Thinkcage

“To those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”

— Barack Obama
Nov. 4, 2008

This morning I will be once again making the trip south to Austin, TX for the 2008 South by Southwest Interactive conference. 

SXSW is actually three conferences in one, covering Interactive, Music, and Film during SXSW Week, March 7 – 16, 2008. SXSW Interactive is really the premier event for people working in the web industry. The conference features nearly five full days and offers panels, keynotes, a trade show, and other events featuring the top minds in the field. SXSW covers a wide range of topics from business development on the web to social networking to technology, design, and even tactical topics like HTML and CSS. In years past, SXSW has been a favorite launching point for new “Web 2.0″ applications. Nearly anyone working on the web can benefit from something at this conference, even if it is only for the opportunities to network. And like many conferences, some of the best information is found in the form of meeting and sharing ideas with the smart people you meet throughout the week.

I’m looking forward to panels on design, social networking, CMS systems, and web startups. Speakers include: Jason Fried, Jim Coudal, Jason Santa Maria, Kathy Sierra, Jeffrey Zeldman, and Jimmy Wales with keynotes by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, community artist Frank Warren, and futurist Jane McGonigal.

This year, I’ll be heading down to SXSW with Element Fusion senior designer, Dustin Evans. While in Austin, we’ll be looking to line-up meetings with customers, partners, and new friends. If you’d like to meet us at SXSW, you can find us in the online registrant directory. Or leave your contact information below and we can provide email, phone, twitter, or other ways to reach us while at the conference. Hope to see you there!

Oh and did I metion that Mashable rocks?

Another year goes by and I still haven’t redesigned my personal website. What’s the saying about the cobbler’s shoes? But inactivity here doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. I’m blogging much more regularly (and interestingly at Element Fusion) if you’re interested in that whole design/web thing. In fact, lots of cool things are happening. Here are just a few:

• I was recently interviewed on our company blog about my role as Creative Director. You can read it in two parts: Part 1, Part 2. As an added bonus, our talented photographer and CTO, Ryan Whitaker, made the great portraits you’ll see in the article and in this post.
• I’m fortunate enough to be heading back to Austin, Texas for the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival. It’s a great opportunity to learn and grow in the profession as well and meet and listen to the top minds in the field. Always a creatively invigorating trip.
• Family can catch pictures of the kids on our Flickr page.
• Holly finally scored her dream car – a 2006 Mazda 5. I’m the anti-minivan but have to admit this is a pretty cool car – especially since it’s not a van. But despite being small, relatively efficient, and fun to drive, it also seats six, or seat four with tons of cargo space. Can’t wait to get this out on a vacation. It’s a great car/van/suv/wagon thing.
• I had the flu and Brett Favre retired on the same day. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

So that’s what’s new with me. How about you?

I’ve got a pretty Utopian view when it comes to the workplace so I’m always interested in what companies are doing to make the office environment more productive, conducive to creativity, more fun, and overall help preserve the separation between what we do to make a living and what we do with our families.

Netflix, the online DVD rental service has a policy of allowing employees to take as much vacation as they’d like. I’m fascinated by the idea that the conventions of the modern workplace need to be rethought and in fact, represent an antiquated system that makes workers less productive. Netflix seems to agree:

“The worst thing is for a manager to come in and tell me: `Let’s give Susie a huge raise because she’s always in the office.’ What do I care? I want managers to come to me and say: `Let’s give a really big raise to Sally because she’s getting a lot done’ – not because she’s chained to her desk.”

I could not agree more.

I woke up this morning to the horrible news that TV’s Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, had died due to a fatal stingray wound. It’s hard to put into words how much I admired and enjoyed Steve – especially as someone who from a young age always had a soft spot for reptiles and amphibians. He will be truly missed and my best to his beloved family.

From a Reuters story:

Young rioters are using blog messages to incite violence and cellphones to organize attacks in guerrilla-like tactics they have copied from anti-globalisation protesters, security experts say.

Something about affluent youth using the internet, cellphones, and blogs to organize rioting seems really contradictory to me.

Read the full article ».