Get Sass-y
Presented by Elyse Holladay (@elyseholladay), designer/developer
By now you've heard of Sass. Everyone's telling you to use it... but why? And HOW? What do you mean you can't just delete your entire CSS folder and start over? Elyse will walk through what Sass is, and then talk about why and how to switch. Learn how to use Sass to help you write maintainable, modular CSS that is easy to refactor as you move forward—and maybe even help clean up your HTML, too. If thinking about switching to Sass, Elyse says: "I don't blame you, but it's time to give your CSS a little Sass-y love."
Making websites fast
Presented by Chris Ruppel (@rupl), front-end engineer
As web creators, we want our sites to have all the new HTML5 features, but they must also load fast and respond quickly to users. With short user attention spans and sluggish mobile connections, it's never been more important. We've all heard the standard list of changes you’re supposed to make in order to achieve better front-end performance, like using leaner markup, reducing HTTP requests, moving scripts to the bottom, etc. But how can you move beyond the basics and integrate performance into your routine? Chris will touch on development techniques and discuss the art of making things feel fast.
New to Refresh? Welcome! A couple quick things to get you started: Every meetup begins with a "looking for work" or "looking to hire" segment. The talks and resulting questions are always great, but if you have more to say (or just can't make it) chime in and follow along on Twitter at #refreshaustin
