Been a little busy. Been meaning to talk about the HOW conference I went to way back in May (it followed a Vegas trip I took with my brother that that I won’t talk about). Overall the conference was great. Held in Boston, cool town, good people, mostly top-notch speakers (David Baker may be my new Hero). HOW does a great job. I guess there were 4,000 attendants, mostly designers. From this I have two topics to discuss:
side note - I ate a Wrigley Field dog and a Fenway Frank within a 2 day period. Wrigley’s dogs are better.
1. On the first night there was an opening speech given by Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com, I was running late, finishing off a drink with Mig Reyes, who put together a worth-while blog about the conference. I walk into a packed auditorium, didn’t think I’d get a seat, and start walking forward towards the stage. I then notice that the there are more and more open seats towards the front. It turns out that the first three rows are pretty much empty. Then I put it together, I know most designers are introverted and self reflective - therefore most will do whatever they can to not be noticed without a mighty mouse and strong concept in hand. This of course teaches me that I can grab front row for every speaker throughout the conference, which I do. I can’t sit in the back anymore, I did in Junior High, but now I find too many ways to distract myself: other people talking, e-mail, any shiny things. So if you’re going to a conference with a bunch of designers - the best seats in the house are available.
2. which brings me to: If you are going to a conference to speak:
PLEASE think about what it took for everyone to get there. The cost of travel, the cost of hotel, the cost of being out of the office and not billing, then multiply it by every single person in your audience. This is what your talk should be worth. Do not misrepresented what your discussion is about. Do not use the stage and every-ones valuable time (read money) to try to further your own cause. Yes. this happened, not often but yes this happened.
Overall - Yes, I’m going back to the HOW conference, and I’m definitely going back to Boston.
Thanks for the plug—man was it a stellar time. I loved Boston, it was great to get away from a horizon of skyscrapers. I love Chicago, but Boston was truly a great trip.
And yes, Nick and I owe you one.