Looking back at the HOW Conference: Part 2

This is Part 2 of my look back at the 2009 HOW Design Conference. You may also want to take a look at Part 1.

I hate to be one of those "back in the olden days" people. However, when comparing past events to the 2009 HOW Conference in Austin, I did find myself missing some things from past conferences. Newbies would certainly not even notice. Some of the "glitz, pomp and rah-rah" of previous conferences was missing. I'm sure some if it due to budgetary concerns. There weren't the daily morning cheerleading sessions (often with live music) to send attendees, many having been out all night, off to their morning sessions. The brunch for all attendees on the last morning was gone. At some past conferences, that event had been a great last minute networking opportunity for all. The announcement of the 2010 location of Denver was a bit of letdown. Not that the conference will be in the great city of Denver, but that the news was not delivered with production number enthusiasm.

The "meat," or real value, of the conference was certainly there. I heard very few complaints about the sessions attended by designers. A few complained that some product-oriented presenters seemed to simply be doing a commercial for their wares. A couple attendees expressed disappointment that a supposed learning session turned into little more than an unexpected portfolio review. Most of the feedback I heard was incredibly positive. It's no surprise that there were many raves about the presentations of Marc English, Von Glitschka, Scott Belsky and many others. If I have any criticism of sessions at all, it is that the opening and closing keynotes didn't seem keynote-ish to me. Both provided great information, but the presentations were missing that "rah rah, let's go kick some serious ass as designers" quality. They seemed very much like regular individual sessions in a bigger room with a larger crowd.

I was unable to attend the raved-about Scott Belsky session as I was attending one of the best sessions I've ever attended at a HOW Conference. Michael Osborne's "Design That Matters" had an incredible impact on everyone in the room. I've always been a huge fan of Osborne's work and his One Heart Press. In just over an hour we learned the incredibly personal and emotional story of what makes Michael Osborne "tick." His Joey's Corner project, created to honor his late son, is an amazing model of how design - and designers - can make a difference in this world. I would hope that readers of this bLog-oMotives entry would take a look at Micheal's work, project and Joey's Corner. (You may also follow the work of Joey's Corner on Facebook.) I regret that I didn't have the opportunity to actually meet Michael Osborne while in Austin.

My first HOW Conference, years ago in New Orleans, was a panel discussion moderated by then HOW Art Director Tricia Bateman. Panelists included design educator Peg Faimon (author of the new HOW Books offering The Designer's Guide to Business and Careers), Willie Baronet, Pash (née Matt Pashkow) and myself. The panel format was a great way to encourage interaction with conference attendees and address their specific needs or questions. Following the 2008 Boston HOW Conference, "Speakers Gone Wild" pals Jeni Herberger and Steve "RDQLUS" Gordon, and I discussed our fondness for the panel discussion and we pitched a "Blazing Designers" presentation for Austin, featuring ourselves in a takeoff of the film Blazing Saddles. Our proposal was "shot down" by the powers-that-be; one making the comment that our pitch was a "scary, good idea.

The TOO early in the morning Design Economic Summit panel - Steve Gordon, Daniel Schutzsmith, Andy Epstein, myself, Megan Slabinski of The Creative Group and moderator Jeni Herberger. Photo by Karen Larson

Months later, as the economy was tanking, we were approached by HOW Conference organizers to be participants in a "Design Economic Summit" (I still detest that session name) panel to be held at 8:00 one Austin morning. The other panelists were Daniel Schutzsmith, Andy Epstein and Megan Slabinski of The Creative Group (photo above). I was really surprised that we got as many as many attendees as we did for an extra session so early in the day. Panelists were still answering questions half an hour after the alloted time. I do think the panel format has a valuable place in future HOW Conferences - perhaps something scheduled as more than an hour long.

