Editor’s note: this was originally published on the Portland Press Herald’s NXT blog as a guest post.
To begin a story about Web design in Portland, Maine, I’ll start in the Atlanta airport.
That was where, while I was waiting to board the connecting flight that was to take me to the 2007 SXSW Interactive conference, that I found myself standing next to Andy Clarke. He isn’t exactly a household name, but in the world of Web, Clarke – an expert on CSS and a member of the Web Standards Project – is a rock star (he even actually looks like a rock star, a cross between someone from the British Invasion and Austin Powers. He’s got style).
Clarke was on his way to be a speaker at SXSW. We struck up a conversation, and he inevitably asked where I hailed from.
Portland, Maine, I told him, was where I ran my little Web design outfit, Pemaquid Communications.
Clarke was polite, but shot me a look of surprise that seemed to say ‘Portland, Maine? They build Web sites in Portland, Maine? I thought you guys were all lobstermen and lumberjacks.’
But really, why wouldn’t you want to build Web sites from Portland? You’ve got great geography (the sea, the mountains, the lakes, the woods) and great meterology (it’s a four-season town, you don’t bake in the summer and I don’t mind the snow in the winter, though your mileage may vary on that score!). It’s a great indoor-outdoor town. Oh, and there are plenty of great coffee shops with free wi-fi.
In short, the scene here is very conducive to creative thinking!
In the wonderful world of Web, it’s pretty easy to set up shop anywhere, and collaborate with Clients and team members hither and yon. There’s Basecamp for project management, Adium and Skype for real-time collaboration, Facebook, LinkedIn and a little thing called Twitter for networking (I found out Justin was looking for guest bloggers via his tweet on the subject).
A decent foundation has been laid in Portland for a vibrant Web community. Joe Michaud built MaineToday.com from scratch into a cutting-edge hotspot for online journalism, winning awards against much larger media companies. MaineToday alumni have gone on to make an impact. Justin Davis’ group at Portland Web Works manages VisitMaine.com, the site of the Maine Office of Tourism and one of the best tourism sites in the country. Frank McMahon is now a successful photographer and podcaster whose products include the popular Rumor Girls. (Full disclosure: I’m also one of those alumni).
There are also pockets of creativity at the University of Southern Maine, if you know where to look, and the Maine College of Art is cranking out great graphic designers who now have a keen sense of digital media and who are making an impact. That’s just the tip of the iceberg – apologies for all the things I’m leaving out.
So what do we need to make Portland a hub for Web creatives? We need community. To build community, I think we need to do two things:
Strengthen the skills of the people who are already here. Local Web heads should do what they can to support improvements in the digital media programs at USM, MECA and Southern Maine Community College. We should also develop “continuing education” programs – think regular meetups, BarCamps and labs.
Attract the techies who aren’t here. Right now that’s a big challenge for P-town. Sure, we’ve got loads of fresh air and our fair share of culture. Heck, they say we’ve got more restaurants per capita than anyplace outside of San Fran – that ought to count for something! Even so, though top flight Webslingers can work from anywhere, but there’s still a desire to get together with like-minded individuals in meatspace, and right now Portland is rightly seen as a little isolated in that regard. So we need to “connect the dots” in terms of the folks who are already here (see previous paragraph) so we’ll be able to more noticeably display visible signs of Web life to those viewing Portland from afar.
Can we connect the dots and build a world-class Web community? I think we can. I see subtle signs that the cells are coming together. What do you think?
