Trip to Chicago

Last week I was in Chicago for a web design conference called "An Event Apart." The conference is kind of a big nerd-fest but it was very interesting for me and stimulating for my career. The topics ranged from the high-level creative process analogies (design as chess, websites as comic books, etc.) to the nitty gritty of CSS best practices, web standards, design critiques, and the future of the internet.

The main attraction were the distinguished speakers from all walks of the web design industry; names that would mean nothing to most people I know, but people of influence and unparalleled talent who's work, books and blogs are all a daily influence on my career. Long story short: it was cool.

I also got to visit Chicago for the first time. The first night, I walked from my hotel on the Chicago River, up to Wrigley field (approx. 5 miles) just to see it. The second night, I tried to take in a Chicago Blackhawks game but got there too late to get a ticket, after passing up the conference's happy hour. Oh well. Still a good trip, especially since it was paid for by FetchDog.