Tenth Musee

Good morning, class!  How y’all doing?  Kathy‘s in the shower, so I thought I’d take a sec to blog.  I finally feel a bit rested, despite the fact that our alarm clock went off at 6:30am this morning for no apparent reason.

Saturday night’s Ellis Lab party was really fun!  As was Solspace‘s afterparty.  It was really nice to hang out with the EE guys.  And the lovely woman who poured the wine at Moonshine was generous, so a good time was definitely had by all.  If I recall correctly, I think I not only uttered “boobs” about 40 times, but the evening wasn’t complete without at least one mention of both hookers and vaginas.  It was very formal, can you tell?

Yesterday was such a good day! We were no longer nervous about our presentation, so we were able to relax and have a good time.  We met up with Susie Gardner, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Peter Flaschner, Lucia Mancuso and Paul Chaney at the Moonshine Grille for our informal “designer brunch”.  Basically, it was an excuse to drink mimosas and pick each other’s brains.  Kathy and I were discussing last night how glad we are that we got to get to know everyone more. I’d met most of them in 2006, but this time, I feel like we all got to bond a little more. They’re all really top folks. 

After brunch, we hit the Exhibition Hall and scored a bunch of free stuff that may or may not make the cut when I repack, but I am intrigued by the freebie version of Microsoft Expressions that we picked up.  I’m an Adobe girl, but I was impressed by some of the features they showed in a Flash-like program they’ve created called Silverlight.  We also chatted with the people at Friends of ED, Izea and Zappos (who was wisely giving out free shot glasses — they know what’s up).

We got separated from the herd during that, but met up with Lisa so we could go do our respective interviews with BlogTalk Radio.  Let me just put this out there right now:  John Haven is a funny, funny man.  He was our host for the interview and also the VP of Business Development.  That was the most relaxed and fun interview we’ve done to date.  And John couldn’t have been more supportive in our endorsement. I think we all just really were having fun… in fact, we were all cutting up so much, we didn’t realize we’d gone live. haha!  Oopsie!  If you didn’t hear it streaming live, there will be a copy on the BlogTalk Radio website later on today, I believe. I’ll also post it here when I get home.  The WiFi cut out a few times while we were “on-air”, so there are some kooky spots, but that’s to be expected when a few thousand geeks are Twittering simultaneously in the immediate vicinity.  I’m looking forward to hearing our interview, as well as Lisa’s, who was interviewed right after us. She did great!

Last night, we hit up the Web Awards After-Party with Geeky. She is just so cute and funny. I’m glad we had a chance to meet up with her.  Again, I’d met her in 2006, but she and Kathy hadn’t met yet and I wanted to see her again, too.  We’re in the same hotel, so we walked over to this place called Emo’s, which is one of those clubs where it smells kind of like stale beer, insecurity and B.O.  Pretty seedy, but probably a decent place to hear bands. We had a couple free drinks, saved Kathy from some dude who wasn’t getting the hint and then walked back to the hotel.  Then Kathy and I ordered some room service and watched Sex and the City in bed… a bit more our speed. 

OK. I need to get my ish together.  We need breakfast and a proper cup of coffee.  Hope everyone has a great Monday!

I’m taking 5 minutes of quiet this morning to blog. Though, I can’t think about anything else other than I need to finish sending this mock-up to development before I get a manicure. And whether or not I’m going to remember to pack my toothbrush and if my laptop battery will die before I even get on the plane. But other than that…

My flight to Austin for SXSW leaves at 6:40am tomorrow. If I can get everything done, which shouldn’t be a problem, I will probably try to go to bed early, but what usually happens is insomnia. I worry that I’ll oversleep, miss my flight, etc. so I often have a hard time sleeping before an early flight. I can always sleep on the plane.

There are some new developments for us regarding our schedules at Southby this weekend. I’m a little disappointed we’re going to miss the Filching Design panel because I really was interested in what they were going to say about that. We all know how I feel about it.    We’re also going to miss a Core Conversation I was interested in checking out: Growing Pains: Your Web Company’s Getting BIG.  Both of them conflict with our reading and/or prep for our reading on Saturday, but hopefully there will be notes and/or a podcast of them.

So here’s a quick run-down of what we know for sure we’ll be doing. If you are going to be at one of these things, please say hi. Or if you see us walking around, just holler “Hey, you!” Or you could be more discreet. It’s up to you.

Saturday

• 10:00am – Expression Engine 2.0 Sneak Peek
• 11:30am – Book Reading: The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie
• 12:00pm – Signing of our book at the SouthBy Bookstore
  
  (somewhere in here there’s an interview with DocuBloggers)
• 3:30pm – Ellis Lab Open Panel
• 6:00pm – Ellis Lab Party at Moonshine Grille

There are some panels and core conversations in there we might attend, but the majority of the panels we wanted to go to either conflict with our reading or with each other.