I was very pleased with the response to my own session. A filled room with people having to sit on the floor is always a good thing for a speaker. My only complaint is that 75 minutes is a very short period of time to cover a topic well and allow sufficient time for questions. I felt bad when some attendees wanted to visit afterwards and I had to run off to the HOW Conference Bookstore to sign copies of my book Identity Crisis! and the PDF on CD version of The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success at a hastily rescheduled event. (There's more information about my session in the bLog-oMotives entry A clown walks into a conference....)

I'll admit, I drank the "HOW Kool-Aid" a long time ago. I've been featured in HOW Magazine numerous times, written for the magazine, been a speaker at many HOW sponsored events and have upcoming Webinars and a Designers' Bootcamp. HOW Books is also the publisher of my two previous books, and the one I am currently writing. Still, attempting to set any bias aside, I would give the 2009 HOW Conference in Austin very high marks. The location was invigorating and a great deal of fun - even in triple-digit heat. The speakers were inspiring. The networking energy between attendees, speakers, sponsors and the HOW staff was incredible. I had opportunities to meet with people one-on-one like never before. I really appreciated attendee Brad Dressler, from Texas A&M, taking it upon himself to coordinate an in-house designer luncheon and an Austin gay bar pub crawl that was too late for this design-o-saur. Having Donovan Beery broadcast The Reflex Blue Show from the convention center was a huge plus. The "HOW Gals" busted their butts in making the event one of the best HOW Conferences ever. All involved deserve a big "THANK YOU!"

I could go on and on - but I won't. I would suggest that designers start planning now to attend the HOW Design Conference in Denver, June 6-9, 2010.

Note: Check out a bit more about my 2009 HOW Conference speaking experience in the bLog-oMotives entry A clown walks into a conference....

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

A clown walks into a conference...

When prepping for my presentation at the 2009 HOW Design Conference in Austin, Texas, I had no intention of incorporating my recent clown school, and clowning around, experience as the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps member Toots Caboose. I did feel that the evolution of Toots might make a good future presentation in regards to establishing an identity or persona, creating a brand around such a entity, and the marketing and promoting of that character. However, my HOW Conference presentation - Why Pay For It When You Can Get It For Free - was about social networking as a marketing and promotion tool and I felt it needed to be focused much more on the serious business of design.

Photo by Karen Larson

I was just getting out of my taxi after arriving at the Austin Hilton when a young woman walked by and, with disappointment in her voice, said, "Oh, you're not wearing your clown costume." The comment caught me off guard.

After checking into my room and freshening up a bit, I headed to the registration desk in the Austin Convention Center. In the lobby of the hotel I ran into Stefan Mumaw, one of the authors of Caffeine for the Creative Mind and Caffeine for the Creative Team. The first thing he said to me was, "I've got to tell you, I love the clown thing. I really want to talk to you more about being a clown."

Later, I ran into Justin Ahrens of the firm Rule29 and he told me that my clowning experience was helping him overcome his fear of clowns. He relayed a story of his wife Sarah coming into a room while he was on his computer. When asked what he was doing, he explained the he was "looking at photos of his friend Jeff - the clown."

The topic of my clowning was brought up again when I saw my editor Amy Schell, of HOW Design Books. She asked if Toots was going to be making an appearance in Austin.

OK, this was all getting to be a little strange. I had intended to keep my clowning and conference speaker duties separate - at least for the HOW Conference. Everyone seemed to know about Toots Caboose and my clowning was all they wanted to discuss.

The TOO early in the morning Design Economic Summit panel - Steve Gordon, Daniel Schutzsmith, Andy Epstein, myself, Megan Slabinski of The Creative Group and moderator Jeni Herberger. Photo by Karen Larson

Later that evening it hit me. All the comments about my clowning and Toots were a result of my promoting my clowning experience by way of social networking. I'd written about the experience on bLog-oMotives. I had posted updates about Toots on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and elsewhere. Photo galleries of the Portland Rose Festival/Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps had been established on both Flickr and Facebook. Following the Rose Festival events, several clowns - including Toots Caboose - continued on as members of the Stumptown Clowns. Again, I used all the same social networking tools to promote the activities of the troupe. Flickr and Facebook galleries were also used to archive photo images.

