A week from Sunday and we are off to the races! Back in the office yesterday after spending 4 days with an incredible group of people at the HOW Conference in Boston. I never knew that 4,000 designers and advertisers were so friendly!

It was great for me, though, because I was there by myself and it forced me to get out of my comfort zone and walk up and talk to people I didn't know. I made some great connections and met some really funny and warm people.

Highlights from the conference sessions (according to me):

• Keynote from Jeremy Gutsche - Trendhunter.com - funny, informative, inspirational. What a great way to kick off the conference!


• Tips for Productivity - Scott Belsky of Behance - I feel that I am an organized person, but he had ideas that were fantastic! Really inspired me to make some changes in the way I handle things.


• Design Matters - an interview of Michael Bierut of Pentagram - not a huge insight into the inner workings of a creative master, but funny. He had great advice.


• The Design Catch-22 - David Schimmel - Again, learned some things about running my own business that I needed to hear and was also a confirmation that I was doing some things right!

Those were my favorites - how about yours? I will DEFINITELY be attending Austin in 2009!