Hello all!

I'm going to be liveblogging the Friday keynote of Geekend here at http://obviouslybenhughes.com
Follow along below!

The Keynote opens with the creators of Geekend talking about the way the conference came to be, and the people who were supportive of the endeavor.

Sloane Kelly talks to us all about the vision they had for this conference.

The Keynote speaker Aaron Draplin is giving us a presentation (Adobe PDF) about his adventures and the ways that he came from Michigan to become a Graphic Artist. Starts with awesome type-based slides which are incredibly funny.

In an unexpected turn, he mentions that David Carson was supposed to be the speaker, but he isn't here (of course) "So F*** 'em."

Talking about Growing up in Michigan, then in Oregon, and now talking about different projects that he worked on when he "didn't know" he was a graphic Designer, "because no one ever told me"

Moved to California and got his first real job as a designer while living in Laguna Beach, then was "rescued" back to Oregon, "back home again".

Now talking about "What I do"
"A lot of the guys that I sat with on a chairlift are now making things and heading up companies..."

"Working within very tiny budgets, what could we make?" "We were just about showing our friends and the ways these kids wore their hats and jackets." "99 out of 100 won't do what the pros do" (in ads) "but they will be" (lounging around, being normal, relatable to the real life people who are seeing the ads)

When he started Snowboard Magazine with friends he was trying to relate it to the 99 percent of people, the ones who wont be doing the insane tricks and such.

Tips for the ways he designs: don't "muck" with the photo. leave it alone. let the beautiful girl just be naturally beautiful, don't lay type over her face, just show the products and don't make it overly complicated

"So here I was working with my friends, on stuff that wasn't that big, and then going out and selling this stuff to the big box store."

Now were getting to the stuff I do that didn't make one penny, and I just love to work. I work a lot. This is my favorite project of the summer months: Richmond Fontaine type/jacket/disk CD design project, and he did it because he's been in love with their music for a really long time.

One of my favorite things is making logos. Making identities. Some of them are 5-grand, but some of them are nothing. (Writer's note: it's nice to see that he doesn't mind doing projects for people who might not be able to get them done well, and that the big-name brands and the small ones all get the same amount of awesomeness in their designs)

"That was a job. I wasn't really in to it, and the reason it's next to the logo for M&L (couple who got married) is because I just wasn't as "in" to it as much." (talking about his Nike Air Max 360 logo)

Favorite Logo: Cobra Dogs
Funnest Logo: Redwing Farms (Logo done for John Hughes, without him ever knowing that it was anyone other than "Mr. John", until after the job was finished)
Biggest Logo: The Stimulus Package and TIGER logos

********My laptop's battery died then, and the guy working the event wouldn't let me plug in my power cord. Gawsh.********

All in all it was a really informative, well thought out, provocative Keynote that made me think about he design that I do and how I want to change my point of view.

Oh, and here's Aaron Draplin himself lifting me up for a photo op. Yep.

Good night everyone. See you all at the conference tomorrow!

I just checked in to Geekend over at the Hyatt and I am SO SO SO SO SO EXCITED! I don't think many of you will understand me when I say that, so I'm going to break it down for you. My family can tell you any time I'm really excited about something that's going to happen I get really smiley, I jump around a lot, I make really funny high-pitched noises of joy, and I have this wave of happiness wash over me that is incredible.

That's how I felt as I walked up to the Hyatt just now, and it increased as I walked through the door... as I walked into a sofa in the lobby (blinded by enthusiasm, apparently)... as I found the table and check in... It just kept building, and building, and getting more intense. I soon found myself outside standing at the edge of a crosswalk, digging through the bag of goodies (mainly coupons and ads and such), sounding like a complete lunatic to the people next to me as I kept going "ahhhhhhHHHHH I'm SO EXCITED!!" out loud.

Here's another context for you: I felt like this when I went to see RENT in Boston. I felt like this when I got my acceptance letter to SCAD. I felt like this as I walked up to the Apple Store in Boston for the first time so I could buy my laptop. I felt like this when I nearly left my parents a block behind me after running in front of traffic to get to the 5th Avenue Apple Store. Come to think of it, I've felt like this during the absolute happiest times of my life. I can now add to the list that I felt like this right before I attended my first social media/technology/internet/GEEK conference. That's awesome.


