March 30, 2007

Wicked Awesome

Alas, another An Event Apart has come and gone. Boston welcomed us into her bean-filled bosoms, helping us kick off the new whiz bang two-day format. I am pleased to say the event was probably our smoothest to date, due largely in part to our fantastic production staff, and wonderful attendees. I like the two-day format infinitely better than the one-day, as it gives me more time to meet as many people as I can and really connect with everyone. This also marks our largest event to date, with well over 500 shining faces filling out the audience.

I had a blast seeing some people I’ve never seen speak before, like Steve Krug and Ethan Marcotte, and seeing others that always bring the good times, like Cameron Moll and Dan Cederholm. Thanks to all the speakers, staff, and most of all, the attendees, for making AEA such a great time! You’ll be happy to know that I can reliably pronounce Gloucester now. *phew*

Lastly, I dropped a handful of photos from the event on Flickr, but the real goods can be found in our growing pool of Flap ‘n’ Snap photos. Some real gems include victims like, Cameron Moll, Greg Storey, as well as the crown jewel, a triple flap by Rob Weychert, Greg Hoy, and Greg Storey. I hope I never live to see the day where I don’t find these hilarious.

That’s all for now, maybe we’ll see you in Seattle this June!

Commentary (20):

1. Ara Pehlivanian says… mar 30, 2007 | 1:15 pm

Glad to hear that the two day format worked so well, though I missed Boston, I’m all booked for Seattle! See you there!

2. Jeff L says… mar 30, 2007 | 3:44 pm

Sure, maybe you can do Gloucester, but how about Worcester??

It was a great event, thanks for coming to Boston!

3. Jared says… mar 30, 2007 | 4:40 pm

Wicked awesome indeed! The event was wonderful and I really took a lot from each presentation. After leaving, I felt quite motivated.

I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation, as I am currently working out redesigns for both of my personal sites. It gave me a lot of food for thought and I cannot wait to get crackin’ this weekend.

If you don’t mind, I added a few photos the Flap ‘n’ Snap group. Did taking those photos hurt your brain at all?

4. Jason Santa Maria says… mar 30, 2007 | 5:11 pm

Jared: Please, add many photos! And yes, brain pain is how you know you’ve done a good job. Which is why it’s even better while inebriated :D

5. melissa says… mar 30, 2007 | 7:09 pm

Jason, I so enjoyed your presentation. Filled with inspiration. Hope you made it to the BPL and saw their special showing http://www.bpl.org/defoefinal.pdf. Filled with great typography and graphics. Looks like you picked up a wee bit of a Boston accent. Wicked!

6. Chris Bernardi says… mar 30, 2007 | 9:01 pm

Jason: Thanks for the insight into your creative process. You are an inspiration!

Can’t wait for next year.

7. Sven Fischer says… mar 31, 2007 | 2:33 am

Hi,

thank you for the verry interesting article - good job.

Greetings from Germany
Sven Fischer

8. Brian Moore says… mar 31, 2007 | 3:46 am

Great lecture, Jason. Loved every second of it.

Wished they had a bit more for a lowly student like me… I couldn’t attend the afterparty on Tuesday due to my lower age.

Oh well… three months will pass soon enough.

Hope you guys come back to Boston soon! Thanks again for the awesomeness!

9. Scott McCracken says… mar 31, 2007 | 10:36 am

Even if it was for just a brief moment, it was really nice to get to meet you, Jason. You may recall I’m working with my company and the state of Vermont to keep young kids in the state by teaching them modern web development.

When I went over your presentation with my class this week, they absolutely adored it - to a point where I’ve seen a big improvement in their attention to detail. I feel the same way, I found the insight you gave into your design process enlightening. Thanks for all your efforts, hope to have a chance to meet you again someday down the line.

10. John says… mar 31, 2007 | 8:00 pm

By “Flap ‘n’ Snap”, do you mean Jowler?

11. Respiro, the logo design guy says… apr 2, 2007 | 3:28 am

I enjoyed the Flap ‘n’ Snap photos… :)

12. Jason Santa Maria says… apr 2, 2007 | 7:25 am

mellissa: Thank you very much! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get out to the library before I left. As soon as I got home I started picking my way through the collection website.

Scott McCracken: That’s amazing! What age group are you teaching in? I would love to hear more about how you brought information from the conference back to your students.

John: Yup, someone else dropped me that link too. We’ve been doing these for a couple years and have just always called them “flap ‘n’ snap” photos. I think it has a bit more zing to it. There are some awesome jowler photos on that site though :D

To everyone else not expressly mentioned: Thanks very much for the kind words, I’m glad that I (and my fellow) speakers could help inspire you.

13. Blake says… apr 2, 2007 | 8:18 am

Waiting on an Event Apart in Florida…*ahem*

14. Patrick Haney says… apr 2, 2007 | 11:47 am

Glad you guys came to your senses and brought AEA to Boston. I had a blast, learned a bit, and came away inspired. Plus I learned that I need to practice my Mario Kart skills if I want to play with the big boys (AKA Happy Cog) again.

15. Paul Decowski says… apr 2, 2007 | 11:56 am

Now that you got the pronunciation right, time to do the same about the spelling. It’s Gloucester ;)

16. Jason Santa Maria says… apr 2, 2007 | 12:18 pm

Patrick Haney: We are happy to stomp all over everyone in Kart, anytime.

Paul Decowski: Ugh, WTF. I’m staying in Philly from now on :D

17. Peter Kaizer says… apr 2, 2007 | 1:05 pm

Jason~

Any chance you and the Event Apart Gang would consider a Baltimore/DC event. We would love to see one.

Peter Kaizer

18. Jason Santa Maria says… apr 2, 2007 | 2:22 pm

Peter Kaizer: Of course, there is always a chance. When we come back to the east coast, I would love to do DC or Baltimore.

19. Jason Robb says… apr 2, 2007 | 5:41 pm

Jason, I had a great time at the event and the after parties. The fellows of the ‘cog sure are friendly.

It would be a shame if I had to wait until next year to see everyone come to the east coast again.

Thanks very much for the motivation. I’ll do my best to avoid creepy-pack-rat-syndrome while assembling my morgue file!

20. Liz says… apr 2, 2007 | 8:22 pm

Hey Jason,

It was great to get to meet you and the rest of the Happy Cog crew in person in Boston! The conference was very well done and made me want to start saving my change for SXSW08.