Web Standards Group, Melbourne September 22, 2007

Event Details

On October 4th we have two highly respected lawyers with significant experience in the IT industry talking about contracts and written agreements.

If you deal with clients in any fashion as part of your job—especially as a freelancer—then this is one presentation that you can't afford to miss!

Presentation Title: Get It In Writing!

You know what you want to do and who you want to do it with. You don't need to put it in writing because everyone is in agreement and keen to get on with it. Your clients are keen to get your products and services and they understand the price. There won't be any use or release of any of your clients' private details. No one is going to talk about any sensitive details about your products and services. Your workers and subcontractors won't take any of your ideas or your clients with them when they leave.

WRONG.

In the absence of properly drafted written agreements, some or all of the above may happen. The presentation will provide information on why written agreements are important and include case studies where clients have proceeded either without written agreements or poorly drafted ones and the sticky mess they then found themselves in.

Come and listen to us so it doesn't happen to you!

Speakers:

David Patkin, Lawyer (Berrigan Doube Lawyers)

David is a commercial lawyer at Berrigan Doube Lawyers and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia. He has significant experience in acting for web designers, internet based companies and businesses that rely heavily on information technology. He advises in the area of contracts, contract disputes and purchases/sales of technology based businesses.

John Cheng, Partner (Berrigan Doube Lawyers)

John is a IT and Technology Partner at Berrigan Doube Lawyers and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia. He is also a companion of the Australian Computer Society. John acts for both Australian and foreign businesses in the areas of information technology and intellectual property law. He is a co-author of the Business Legalities Chapter of the Web Design Business Kit.

Meeting Time?

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

* 6:30pm-7:00pm - Nibbles, drinks and networking
* 7:00pm-7:45pm - John Cheng and David Patkin: Get It In Writing!
* 7:45pm-8:00pm - Questions and discussion
* 8:00pm onwards - Drinks and socialising at the Sherlock Holmes hotel

Where Do We Meet?

A map showing the location of the Sherlock Holmes hotel

Meetings are held at the Victorian government's excellent Centre for Innovation & Technology Commercialisation, in Emirates House (opposite the 101 Collins shopping centre).

Centre for Innovation & Technology Commercialisation
Level 1, 257 Collins Street (Emirates House)
Melbourne VIC 3000

View a map to the venue.

Cost?

There is no cost to attend. No, really! Food and beverages are kindly being made available thanks to SitePoint.

SitePoint is a Melbourne-based company who, when not handing out free food, publish articles and books on best practice web development, with a focus on web standards. Their discussion forums are also home to the web's most active web development community, so I encourage you to check them out at http://www.sitepoint.com if you haven't already.

Other Important Stuff

Please ensure you arrive well before the presentation begins (we will start exactly at 7pm). Besides, how could you pass up free food?

For catering purposes, please RSVP for this event below (you must become a WSG member to do so).

Also remember to bring a business card if you want to go into the draw to win a free book!

Who Should Attend?

Anyone interested in best practice web design or development is welcome to attend. The meetings are very informal and we always allow time for open discussion.

One of our strong points is that the group has a broad range of skills and interests within the web development area, both technical (Flash, PHP, Ruby, DOM Scripting, CSS, XML) and non-technical (graphic design, interface design, usability, accessibility etc). This means that discussions are always lively. All of us are interested in best practice approaches to working with the Web!

Official Website: http://webstandardsgroup.org/meetings/index.cfm?event_id=101