FITC Toronto 2010 wrap-up

FITC Toronto (April 25 – 28, 2010) went by like a giant colorful blur this year with lots of wonderful moments, memories and conversation. I was in Toronto for only a few days, but so much happened it still has my head spinning as I try to recall it all. So, lets get to it.

One of the highlights was being slated as a speaker this year, where I presented my ‘Back to the Future‘ talk. I was scheduled in the opening time slot on the first day, a daunting position as I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s day first thing in the morning. I was ushered into the room (the largest of the morning sessions) expecting a smaller turnout because it was the first conference talk I have ever done. As the minutes ticked closer to go-time the seats became more and more populated until the room was essentially full. Wow, didn’t expect that.

So I went about presenting my material which included a brief biography, inspirational materials, a small process demonstration, a showcase of my work, a client case study, an outline of the online tools I use for promotion, some advice for aspiring designers and a Q&A period. I tried to keep the talk as interesting, entertaining and informative as I possibly could for fear of falling flat on my face. It all went off great, got laughs at my dumb jokes and claps when I showed the movie posters, certainly some like-minded film nerds were in attendance.

Speaking was a tonne of fun, and certainly something I would like to do more of in the future. Huge thanks to FITC organizer Shawn Pucknell for giving me a crack at the stage. You rule, man.

The second day started off with checking out ‘Gaia Framework for Adobe Flash: Revolutionize your Workflow’ by my pal Steven Sacks. Great presenter, great technology and all around super dude. I then wandered over to check out ‘Creativity and Chaos’ by Jason Theodor which quite effectively blew my head off. I’ll be posting the video once it’s available, you will want to see this guy in action.

That afternoon was the presentation I was most looking forward to, ‘Blending Analog and Digital’ with Scott Hansen, the mighty ISO50. He put on a wonderful talk full of inspirational materials, personal work-flow examples, shots and stories about his home studio and some excellent advice. I even got to meet and hang out with him during the conference, wicked cool guy.

A few other amazing talks included ‘The Grammar of Interaction Design’ by the hilarious Brendan Dawes, ‘Eyes can Hear: 5 Ways’ by the always energetic Jared Ficklin, and ‘It Has to be This’ by John Underkoffler where he showcased G-Speak, a new method of using computers as freeform tools. All amazing talks, and I will post links to the videos once they are live.

FITC Toronto was, once again, a wonderful time and surpassed all of my expectations. I was inspired, informed, surprised and challenged all at the same time. I also met a flood of excellent and inspired people during the talks and at the after parties, all of which sparked interesting conversation with wonderful views and insights. Each night I made my way back to the hotel room with tired eyes and pockets stuffed with colorful business cards. You all know who you are, and you’re damn awesome.

Big thanks to my pal Chris Toms for running around the conference with me for the second year in a row, and providing me with all the photographs you see in this post. You rule, buddy.

My next post about the trip to Toronto will be about my art show at Resistor Gallery. Stay tuned!