“And, why are you here?”

That was the question posed to me after a fellow Front-End Design Conference attendee realized I’m not a web designer nor a developer.

“There’s a pool and bar. Why wouldn’t I be here?” Was my quick response, but the truth involves some of the passions and interests other than having a good time.

We are 3.5 sessions into the conference and I’m realizing it is not a mistake for me to be here (although I think I’m the only copywriter).

From my experiences of working at an agency, a big corporation and with freelance projects, I have been in many conversations where phrases like “Content is King!” and “Design Determines Content!” became rallying cries for those involved. I think when we hear (or use) those phrases, something has gone wrong. We have forgotten why we do this work. The sessions at Front-End Conference (so far) have served as good reminders.

We are not simply creating websites to sell products and services. We create experiences that connect people with their interests, passions and needs. Each of us involved in this process hold a vital piece of the story. Unless we share our chapter of the story and respect what others share, we will fail at creating a site that impacts users, a site that achieve business objectives and a site that we are proud to have in our portfolio.

And, that is what we’ve been talking about today at FrontEndConf….well, at least that is what the copywriter is experiencing.