Philadelphia Twestival
February 12th, 2009 – 7:00pm
The Get Happy Pub 509 S 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147

Support charity: water by donating and tweeting your favourite tunes via Twestival.fm. The tracks are available to stream/download until 19th Feb 2009. All they ask is that you give generously. You can make a donation here or give directly using Twitter. Follow them @twestivalfm for exciting updates. If you are an artist/label, signed or unsigned, live or electronic, and would like to get involved, please upload your track to the Twestival Dropbox by 12th Feb. Cheers!

You MUST RSVP to this event to gain entry into the Comcast Center via Facebook -or- email via refresh at refreshphilly dot org

Visit us: Refresh Philly – http://refreshphilly.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/refreshphilly
January Event Livestream & chat via: http://www.mogulus.com/refreshphilly

SPEAKERS:
Tom Boutell
Symfony: a Rails-like, agile web development framework for PHP

Web site development takes time. Most developers have heard about the benefits of Ruby on Rails, a development framework famous for its ability to speed the completion of a web site by anticipating common needs and minimizing busywork. But since Rails is written in Ruby rather than a more common language like PHP, Rails requires special programming skills and a separate infrastructure. The Symfony framework offers similar benefits for developers who prefer the popular PHP programming language. This half-hour presentation will focus on the features and benefits of Symfony, including an examination of a web site of local interest developed within the Symfony framework.

Bio:
Tom Boutell is a web developer with P’unk Avenue, a Philly-based design firm with deep community roots. In years past he edited the original WWW FAQ, developed the 1.0 release of RealNetworks’ RealAudio system and coded the “gd” graphics library used to generate graphics on the fly in many web sites. Since joining P’unk he has become an advocate of Symfony, a web application framework for PHP developers that draws inspiration from Ruby on Rails.

Links:
www.symfony-project.org
www.salsadelphia.com
www.punkave.com
www.boutell.com
tom@punkave.com

—————————————

Phil Charron and Russ Starke
Experience Design Step 1: Starting on the Right Foot

Gathering all of these great minds to share knowledge and make our city better offers us an excellent opportunity do things the right way, from the beginning – but what does the beginning look like?

Phil and Russ will take you through the Experience Designer’s perspective on some hypothetical issues in our city. They will talk about how to define goals in a way that helps the team focus on solutions that are real and capitalize on the diverse talent and skills in the group.

Bios:
PHIL CHARRON
Phil Charron has been consulting with Fortune 1000 companies in Experience Design, Instructional Technology, Simulation Design, Non-linear Scriptwriting and Media Production since 1993.

Currently, Phil is an Experience Design Director for Think Brownstone and is also an Adjunct Faculty member for Philadelphia University’s Masters of Instructional Technology and Masters of Digital Design Programs.

His projects have won several awards, including the Brandon Hall Awards, New Media Invision Awards, the New York Festivals, HR Executive’s Top 10 Products, Dogfish Head Short Film Competition, and the 48-hour Film Festival.

Phil is also a regular contributor to the ThinkBlog and is one of the founding members of the Philadelphia-based Short Film Collective The After School Specialists.

RUSS STARKE
Russ Starke is an Experience Design Director at Think Brownstone. Originally from Long Island NY, his professional career began in 1997 when he moved to Philadelphia and began consulting in the fields of Instructional Technology, Information Architecture, Multimedia Production, and Project Management.

Russ is also an Adjunct Faculty member for Phladelphia University’s Masters of Instructional Technology Program (Design and Development of Computer Based Instruction I & II) and Masters of Digital Design Program (Digital Audio Production).

He is the audio engineer and on-air talent for the companion podcast to UsedWigs.com, a contributing writer on UsedWigs and on the ThinkBlog, one of the founding partners of the songwriting/music recording collective MATTOWAX, and is the resident composer and sound designer for the Philadelphia-based Short Film Collective The After School Specialists.

—————————————
Refresh (http://www.refreshingcities.org) is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of New Media endeavors in their areas. Promoting design, technology, usability, and standards.

The Refresh Manifesto:
* Let’s Gather Great Minds
* Let’s Share All Of Our Knowledge
* Let’s All Grow And Learn
* Let’s Promote Local Talent
* Let’s Be More Than We Think Can Be
* Let’s Make Our Cities Better