As a graphic designer, I split my professional time between print and web jobs. Keeping up-to-date with best practices in both fields is tough, so when I had the opportunity to take advantage of some CSS training with Edgeofmyseat.com, I jumped at it. Even with years of CSS experience, I thought it could prove very valuable to get back to basics by taking a fresh, detailed look at CSS.
Edgeofmyseat.com was started by Rachel Andrew and offers quality web development support. Having worked with Rachel for several years now, I have a great appreciation for her knowledge of CSS. But would all that knowledge in her head transform itself into a valuable training experience?
In a word, yes.
The course was offered a couple of Fridays ago at Moor Hall, in Cookham. The facility itself was brilliant – open and airey, with decent coffee (even it was out of a machine – but one of those new-fandangled coffee machines) and post lunch cakes!
With coffee placed strategically on the desk so that I wouldn’t knock it onto my already suspect Vaio, I eagerly began to listen to Edgeofmyseat’s new co-director and lead developer, Drew McLellan, talk about CSS. And what I quickly realised as I scribbled notes and followed along was that I was in for a great day. Having learned CSS over the years from various books and websites, and from my own practice, I had already developed a practical knowledge of it. But I lacked the big picture; I didn’t have a firm understanding of the underlying rules of CSS and I certainly was not as up to date with all the tricks and techniques as I thought.
The course schedule was divided into two major sections: a series of slides offering an introduction to CSS and some of the bigger concepts surrounding it, followed by a step-by-step look at how best to use CSS. The second section of the course involved practical tasks of applying what we were learning by writing stylesheets for sample web pages.
During the course of one of the breaks towards the end of the day, I took a moment to review my notes. As I flipped through the many pages I have scribbled, I was amazed at how many *** I had written next to what seemed an endless list of gems and insights that Drew and Rachel had covered.
So, especially if you’re new to CSS, but even if you have loads of experience too, I would recommend spending a day learning (or re-learning) CSS with Edgeofmyseat.com. It’s well worth the cost of the course.
This course sounds interesting.
I particularly like:
1. Back to basics approach – as a way to drive big picture thinking
2. Application of what was learned in the ‘real world’
I’m also intrigued with the idea of taking a “deep dive” into a specific subject for a whole day. Is the tradeoff wortth it (i.e. time sacrificed away from business vs. learning)? If so, what areas of entrepreneurship other than programming have you found worthy of a “deep dive”? How often per year would you recommend participating in “deep dives”?
Thanks ahead of time for your comments.
FYI – I came here from Twitter.
Hi JP –
Taking the time away from business to train or to re-focus efforts can be very helpful for at least two reasons. (1) If the train is good, then we will be able to do our jobs more effectively and efficiently. (2) A day away from the daily grind can give us the opportunity to view our practices from afar. We all need that some time as it can be very helpful in improving our work practices.
As for other areas of entrepreneurship worthy of training, I haven’t really looked into that. I am often tempted to find a course in time management or business planning, but I never seem to get around to it. I guess I need that training!
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