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Austin: Day One
Published on 09/03/07
by John Phillips
So even though we arrived yesterday, it wasn’t until late in the evening. So this was the first full day that we have been able to take Austin by storm. And we, and I mean me and Andrew/business partner. So during the day, we just got registered for the conference and whatnot. Took a stroll around downtown Austin, which is quite interesting.
And I’m not talking about scenic interesting, I’m talking about “I can’t believe how many bars there are” interesting. Seriously, the main street is 6th street, and it is literally bar next to bar. So in the day time, it looks pretty fun, but at night, it’s even better. Tonight we definitely went out for cocktails, and there were tons of people in the street. They actually shut down 6th street so no traffic drives through, so they could let people walk in the street. That’s how crowded it was.
The first place we were at, we met a bunch of “celebrity designers”, if you will. Everyone has people they look up to, whether it be people that lead the way to where they are trying to go, family members, or big name celebrities. Well for me, the people I look up to, are other designers are the people I look up to. And to be able to talk to them, exchange business cards, and shoot the shit, is just priceless.
We also got to go to dinner with some people who have made their mark in the industry. One guy was a lead designer for a big web company, and the other was an author of a book that was on a flyer of every single bag that conference registrants received. How did we manage this? No idea, but we ended up at dinner with them, and they were hella cool when they could have been cocky and stuck up. Good times.
So tomorrow…………..or, later today, the real panels start so we have a full day planned out, and a even more parties to hit up in th evening that are open bar. Now, I’m not a huge drinker, but being on a mini vacation parallel with open bar, that will get abused. So as I’ve promised, I will still be writing every day that I’m here, so I will check back tomorrow.
Peace