It’s been said that new technology is common, but new thinking is rare. It’s often hard to find time to truly think, reflect and learn and that’s one of the main reasons Make Do runs FrontEndNorth.
FrontEndNorth, our largest and event yet!
The latest FrontEndNorth (or FEN) conference took place at the start of the year in Sheffield and I hope that we helped those who attended carve out time for a bit of deep-seated thinking and learning.
Watch the videos from FEN 2018
FEN is now an established part of the tech calendar and this year more than 250 people attended from all over the UK. You can now have the pleasure of watching the 10 videos that were shot during the conference, so you can extend you learning further.
We’ve also learned a great deal as event organisers. One thing we already knew was just how challenging it is to put on events like FEN.
As always, early ticket sales were slow with many delegates signing up in the days before. We took a decision to hire a videographer four days before the event and I’m delighted we had the resource to do this, buoyed by ticket sales.
Two days before the event we didn’t even have any volunteers. I’m sure you’ll agree that against this backdrop, the event was a resounding success. We’re eternally grateful to those who helped out. You know who you are!
No matter how much hard work goes into FEN, it’s something that always surprises and delights. Will we have a FEN in 2019 or 2020? I can’t say, I hope so but at the moment we have a lot going on and our agency is growing at such a rate we no longer have the resources to put into running large conferences.
Events feed what we do
Events have always been part of our history and culture at Make Do, we started out as an events-focused business over 5 years ago and this part of our business will always be open as long as we can find an audience.
Constant learning is at the core of Make Do and the motivation behind FEN. It’s also the reason we travel the length and breadth of the UK (and often overseas) to talk at WordPress meetups and conferences.
Our philosophy is one of continual learning and the feedback from delegates at this year’s FEN tells us that learning is the new doing! Maybe we’ll see you all again next year and if anyone wants to volunteer now, then we’ll happily welcome them aboard, just get in touch!