everyone is your friend in new york city

and everything is beautiful, when you’re young and pretty.

or at least, that’s what They Might Be Giants told me once, in a song.

last week around this time, i was attending the Future Of Web Design workshops and conference. i got in my focus and i drove down to manhattan last sunday. yeah, probably crazy. who knew it was marathon day? well, i arrived as the race was ending, so that wasn’t a problem. just some very tired looking folks wandering around wrapped in space blankets.

the conference was pretty good. i did learn a bit. there was a common thread that i don’t think they expected, but a lot of people were interested in workflow and process improvement. most of the speakers did pretty well; a few had some nerves but eventually loosened up.

as far as networking, not much opportunity. workshop day was pretty busy, and i was tired and grumpy for some reason. i thought, conference day would have more people and mingling in between speakers. well – not really. between speakers they blasted music so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think, much less strike up a conversation. if you walked out from the main venue area, it was almost completely dark.

so, i enjoyed being in new york, i got probably as much value out of the conference as i paid in, and after a couple days i was completely exhausted and ready to get home.