Fall Travels

Thanks in large part to Rob Across America, this has been the most traveled year of my life, but it’s not over yet. Before I disappear under a pile of blankets for the winter, I have a few more North American destinations lined up for the fall. If you happen to see me in any of these places, I hope you’ll say hello.

Ottawa, September 17th–21st

For the seventh time in ten years, I’ll be visiting Canada’s capital city for the Ottawa International Animation Festival, during which my cohorts and I will be treated to hundreds of mostly independent animated films from across the globe. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, and we’ll believe ourselves to be less socially awkward than most of our fellow festival-goers.

New York, September 27th

New York is accessible enough that I don’t usually put it in the “travel” category, but this is a special occasion. Good friend and recent Philadelphia expatriate Jason Santa Maria has organized a cheesesteak crawl in the hopes of finding a sandwich in New York that measures up to that thing of legend we have here in Philly. I predict anticlimax, but it should be fun all the same. Join us.

Atlanta, October 2nd–5th

For the second year in a row, I’ll be speaking at CoffeeCup’s Webmaster Jam Session, this time about some of the valuable design lessons I’ve discovered in my explorations in chess. As I describe it on the WJS site:

Most people understand the basics of chess, but merely knowing how the pieces move won’t secure a victory against a master. Likewise, the building blocks of a well-designed web site are common knowledge, but few can assemble them into something truly remarkable. Learn how a disciplined perspective from the chess board can strengthen your approach to design, from reiterating fundamentals, to deconstructing problems and solutions in unexpected ways.

If you have a higher tolerance for lolspeak than I do (which would be anything above zero), you can get $50 off Webmaster Jam Session registration using the discount code ICANHAZWJS.

Chicago, October 10th–15th

Another event I’m attending for a second year is An Event Apart Chicago, where I will reprise the aforementioned Design Lessons in Chess talk. But fear not, Chicago, for your version of the presentation won’t be so much a mere retread as an exploration of the same themes through a varicolored lens incorporating such Windy City icons as the Blues Brothers, Ira Glass, and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. I can’t promise you won’t have to rely heavily upon your imagination.

Get $50 off An Event Apart registration by using the super-secret discount code AEAWEYCH.