Free Student Passes for Handheld 2013

Published 1 October 2013

Last year, I received an email from Craig Lockwood enquiring as to whether I would like to participate in a web and mobile focused conference he was thinking of hosting in Cardiff in November called “Handheld.”

I readily agreed, not least because it was on my doorstep, but mainly as supporting an affordable conference outside of London is always good to do. The conference day itself was a lot of fun, and included some very memorable sessions. The layout of the venue made it feel very inclusive – a nice bi-product of the room Craig chose for the day. Roll on 12 months and Handheld is returning for its second year. This year, however, it’s grown quite considerably.

Handheld 2013

In November 2013, web designers and developers from around the globe will descend on Cardiff for two days of workshops and conference sessions. Taking place on Europe’s biggest stage (we talked about this on Episode #004 of The Back to Front Show), industry professionals including Jeffrey Zeldman, Mark Boulton, Jeremy Keith and Sarah Parmenter will share their experiences and thoughts with an attendee list of over 1,250 people.

I have been very fortunate over the years to attend many great web conferences. They are a great opportunity to hear from our industry peers and an ideal setting to meet similar-minded people. As Craig himself says, “I truly believe that conferences have a value which transcends monetary cost.”

Unfortunately, most conferences are financially out of reach those learning web design and development.

Free Student Passes courtesy of Shopify

For this reason, my colleagues and I at Shopify sat down with Craig and came up with a plan. Instead of a traditional partnership we decided to make it possible for students* to attend Handheld for free.

So far, more than 150 students have registered, but there’s room for more. We believe it’s a great opportunity to learn from the world’s best and meet great people and potential colleagues. Investing in the future of the industry feels like a very positive thing to do.

Myself and a few of my Canadian colleagues will be there! If you grabbed a student pass, come along to our stand – we’d love to meet you.

To register, head on over to http://www.handheldconf.com/tickets.html.

* The small print: To qualify, you’ll need to register on the Handheld web site and produce a valid student card when collecting your badge at the venue.