Psst... I'm going to be live-tweeting the entire conference (at least the sessions I attend) over at my Twitter... won't you follow?)

Geekend! Savannah's first major Social Media conference for geeks (like me!) is starting tomorrow at the Hyatt on Bay Street. To say that I'm excited would be a massive understatement, but I'll spare you the details (let's just say that I bought 100 business cards... you know... just in case). Insteaed I'm going to take you through my plan of attack; my session obsession; my schedule. Let's dive in!

Friday Nov 6

• 8-9pm, Opening Keynote
  David Carson
  Harborside East/West, Hyatt
  
  
• 9pm, Performance by MK2 and Hula Hoop
  Harborside East/West, Hyatt

Saturday Nov 7

• 9:30-10:15am, "Technology For The Greater Good"
  Murray Wilson, TPS Consulting
  Tony Jordan, A.W.O.L.
  Scarbrough Ballroom, Hyatt
  
  
• 10:30-11:15am, "Building Whuffie: Reputation and the Future of the Social Web"
  Kevin Lawver, Music Intelligence Solutions
  Harborside West, Hyatt
  
  
• 11:30-12:15pm, "Why The @#$! Aren't You Blogging?!"
  Phil Joyner, Paragon
  Doy Cave, Richmond Hill Media
  Scarbrough Ballroom, Hyatt
  
  
• 2-2:45pm, "I'm My Own Boss! Now What?!?"
  Jen Consalvo, Shiny Heart Ventures
  Frank Gruber, AOL & Shiny Heart Ventures
  Harborside West, Hyatt
  
  
• 3-3:45pm, "Digital Trends Among Digital Natives"
  Sloane Kelley, BFG Communications
  Scarbrough Ballroom, Hyatt
  
  
• 4-4:45pm, "How To Be A Great Interrogator Designer: What They Don't Teach You In Design School"
  Andrew Davies, Paragon
  Ariel Janzen, brightwhitespace
  Cari Clark, Clark Creative
  Janna Hicks DeVylder, Savannah College of Art and Design
  Scarbrough Ballroom, Hyatt
  
  
• 5:30-6:30, Keynote Session
  "Major Nelson" AKA Larry Hryb
  Harborside East/West, Hyatt

Sunday Nov 8

• 10-4pm, Geekend Unconference
  Scarbrough Ballroom, Hyatt

This is my first Social Media/Design/Technology/Geek conference and I'm STOKED. Plus a pioneer in my own field of Graphic Design, David Carson, is the keynote speaker on the first day. Imagine how amazing it would be to get to meet him! I hope I hope I hope... :)

Time for another Short & Sweet post!

This is something fun and different - I was interviewed recently by Ghazala Khan of The Pakistani Spectator about my blog. Be sure to head on over and read it, and leave awesome comments there too! :)

This is really the first time that I've been interviewed specifically about my blog - but it was very cool! I love writing for anyone who will read it, and as long as someone wants to read my ramblings that's fine by me.

Here's the article:
http://bit.ly/3dztH3

And also be sure to let ME know what you think of the interview in the comments section here on MY blog, below!

Have a great Wednesday everybody!

I still don't know if I have been accepted in to the YouTube Partners program, but I recently received an email stating that YouTube would like to place ads next to one of my popular videos and share ad revenue with me. Fine. That's awesome. So... what do I need to have to get money from the ad? I need an adsense account. OK, cool, I can get one of those. Let's go sign up.

I signed up for the Adsense account (using my primary email address, and also using my http://obviouslybenhughes.com as the website I would be placing ads on) and was denied. Alright, I guess I'll apply again and use my YouTube address as my website. That must be why my application was denied. Let's try again.

Oh, what's this? I can't apply a second time using the email address I always use? Ugh. Fiiine, I'll use my school email address. But what if that one gets denied? I have my Movlogger email, and my original Gmail address, but those are both most likely linked to my old YouTube accounts (which I would prefer to not drudge up in the middle of my Partnership application process, considering the strikes against those accounts...)

I suppose I could use my Yahoo address if I need to apply yet again, but all of this tediousness could probably be easily avoided if YouTube made one improvement: allow content creators of the site to have AdSense account automatically which is linked to their YouTube account. Once they are offered partial or full revenue sharing, these accounts would be automatically created and given to them, and they could then choose whether or not they add their own personal website to the account for in-site ad placement as well.

Doesn't that sound like a much better idea?