desperately love to have the site designed properly. Even more,
I'd love to take the time to learn what I need to do it myself. I'd love to
run A/B testing, to draw people in, to get them involved, to have progressive
sign-up, to get full engagement, and all the techniques I've read of.

Don't have the time.

In some senses I wish I _did_ have the time, but what would I give up? I have
a full time job, I give 100 talks a year, I have three side-projects, all of
which are active with users.

<sigh>

But I've saved your references, and appreciate your time and effort. I wish I
could act on it.

~~~
sgentle
Well, as the old saying goes, perfect is the enemy of good. I agree that doing
all of those things sounds like an awful lot of time and energy, but I
guarantee you could implement my first suggestion with an investment of only a
few hours (and those few hours don't need to be contiguous).

There's a certain paralysis that comes with being an enthusiast (as I sense
you are about web design) because the difference between yourself and "the
pros" is large. I have a very small chance of being a good mathematician, for
example, which in its own way prevents me from being even a mediocre one. I
suspect it's something to do with an element of pride - that something you put
actual effort into should be of a certain quality.

Whether my life would be enriched by mediocre mathematics, I can't say. But I
definitely know that your site with a splash of paint over the rust would be
better than no paint at all. Here's hoping you find a few spare hours. :)

