Spectorbrain heads to Seattle for An Event Apart

June 14th, 2007

Now, I could start out with a lame joke about meeting Tom Hanks or being sleepless with Meg Ryan or Tom Hanks going to the conference or drinking with Meg Ryan or… you get the point. Let’s just agree not to reference that movie at all in this post.

A week from today, I’ll be attending An Event Apart, a comprehensive 2-day conference with some of the names in our industry. It will be an informative and exciting trip. Plus, I get to see if these people actually know what they’re talking about and probably learn a thing or two.

Being a Seattle newbie, I’m looking forward to exploring this beautiful (and rainy) city. One definite highlight I will not miss is the Pike Place Market, a 9-acre mix of local farmers, craftsmen and merchants overlooking the waterfront. Awesome.

My goals for the conference are simple - learn more stuff, meet more people and have more fun. Learning is definitely covered with the lectures, but there’s also a great wealth of knowledge in the other participants. Which leads me into my second goal - meet more people.

How Design recently had a top 10 list on their site about how to get the most out of your design conference. It’s full of some good advice and items that I’d probably forget to pack. However, I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t point #5, a handy dandy use for your name badge.

To pretend you know someone you’ve never met. Good icebreaker. Just don’t take it too far.

Let’s all imagine how a conversation like that would go. OK, I heard a slight chuckle. Now let’s imagine it after a few drinks. Wait for it. Wait for it. And…there it is. Good icebreaker? Please.

Anyway, I’m not going to promise anything. But I will do my best to post during the conference on the lectures, the people and most of all, the drunk people.

If you have any suggestions about what else to see in Seattle, please let me know. And if you’re going to be there, look me up. I promise I won’t pretend to know you.

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