This is going to have to be a quick post since I go in to the first session of day two in about 15 mins. I apologize if it there are any misspelling or jibberish. Just wanted to get something up quickly to let everyone know how things are going.

Trip out was a little bumpy going to Philly and then flying out of Philly. Weather was totally to blame but once out of PA things cleared up nicely. Six hours from Philly to SF was a bit long and I was a little stir crazy by about hour 4 and 1/2. Was glad to be off the plane after that. Finding the hotel was easy with the metro going right from the airport out to the hotel. Room is nice and hotel is very well kept. It’s just one stop on the metro to the conference and it works out perfectly.

I spend Saturday looking around a bit and finding where the conference building were. Also found Van Ness street and started taking some pictures. Wandered around to some other parts and got a sense of where things were. That evening I crashed early (for here) because I was still on East Coast time. Glad I did because Sunday turned out to be a pretty intense day of sight seeing.

Sunday I got up and shot off to the conference to check in. Then went to the MAX store and spent too much on shirts and other souviners. How could I not?! Ha! The one important thing I picked up was my first book on InDesign CS4. I am looking forward to working through that. After dropping off my struff  I set out on my sight seeing trip. I decided to follow the AAA tour book walk tour that was in the book. It turned out to be exactly what I wanted to do. I managed to see a great ceremony with dragons and fireworks in Chinatown. I climbed to the Ciot Tower and got to see a beautiful view of the bay, including my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge which was on my “must see” list. I wandered through the Italian district and stopped at a bar that was said to be an area of the last part of the Beat movement. Can’t remember the name but will edit when I find my tour paperwork again. Then made my way out to Fisherman’s Wharf to get a better view of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. While out on the pier taking pictures I was able to see the start of the sunset for the evening. It was beautiful with the Golden Gate Bridge right there with it. What a way to end the walking tour!

After many, many, many pictures of the bridge (which I will post after I get home) I made my long trip back on Van Ness Avenue. Might as well walk the length of the famous street name after me…or wait…guess it was here first. After a long walk back I decided it was time to get a good dinner.

A friends girlfriend had given me a list of places she knew about and one of them was Bix. It was a beautiful place but I’ll have to go into that later. Session is about to start….

Bookmarking:

I have all my bags packed and sitting by the door as I write this. I am probably to excited to sleep tonight but do want to get at least a little sleep. My flight goes out of Albany at 7am and after a connection I will end up in San Francisco around 1pm. Fortunately I was able to book a flight and hotel a few days before the conference so I would have a little time to explore the city and be a tourist.

I am very happy to have this opportunity and have to extend my extreme gratitude to Designer Today who is sending me out. Designer Today is an amazing site I have had the privilege to write for over the last few years. I have written tutorials and product reviews for them. I first learned about Designer Today when I joined the Graphic Design Forum back when Allen (web owner of DT) first ran the forum. Eventually he made a business move and sold the forum to the Graphics.com Network. The relationship I formed with Allen and Bob (editor of DT) was priceless and I have been very pleased to have been and continue to be part of the Designer Today group. So a special thanks go out to them for this AMAZING opportunity! Thank you!!

I also have to send a special thanks to the owner of the company I work full time. The support I have received from them on this trip is wonderful and I very happy to announce that I have recently been promoted to Vice President of the company. I look forward to going to Adobe MAX, not only as a representative for Designer Today but also as a representative for the company I work for on a daily basis. I must express my thanks to Rob for the help in making this opportunity a true reality!

I have looked forward to this trip for awhile now and it is now literally on my doorstep. I plan to share my experiences as much as I can on my blog. You can also follow me on Twitter as Prepressology and notes from the experience will also be available on Designer Today. I hope you will check back over the next week to see how things are going. I am sure I will have MANY wonderful stories to share!

Also if you are at Adobe MAX or in the SF area and want to arrange a meet up, let me know in the comments and I’ll see what I can do!

Bookmarking: