Days four, five, six: creating chaos

Someone as prestigious as John Mayer should not be covering "free fallin'"

My days at Create Chaos were so jam packed that i figured i'd jam pack one blog to sum it all up. Think of create chaos as Photoshop World Jr. The conference had educational classes, opportunities for networking, and valuable lessons. However, the thing just wasn't laid out, carried out, or as precise as PSW. There were plenty of technical gaffes, instructors clearly weren't expected to start on time or focus, and the layout was terrible. A filmmakers conference divided the classrooms, which was fun the first day being able to see all of the movie swag, but beyond that it was merely poor planning.

To the conference's credit, Brahn Communications brought in SOME amazing talent for instructors. Notable names include Colin Smith, creator of Photoshop Cafe, Joe Duffy of Duffy Design, and Bill Beachy of Go Media.

Learning a summarized version of Duffy's design process was inspiring and awe inspiring simutaneously. Breaking the design process into three distinct parts, its hard to believe such simplicity yields the phenominal work that pours out of Duffy Design.

Colin Smith took his role as an instructor seriously as he presented tutorials on Photoshop and Flash. Bill Beachy was a terrific example of a rags to riches story that he explained in his hour long session. I really appreciated his class as he is heavily involved in the apparel industry, while beginning in the music industry. Both of which are future endeavors i hope to partake in.

The food was overpriced, the job fair was laughable at best, and the expo hall was minimal, but there were a couple extra shining gems at Create Chaos. There was the create awards gallery in which top submissions were put on display, a magazine that included said winners, and a cocktail party to congratulate the winners. I met one such winner named Gail, who was involved in the CD packaging industry. She was coming from Columbia Records and won not only a create award, but a GRAMMY for her work on an Aimee Mann album. Need i say YAHTZEE! Definitely a great person to met on the first day. I was practically drooling over this middle aged woman for what she had done. I wanted that job. That career. And when i told her she was doing exactly what i wanted to be doing, she replied, "i hope they figure out how to save the industry when you get there." Ouchies.

i also met the executive director of the Motion Graphics Fest that was part of CC named.....Troy? He was really easy going, and as i came to find out, an owner of a media company in Chicago. His portfolio included Lollapalooza and Rock for Barack. Yet another reason why this conference was worth every penny i didnt have to pay to get into.

In summary CC was great. I was spoiled by going to a conference as prestigious as PSW six months prior, anything short of PSW would get lost in the shadow. This was a great way to get away with taking a vacation, learning some new tricks, and networking. Not to mention the mini golf. But that deserves its own post.

end quote.