An Event Apart: For People Who Make Websites
February 19, 2007

Better Know A Speaker: Molly Holzschlag

I must admit that I’m a bit daunted by the prospect of trying to write about Molly Holzschlag, because it is not possible to sum Molly up in a single article. A book would not do it. An entire volume of books might come close. Her presence, her passion, her personality—they’re all verging on being larger than life.

So is her bibliography. As of the beginning of AEA Boston, Molly will be the primary author of nearly forty books and co-author on another two dozen or so. She’s authored more articles for more publications than anyone can count. If you have any interest in standards-oriented web design and development, the odds are overwhelmingly high that you’ve read at least one thing Molly’s written.

That isn’t the end of her influence, either. For a few years, Molly was the editor for Web Review magazine, during which time she pushed to make the content as standards-savvy as possible, and took the entire site to standards-oriented markup. For two years, she was the leader of The Web Standards Project, helping steer it through a period of renewal after its brief dormant period at the end of the last century.

Making connections

It was in her capacity as editor of Web Review that I first came into contact with Molly. We bonded instantly over our shared love of the web and the written word. Throughout the years, we’ve presented together on many occasions, and every time we do, I study her closely. In watching her speak publicly, I’ve learned how to be better speaker. I still learn something every time.

From the first moment we came into contact, Molly and I shared a connection that has only deepened over the years. Through her books and articles and personal website, Molly has connected with thousands upon thousands of people the world over. In person, Molly connects with people almost as effortlessly as breathing. Small wonder, then, that she’s given so much of herself to promoting and improving a connective medium like the web.

Molly has been doing so ever since she first encountered the web back in the early 1990s, well before most everyone else. From the start, she knew that this was a potentially transformative technology, and like anything else Molly does, she threw herself into it wholeheartedly. She was a markup and style geek way before markup semantics were cool, and before nearly anyone else had even heard of CSS. In fact, she got into the CSS game almost half a year before I did!

You might imagine a woman as influential as Molly has been showered with awards, and to an extent you’re right. For example, she was inducted into the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women on the Web, both in 1998; and was named Web Professional of the Year by the World Organization of Webmasters in 2003. That’s pretty good for a field that isn’t exactly swimming in prestigious awards, but given the profound impact Molly has had on our industry and on the web in general, it still doesn’t seem like enough. Not by a country mile.

Come see Molly in Boston

On Tuesday, March 27th, Molly will give a presentation on “Building a Better Browser”, looking over the past ten-plus years of browser evolution as a way to show audience members the how and why of current browser behavior, as well as encourage them contribute to the future direction of browsers. Even for someone like Jeffrey and me, who’ve been on the web almost as long as Molly, we’re eagerly looking forward to hearing what Molly has to say about the past and future of web browsers.

Even with expanded seating, An Event Apart Boston is still selling out fast. To reserve your seat (and save $100 off the regular price), hurry and register before the early bird discount expires on February 26th. You won’t want to miss Molly or any of our other amazing speakers! -Eric

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