Back from Eastern Europe
I just returned from CHI in Vienna, Austria last week, which is probably the largest conference for the industry that I work in. OK/Cancel and going back to school has made me realize how little I knew of the industry as a whole so this experience was very different from the last CHI I went to in 2000 (coincidentally, that was the last time it was in Europe Den Haag, Netherlands to be exact and the first time I’d been to Europe).
Last time, I was basically a recruiter, standing at a booth and talking two days straight, occasionally seeing some other booths but never making it to any speakers. I briefly met Jakob Nielsen then but I doubt he remembered me back then. Now, he probably just remembers that punk that coined the name Nielly. Sadly, he wasnt there to receive his trading card. I did meet many other authors whos work Id read and what one can only call industry luminaries.
Tom and I got to talk to a lot of people ranging from student volunteers to creators of staple methodologies. As Press, we were also able to interview some in more depth and will post those on OK/C. Also, Lucille, Tom’s g/f, made us some OK/C T-shirts to wear and stickers to give out. Awesome stuff. We’re almost out of trading cards, too so we’ll have to make a second set sometime.
Kathryn already posted about the first part of our trip and will continue to do so. We went to Budapest prior to Vienna and it was spectacular. A friend I met at SxSW, Jay, invited us to stay with him and was an excellent host. He was (and is) busy writing a book on Movable Type 3.0 programming which Ill likely buy but still managed to give great advice on places to go and even picked us up from the train station. Anywho, Ill let Kat talk more about it. I think we also took some of our best pictures this trip but then I’m giddy over discovering the super macro mode on my camera. I honestly believe taking good digital photography requires you to know the nuances of your camera, especially compacts.
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