Well, the FOWD conference was last week and I have to say that it was absolutely the best (work-related) two days I've spent in a long time. Everything about it was just fantastic (apart from leaving at 4:30am on Monday to get to the workshops starting at 9). Workshops with Paul Boag and Armin Vit were great, lunch in between with Paul Boag, Steve Smith and Dan Mall was really nice as well. Tuesday's conference was just packed with great presentations, and the after-party (and the 'in-between-the-conference-and-afterparty' stop at the bar next door) was a blast. I'm planning to write more about the specific parts, but the other things in between were just as priceless.
I stayed with my wife's parents while I was there. They live in Greenwich Village and own the Leica Gallery on Broadway, and are truly two of the most wonderful people I've met. I always enjoy seeing them but this was the first time I was in the city visiting them without Ellen or the kids. They had a cocktail reception Monday evening which was invited to attend with them and then went to dinner afterwards. The reception was just surreal: it was being put on by Leica at The Plaza in order to present Woody Allen with a special numbered camera. They do this periodically, presenting special numbered to various luminaries in the arts and others. So while I didn't get to actually meet Woody Allen, I did see him up close, and met some fascinating people. Amongst them were Dr. Kaufmann, who essentially owns the company now, Mimi Sheridan (food critic for the New York Times) and famed photographer Elliott Erwitt, his wife, and his son. This was capped with a wonderful dinner with Rose and Jay, and made for a really pleasant end to a very long day.
I'll have to follow up later with more on the conference and the momentous events of last Tuesday, November 4th. New York City was truly an amazing place to be on Election Day.