I’m now home and rested from my adventure in Los Angeles and the happenings around the Adobe Max 2011 conference. I can’t help but look back in amazement at the entire event. The ‘take homes’ from this event were not only vender swag and product knowledge, but a truly inspiring feeling of innovation, creation, and camaraderie. The people I met were, themselves, a testament to a future that isn’t entirely clear, but open and limitless. I discovered that I am part of a new wave of designers /developers that are approaching the technical world with artistic and innovative ideas, unlimited by the constraints of established hardware, software, and dated business ideals.

The keynote set the tone for the three- day event. The largest screen I ever saw spanned the entire length of the Nokia Theater. Not only was the intro visually awesome… it was awe-inspiring, show-casing tools that will be hitting the market shortly. The Adobe Creative Cloud will have amazing things to offer – the most outstanding of those being the Adobe tablet products. Yes -that’s right. Within a few short weeks the world will be able to edit and manipulate photos on a tablet with ease, plus create HTML and CSS prototypes simply. Seeing this product’s introduction set the stage for what would clearly be something special.

Check out the video to see part of the intro. from my seat.

Here’s a demo of Adobe Ideas App. ( this isn’t my video, but captured the demo well).

Here’s another demo of the Adobe product Proto. This one is my favorite and again this isn’t my video.

After the keynote, I ventured from session to session. I found myself feeling something that was so unlike the standard conference ‘high.’ This was different; each session was a journey into the expanse of today’s web design and development. I attended sessions focusing on a fairly vast array of subjects ranging from optimizing images in Photoshop to using Business Catalyst to develop sites and meet business needs. Each session was well worth it and I felt I had something to take with me. Additional sessions I attended ranged from HTML5 Semantics, CSS3 tips, Digital Publishing with InDeisgn, and I learned many things spanning from general tricks to optimizing images for the web.

The sessions seamlessly stretched across the three days. Due to the variety of sessions, coupled with chances to head into the main pavilion for snacks or the occasional oat soda, I found myself without much chance to rest. I found my fun and adventurous spirit to be necessary to surviving this beautiful, nerd wonderland.

Now for those you who have the need for more than just overwhelming technology feats and demos -Adobe Max has more. Shortly after 5:30 PM Moday night, Adobe provided appetizers and spirits of all sorts. This event was held in the main pavilion and provided the perfect melting of vender demos and conversation among many like-minded designers and developers. Let me say that, above all, the people were integral in setting this conference above the rest. Not only was I surrounded by some of the most innovative tools on the market, but the amazing minds that use these tools to create the most interactive and current work in the world. One of the main tools I used for seeking out these great minds was Twitter. It allowed me to scope-out and find folks without having to suffer through meaningless chat with persons of the dull type.

Leaping from my bed the second day, I couldn’t wait to get back to the action. We, again, were herded into the Nokia Theater which, by the way, is the location of the Grammies, and American Music Awards. Again there were more amazing demos from Adobe. You can view them at: http://tv.adobe.com/show/max-2011-keynotes/.
As Tuesday night rolled around I began to feel the strain and overload set in; that’s exactly when they really amped things up. The Adobe Sneeks, the most exciting and entertaining of all the events, took place. Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight from ‘The Office’) hosted the event. At this point I thought there couldn’t possibly be more… but I soon found out the keynote was just the tip of the iceberg. Demos of development proceeded with dizzying and enchanting displays. The most intriguing to me where the demos of multi-plan graphics, layers interweaving, and creating shapes that not only appear to be 3D but actually act as such.

We then moved on to what I had been told was a party that could rival Ozzfest and make Burning Man look like a hobo colony (which it might! I haven’t tested that yet). The Max Bash featured delicious food, uncompromised drink, and a dessert display that, quite frankly, made Willy Wonka look like a chump. To set the scene further: imagine living-room-type lounge areas inside and food trucks on stand-by outside (just in case you hadn’t stuffed yourself enough with the food inside). Then… they brought on the entertainment. Weezer! Now, I’m a true metal fan but this band has been on the playlist of every person I’ve ever met and they put on a smashing performance.

Here’s a low budget clip I took during the concert.

As the last day emerged out of an amazing and long night, I pushed on through the last sessions. Again they brought ideas and excitement to the work to which I would soon be returning. That day came to a close with the news that Steve Jobs had passed away. I found myself having dinner at the LA center city Hooters and pondering what this all meant. The cheery atmosphere had little effect on the trance of deep introspection I was under. The world felt different… not in a bad way, but in a new way. I had discovered new technologies, skills, and insight into the future of this industry. But what was the bigger take away?

After pondering this for several days I’ve boiled it down to one thing…people. Yes – humans not software and not hardware, but people. In each trip or adventure, through all the extraordinary discoveries, are the characters and personalities of individuals who cross my path. That’s the take away and the source of my fire and drive that make me want to bring these technologies to life.