Hi! I’m Preston.
I write, speak, and work on the intersections of content, design, and code and lead product, design, engineering, and developer relations teams.
Content, everywhere.
Today’s content needs to leap off devices and into the physical spaces we live and work in. Reach the final frontier of content design with my newest book Immersive Content and Usability. Buy now
Immersive Content and Usability
The first-ever book on immersive content and spatial content, available now.
Gatsby for everyone.
Learn everything you need to know to build blazing-fast sites with the Gatsby framework and Jamstack architectures thanks to the new O’Reilly book, Gatsby: The Definitive Guide. Buy now
Gatsby: The Definitive Guide
The first authoritative book on developing sites with Gatsby, available now.
Does your content speak for itself?
Voice is fast becoming an urgent baseline for future-proof yet accessible content. Give your copy a voice and don’t get left behind with my A Book Apart book Voice Content and Usability. Buy now
Voice Content and Usability
The only book on voice content, and A Book Apart’s first voice title, available now.
I write books & more.
I’m an A List Apart editor, CMSWire columnist, and Smashing Magazine contributor. I also wrote the definitive books about immersive content, voice content, Gatsby, and decoupled Drupal. Read my articles
On preston.so
For A List Apart
Immersive content strategy
April 29, 2021
For CMSWire
For Smashing Magazine
Using WebXR with Babylon.js
October 9, 2020
I’m available for hire.
Since 2004, I’ve consulted on CMS architectures, digital experiences, and marketing for clients in India, Japan, and the U.S., with work in headless CMS, web and voice, and content strategy. See my work
The Harvard Crimson
The first student-designed responsive college newspaper site in the Ivy League.
I ran an innovation lab.
I led Acquia Labs, which built groundbreaking voice projects for the State of Georgia and Nestlé Purina, and product, design, and engineering teams at Time Inc., Acquia, and Gatsby. Read about me
Alexa, ask GeorgiaGov
Ask GeorgiaGov is the first-ever Alexa skill for citizens of the state of Georgia.
I talk shop worldwide.
I’ve been a speaker since 2008 at dozens of conferences, like SXSW and An Event Apart, in three languages. If you’d like me to speak at your event or your company, I’d love to hear from you. See my talks
Upcoming
Informational conversational interfaces and the role of voice content
European Chatbot and Conversational AI Summit 2023
Edinburgh
Latest
Multilingual design for the web (and beyond)
An Event Apart San Francisco 2022
San Francisco
Multilingual design for the web (and beyond)
An Event Apart Denver 2022
Denver
Democratizing JavaScript, Jamstack, and beyond for more than just developers
DevReach Boston 2022
Boston
Recent keynotes
Democratizing the headless CMS
DrupalJam Utrecht 2022
Utrecht
Giving your content a voice of its own
Button 2021
Virtual
Photo credit: Charles Leverington
I work on open source.
I wrote the first version of Waterwheel.js, led the release of Reservoir, and contributed to Drupal's Spark initiative. I also organize Decoupled Days, an annual non-profit conference in New York. Work with me
Authored
Waterwheel.js
The JavaScript SDK for Drupal
Contributed
Spark
A Drupal distribution for editors
Organized
Decoupled Days
A conference on the future of CMS
Released
Reservoir
A back end for your front end
ember-drupal-waterwheel
An Ember CLI plugin for Drupal
ember-waterwheel-app
An Ember reference app for Drupal
react-waterwheel-app
A React reference app for Drupal