Independents Day

 Independents Day  was a worldwide project celebrating people who create their own sites, independent content & design, and a conceptual predecessor to the IndieWeb movement & community.

Independents Day
See the manifesto (launched 2001-05-17): http://www.independentsday.org/x_phase/one/manifesto.php (Internet Archive link) "Who belongs INDEPENDENTS DAY is you. If you create your own site and want to participate, join us!"

Graphics and buttons from http://www.independentsday.org/x_phase/one/pastevents.php (Internet Archive link)

https://web.archive.org/web/20060811093150if_/http://www.independentsday.org:80/images/1/id_panel_01.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20060811200532/http://www.independentsday.org/images/1/id_panel_02.jpg https://web.archive.org/web/20060811200829if_/http://www.independentsday.org:80/images/1/id_panel_03.jpg

https://web.archive.org/web/20060811200552if_/http://www.independentsday.org:80/images/1/id_site_01.jpg

https://web.archive.org/web/20060811200508if_/http://www.independentsday.org:80/images/1/buttons/id_ani_bigdeal_88x31.gif https://web.archive.org/web/20060811200603if_/http://www.independentsday.org:80/images/1/buttons/id_ani_red_88x31.gif

Notable Essays

 * Jeffrey Zeldman: The Independent Content Producer Refuses to Die! (Internet Archive link) "By creating and maintaining sites that cannot be controlled, compromised, disfigured or deleted by the indifference or poor judgement of clients or managers, you will ensure that you always have good work to show for yourself. More importantly, you'll have the chance to express yourself -- to find out what you, yourself are made of when, no client is paying you. To find out what you really want to say. … in independent web production, the only unknown quantity in your budget is how much time you can afford. No one is in control of this space. No one can tell you how to design it, how much to design it, when to 'dial it down.' No one will hold your hand and structure it for you. No one will create the content for you.  What's in you? What thwarted creative potential is burning to get out, grow, and find its audience?  If you do this well, it will reflect back into the work you do for your clients. Not only will this help your career, it will enrich your life, and the lives of others.  Creating your content, designing it your way, repositioning yourself from vendor to author, you'll have made your mark on the medium, and perhaps on your generation.  And at the very least, you'll have had fun trying."Emphasis added to point out shared principles. Note the emphasis on design (three references), and finishing with fun (last of our principles).
 * John Halcyon Styn: The Future of the Independent Web -- Predictions by Halcyon (Internet Archive link)" The independent web will continue to be a way for any person on the planet to have his voice heard. Anyone with talent and something to say will be able to say it just as loud as the Big Boys with Deep Pockets. "