future of web design conference

I'm on my way to NYC to go the Future of Web Design conference. I'm attending workshops today with Paul Boag and Armin Vit - two people I have huge respect for in the web design world. They should be really great, and the lineup of speakers for the conference tomorrow is amazing.

I've been thinking a lot about web design and information architecture and relationships with wayfinding and cartography (great books and posts lately on these topics), and I can't wait to see what comes up on these kinds of topics during the conference. It's too easy to get comfortable, and we're still in a time where that one great idea could trigger a real shift. Especially when design and technology really click - it's really as much about how those things interact as it could be about any advance in one or the other. I've always found this confluence the most interesting aspect of this industry and marvel at how different our job can be from one day to the next if we're willing to open our eyes to what's happening elsewhere. As easy as it is to stay in one place, with what's happening in social interaction and user generated content, to mobile applications and location awareness actually starting to work well, to the ease with which these things can now interrelate with other more common web technologies like content management systems - it's really an exciting time.

Well - almost in to Grand Central. Time to see what's around the corner...