Conferences are very important to me. They help me raise my game by sharing ideas and techniques with the most talented people in the world.
Flash on the Beach.
December 2006
There’s something very special about a conference’s first event. Last year’s Spark gig in Amsterdam is proof of that. So it is with great pleasure that I can confirm that I’ll be presenting at the inaugural Flash on the Beach.
I’ll be presenting a talk called Creative Evolution in which I’ll be showing a bunch of new work and explaining my evolution from architect to graphic designer to web designer to interactive director.
This is going to be 2006’s funkiest conference - check out the speaker list for reassurance of that.
Click here to visit www.FlashOnTheBeach.com.
Spark Europe.
November 2005
United Digital Artists, the folk behind previous Flash Forward events, have just launched Europe’s premier Flash event, Spark. And where would be a good place to stage the first conference? Amsterdam of course!
I’m totally stoked about the this new Flash conference and can’t wait to see what new tricks everone’s pulling with Flash 8.
Here’s 5 really good reasons to get yourself over to the ‘dam in November - Veronique Brossier, Chafic Kazoun, Grant Skinner, Craig Swann, and last, but in no way least, the truly wonderful Erik Natzke
Click here to visit www.sparkeurope.com.
Flash Forward.
Various presentations
I’ve spoken at 8 Flash Forward conferences to date. My first was in London in 2000 and since then I’ve given Flash Forward presentations in Amsterdam, New York and San Francisco. The thing I love about conferences like Flash Forward is not what you can see from the schedule of events - it’s the informal gatherings between talks, the parties in peoples’ hotel rooms and the amazing meeting of minds with like minded people from all over the world.
FITC.
Toronto
2004 was my first FITC (previously known as Flash in the Can) and it was very inspirational. I got to meet up with what seemed like everyone I’d ever got drunk with at every other conference I’d been to, plus there was welcome showing of conference newbies including the WeFails, Francis (Atomic Boarder) Bourre, and Jared Tarbell of levitated.net. We even had the bonus of a no-show from 2Advanced. Result!
The party at Moock’s house was another highlight - a perfect end to the night that featured me presenting the FITC awards ceremony and announcing the wrong winner for the grand prize (oops).
I returned to the 2005 conference to present the awards ceremony again, and also give a talk but I got a throat bug on the plane on the way over and completely lost my voice! Fortunately was able to use improvised sign language. ;)
Milia.
Cannes 2001
Apparently Milia is ‘The World’s Interactive Content Forum’. What’s for sure is that it’s one massive drunken technology binge in Cannes. Which is nice. I was invited to do a ‘3-minute-madness’ presentation in the same auditorium where they hold the famous film festival (it’s big - very big). The audience was packed and the gig was great fun. This was a really relaxed weekend hanging out with the nice peeps from Macromedia UK and the boys from Kerb.
NMUF.
New York 2001, Rotterdam 2001
The New Media Underground Festival is kind of like Flash in the Can or Flash Forward condensed into half the time, with much alcohol, heckling and liberal spreadings of anarchy for good measure. They are also an opportunity for people who can’t afford the larger more organised festivals to see and hear some of the foremost web designers.
BD4D.
Manchester 2002
BD4D has its roots in the NMUF but is more design than technology biased. I presented my latest viral marketing work as the main speaker at BD4D in Manchester in 2002. My presentation was delayed by a couple of hours, which equates to about 4 pints, which resulted in me talking about masturbation a lot. I think I managed to swing it that I was actually talking about self expression, but the barmaid did say afterwards that she thought I was a stand up comedian rather than ‘one of those design geeks’. A compliment. I think.
Convergence Lecture Series.
Glasgow 2002
In 2002 the Lighthouse played host to a lecture series about creative convergence. I gave a quite personal presentation about the evolution of my creative output from being an architecture graduate through being a print designer to working in nu meedja and more recently into video and film.
The quality of the other lecturers was very high although they did tend to overrun significantly which didn’t leave much time for debate. All in all an excellent event in an excellent venue.