I realized that Toots needed to make a HOW Conference appearance in some form. I sent an email to my parter Ed, back in Portland, stating that I thought I was going to be necessary to have him overnight my official Toots Caboose nose to Austin. Of course, introducing Toots to the conference audience was going to require totally restructuring my presentation.

Ed called me and asked if I really wanted to spend $40-50 to ship my nose to Texas? I told him that I needed to do so and it would be more than worth it in the end.

At 3:30 AM I completed redoing my presentation for later that same day. With just a few hours sleep, I was at the convention center at 8:00 AM for the Design Economic Summit for which I was a panel member with Steve "RDQLUS" Gordon, Daniel Schutzsmith, Andy Epstein, Megan Slabinski and Jeni Herberger (above). Following the panel I ran back to my hotel room to go over my presentation a couple more times. At 10:30 AM the package with my clown nose arrived at the hotel. My lunch-hour was spent at the great in-house designer luncheon, organized by conference attendee Brad Dressler, at the Rio Grande restaurant. I showed up at 2:00 PM for my HOW Conference Bookstore signing to the realization that they still had me scheduled at the old time of 3:15 PM, with a session that was starting at 3:45. With the book signing rescheduled for 5:00 PM, it was back to my hotel for a quick shower and change of attire.

My session was very well attended - with some people having to sit on the floor. HOW Conference pal Karen Larson came into the room with a "big gulp" gin and tonic for me and it was time for the event to begin.

The initial portion of my presentation remained much the same as I had originally planned - and then I showed a slide with my mother's advice of "Don't be a clown." (above). With that image, my clown nose was put into position and I went through the process of how social networking had been used to promote the activities of Toots Caboose and his fellow clowns. I explained that the same tactics may be used to market an independent designer or a design firm.

With clown nose in place, I conducted a question and answer session, followed by the signing of books, the taking of some photos and introductions by several of my session attendees.

One of the people introducing themselves was Emily Gordon, the editor of Print. We had a great conversation - all the while there was a clown nose on my face. She later posted on her Facebook page that my session was "one of the high points of the conference!"

Already late to my book signing, I headed out into the convention center hallway to HOW Magazine editor Bryn Mooth, Steve Gordon and Justin Ahrens laughing and shaking their heads at my big red nose. Donovan Beery, of 36point, grabbed me and Toots made a quick cameo on the Reflex Blue Show, which was broadcasting live from the HOW Conference. All I had time for was a quick "hi" to the listening audience.

Toots and his friend Debbie Millman

Throughout my book signing, for Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and the PDF on CD version of The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, the nose remained in place. It was fun having conversations with students, design peers and those interested in future speaking engagements while all acted if a clown nose was not unusual. Jeni Herberger showed up to take me away to the next obligation - the annual conference Portfolio Review sponsored by The Creative Group. Along the way we ran into Toots' friend Debbie Millman and the meeting presented a lovely photo opportunity (above). Wearing my Toots Caboose nose, I offered constructive criticism to those who presented portfolios for review by design "experts." Again, I got a bit of the head-shaking and a smirk from my friend Julie Sims as she coordinated the reviewers. A friend reminded one participant that he was taking critical career advice "from a clown."

It was then time for dinner. Neil Tortorella, Steve Gordon, Karen Larson, Jeni Herberger and Toots went out into the 107 degree heat for a several block walk to the incredible Iron Works BBQ. The nose remained in place until we were seated. I then felt as if I was melting and removed the Toots proboscis.

Although I had not been in full Toots Caboose attire, the essence of Toots was present at the HOW Design Conference in Austin. It had been a great opportunity to show how social networking can be used as a marketing tool - and that clowning and design are serious business.

Note: A great little bonus of my clowning around at the HOW Conference was an attendee introducing herself as Austin hometown clown Lovey Dovey!

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives