I attended Adobe MAX in Los Angeles this year with my friend and coworker, Erin. My purpose at the conference was to focus on learning Flash Catalyst and to develop more web design/CSS skillz.
I’m just a girl who wants to be a better nerd.
Erin and I made friends with the locals. Everyone from Los Angeles was super happy!
The stage in the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE was cool, but had no bearing on the presentations like it did last year. I wish the speakers had interacted with it more, I guess.
Erin and I met Kevin Lynch (Adobe’s CTO)! He’s definitely the right kind of “celebrity” for Adobe-loving nerds like me.
Erin picked this woman as her favorite bartender.
Like last year, I drew the Pearson VUE logo on the community chalkboard. Gotta represent, yo!
Celebrities that attended include Mark Hamill (accompanied by Chewbacca and Darth Vader, with Queen Amidala and Obi Wan Kenobi clones) and John Mayer. I don’t care about either of them, but I do care about…
Stephanie Sullivan, the goddess of CSS! If you’re a web designer, you need to read her book. I have learned so many practical and useful tips. It was very cool to talk to her a bit this year—we kept running into each other! It’s a small MAX, after all.
The MAX bash wasn’t quite as crazy/cool as last year’s (though can anything beat the Cal Academy?). Erin and I checked out all of the entertainment (the Conga Room, the Grammy Museum, and the ESPN Zone) then spent most of the evening on the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE plaza, listening to the live band (fronted by an Adobe employee) and chatting with new friends.
Ok, so maybe I was drinking a few beers, too. (I paid for that the next day.)
Erin and I drooled over this car for a while. We asked if we could get in, but they wouldn’t let us. Dang.
I don’t think I’ll be attending Adobe MAX 2010, but who knows? It’s a whole year away.
I brought home a bunch of fun stuff, including a fully autographed copy of Stephanie Sullivan and Greg Rewis’ book, a coffee-splattered attendee badge, and silly little buttons (“Kiss Me, I’m Suite” and “I Weave Dreams” are the cutest). All in all, a good conference. Using what I learned this year, I’m working in Adobe Illustrator and Flash Catalyst to develop a departmental holiday e-card. Wish me luck!
So here I am, in Honolulu, and I already have way too many photos to share and stories to tell. I never got around to telling you about Adobe MAX or the MAX Bash or all the free crap I took home from L.A. last month. I got busy, but I still intend to tell you about these things.
But for now, I will just tell you that even though the ocean has been beating me up for the last two days, I am having such a supremely awesome vacation. I am happy to be with one of my best friends, Jen; I am happy to be getting multiple days of sunshine—it’s the summer that Minnesota missed this year; I am happy to sleep on this hard bed because I can hear tropical birds and see coconut trees and geckos on the wall and it is very amazing to be here.
Yesterday I saw a sea turtle, which was just about the coolest thing. Have you seen Finding Nemo? The turtles are the best part of that movie.
I miss everyone at home, but I have free wifi when I’m chilling at Jen’s apartment and I’m texting updates to Flickr and Twitter. I feel fairly connected, though the 4 hour time difference is just enough to make things awkward.
The wind is picking up now and the sun is setting a bit early today, but I think I’ve gotta grab my camera and go snap a couple more photos outside. Aloha!
When Erin landed at LAX, she called her cousin, Chris, who lives in Aliso Viejo. We were lucky enough to get him as a tour guide around Laguna Beach for the afternoon!
Erin and I took the 405 to the Pacific Coast Highway near Long Beach, then cruised… I also made Erin take photos out of the window as we drove.
I can’t wait to take a million more photos like this one in Hawaii. (Two weeks!)
Our first stop was Wahoo’s Fish Taco on Fashion Island. We later met Chris, his wife, Stacey, and their adorable chihuahua, Bruiser, there.
In this photo, Erin is actually sitting in the sun because she’s freezing and needs to warm up (she later changed her outfit—you’ll see). California was surprisingly chilly during this visit.
After I took this photo, Chris told me about polarizing lens (it would take the reflection off of the water). I found one when I got home (it’s Karyn’s) so now I need to learn how to use it.
I was all shocked. “Who puts a merry-go-round in the outdoors like this?? California is crazy.” Then Erin reminded me about the merry-go-round at Como Zoo. Oh, right.
This photo was Chris’ idea. I should hang out with other photographers more often—they have good tips!
Everything on Fashion Island was too expensive. I wanted to buy things to take home for family and friends, but figured I would get them better, more expensive gifts from Hawaii instead.
After wandering around Fashion Island, we all hopped into Chris’ car and he drove us to Laguna Beach. This time I took photos out of the car window.
Chris told us this house had been vacant for a couple years. If no one else wants to live there, I guess I will.
Can you believe how much birds can poop? Good thing they have a rock to poop on instead of using the beach.
There was a surfer pretty far out in the water here. I tried to get a photo, but he kept falling into the water. I’ll get some surfer photos in Hawaii, hopefully.
Why don’t I live here? I love the ocean.
I let Chris hold my camera while Erin and I waded around in the Pacific Ocean.
For dinner, Erin and I got ourselves back into downtown Los Angeles and our concierge recommended Bottega Louie a couple blocks away. Now I recommend it, too. The food is so tasty and the restaurant has a fun atmosphere!
Next up: what I learned at Adobe MAX. (It’s about time I review all of the materials I brought home!)
Monday, October 5
Ajax for Designers
ActionScript 3.0 Tastes Good (and Is Good for You, Too!)
Why CEOs, CFOs, and CMOs Want Flash (But Don’t Know It)
Workflows for the Flash Platform
Tuesday, October 6
Building Standards-Based Websites in Dreamweaver
Design to Development: Flash Catalyst to Flash Builder
Advanced Interaction Design and Designing for Data in Flash Catalyst
Wednesday, October 7
How to Visually Design and Prototype Websites
A Deep Dive into Ten Innovative Projects for Flash
CSS Tips and Tricks for Web Design
SEO Secrets, Technology, and Magic Behind Flash
Design Websites that Grab People: Building Online Communities
In less than 5 days I’ll be in Los Angeles for this year’s Adobe MAX.
The conference is Monday the 5th through Wednesday the 7th, but I’m flying in on Saturday in order to get some time as a tourist. I’ve been thinking about things I want to see in the day I’ll have on my own (with a rental car) and wanted to note them here for my reference.
Kristi and I saw 500 Days of Summer on her birthday earlier this month. I instantly fell in love with it, and I had also just discovered that I was going to be attending Adobe MAX. There is a walking tour on Google Maps that I plan to use as a resource. It’s great because I’ll be staying at the Sheraton near the Fine Arts Building—why, yes, I’d love to start my tour there.
I need to scope out some restaurants to visit during Los Angeles’ Restaurant Week. I’m looking primarily in the downtown area for a good dinner on Sunday and Wednesday night, though I might be willing to go somewhere a bit further on Saturday night. Any recommendations?
My travel buddy, Erin, mentioned finding Wahoo’s Fish Taco, so maybe we’ll lunch at one of those on Sunday. This may also be a good opportunity to visit Manhattan Beach.
Please let me know if I’ve missed anything that I must see!
