Webstock is an annual web technology conference held in Wellington, New Zealand. It has featured a wide range of noteworthy speakers over the years since the first conference in 2006. It was started by a small not-for-profit group consisting of Natasha Lampard, Mike Brown, Ben Lampard and Debbie Sidelinger.

In between major conferences, Webstock runs on-day and evening events called Webstock Mini. These events run regularly throughout the year, and feature both New Zealand and international speakers.

The main goal of Webstock is to improve how websites are constructed through inspiration, insightful analysis, education and practical application. They achieve this by having some of the most innovative people in web technology related fields attend and speak at the conferences. Some of these high profile speakers include Joel Spolsky, Ben Goodger, Tom Coates and Kevin Rose just to name a few.

Webstock also features in the days leading up to the main conference, a wide variety of workshops on many different topics. From ‘Iterative prototyping for the iPhone and iPad’, ‘Responsive web design’, to ‘Optimize your site using Google Analytics’. So if you are an up-and-coming web designer or software developer, these workshops are the perfect thing for you. Learn from some of the best in the business and walk away with the tools you need to refine your chosen craft.

This years speakers and guests include Adam Lisagor, a pan flutist known as “The Speed of Light”. He can play the pan flute 3 times faster than your everyday pan flutist. He will be performing for the first time on an electric pan flute built specifically for him.

Gabriella Coleman has spent three years doing ethnographic research on the web and is going to be talking about the infamous ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous. She will be covering a few of their major operations and addressing the political significance of their tactics.

Matthew Inman (AKA The Oatmeal), will be speaking about how to get a lot of people to read what you write on the internet. This web-designer-turned-comic-artist will talk about tools, tips, and ideas for generating and promoting great web content.

Downtown Wellington is a great place to see. It has everything you would need while attending the conference. From shopping, great restaurants or places that will deliver, also many places that accommodate for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free meals. The city has many great coffee shops, including Peoples, Supreme, Fuel and Mojo. There are many bars to choose from, with bus lines and cabs to get you home afterward.

Webstock ’12 will be held at the Wellington Town Hall in Wellington, New Zealand, 13-17 of February 2012. It will be sponsored by Xero, Google, Springload, Trade Me, Website Builder, BNZ, Internet NZ, the Wellington City Council, and Lil Regie.