Sunday

• 10:00am – Back to Moonshine for informal Designer Breakfast (which I just realized means we’ll miss the panel, Everyone is a Design Critic…)
• 2:00pm – Interview with BlogTalk Radio in the BlogHaus
• 4:30pm – SXSW Clicks: Web Designers (basically a casual meet n’ greet with free refreshments to meet the web designers at SXSW. Sponsored by Adobe.)

Again, there are some panels in there we might attend, but I have to be honest and say that the panel schedule as a whole doesn’t really speak to me this year.  That’s all we’ve got set in stone, everything else is kind of “play it by ear”.

If you’re interested in calling in to the BlogTalk Radio show to ask questions, you can do so by emailing me for the number. You can also call in to listen to the show on your phone (for whatever reason) and it will also be streaming live on both Wiley.com and BlogTalk Radio.

OK… must wrap some client stuff and then I’m off to beautify and find a new pair of jeans that is kind to my ass.

Last night I worked myself into a frenzy over SXSWi.  You ever have those moments when you’re just like “ohmygodhowamigoingtogetitalldoneican’togonatriprightnowvodkaPUBLICSPEAKINGholycrap!”?  You know that feeling?  Yeah… pretty much like that. 

I realized that there was just no way in hell we were going to get all our clients to a comfortable “save point”, for lack of a better term and finish up our redesign before we leave (at 6am!) on Friday morning. Oh, and somewhere in there, I need a mani/pedi, a haircut and a new pair of stylish flip-flops (because my dogs remember the blisters of ‘06 and it wasn’t pretty).  Oh yeah, and I’ll still need to throw a bunch of stuff in a suitcase that, if history repeats itself, will either be crushed beyond recognition or lost. If I show up with clothes that match, I’ll consider myself lucky. 

To say I was bit wound up last night is putting it lightly. I realized that if I didn’t cut something off the list, my head was going to pop right off my neck and I don’t think Continental counts one’s head as an approved carry-on item.  Our clients are the first priority, so that’s not up for discussion. And if you saw my hair right now, you’d agree that the haircut isn’t negotiable either.

We also realized that everyone and their third cousin, Bubba, was probably launching their own re-design, re-opening, new product, (insert geek porn of choice here) in time for the conference, and we don’t want to be just one of many awesome redesigns, thank you very much.  So, we decided to postpone relaunching our new site for the millionth time, but this time it’s by choice as well as necessity. We’d rather wait until all the SXSW ballyhoo has died down. We still have a super-cute, solid site design that we love and rather than tear our hair out rushing to release our new (also fabulous) look, we’d rather go to SXSW with a more Zen approach.

Whew.

Speaking of tips, what is your tipping philosophy?  Like, for service stuff?  At a restaurant, I tip 15% for breakfast/lunch and 20% or more for dinner, depending on how great the service is. I usually don’t go below the minimum for said time of day unless the service was particularly bad. I realize that servers work for tips. I have a friend that says 15% is the default tip across the board, even for dinner.  Ultimately, it’s a personal choice, but which is socially accurate?

When it comes to the salon, I’m usually 20%, which I believe is the standard tip, no?  I’ve always heard that a stylist/colorist gets 20% and if you have separate shampoo person, they get like $5 or whatever.  Which then you’re then basically paying for your shampoo which should be included for the cost of your first born, but that’s another discussion.  I do 20% for my manicurist and waxer, too. I figure if you are going to scrub people’s feet and wax parts one can’t even see without a mirror, you deserve 20%.  Kudos.

Where was I going with this…?

Hey, guess what?

While our 2008 panel wasn’t selected, Hugh Forrest was a peach and got us a spot for a reading/signing of The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie on Saturday, March 11 on the Day Stage!  Yay, Hugh!

A select group of authors will be presenting their books each day.  While we normally would have been scheduled on Tuesday, with Susie and Lisa, who are both presenting their blogging books, Kathy and I leave on Monday afternoon, so Hugh was kind enough to work us in on Saturday.  We’ll be presenting among books about Second Life and other social mediums.  It’s not exaaaaactly our target audience, so we sure hope that they like pink.

So, if you’re going to SXSW and you want to see us talk about blogs and maybe how to mix a martini… stop by the Day Stage or the SouthbyBookstore for a signing on Saturday, March 11.  I have to admit, this will be our first public signing and I’ve always pictured them like on TV: hordes of people waving books or no one but tumbleweeds.  So, either get their early and start waving or come by and keep us company… depending on how it turns out.  B.Y.O. Tumbleweed.

If you’re going to SXSW, leave a comment so we can keep our eyes out for you!

Well, we booked our flights to SXSW Interactive this morning.  Here we come, Texas!  I’m so excited!  Yippee!  Wait… that should be “Yee haw!”.

This is the first time that Kathy and I have been able to attend one of these conferences together, so we’re looking forward to hanging out together (always a good time), meeting everyone and getting our cocktail on.  And, of course… learning stuff. There are panels, after all. 

At first I was bummed that our panel wasn’t chosen this year, but they get so many requests and it’s not like we’ve not done it before.  So, whatever!  Maybe next year.  In the meantime, we’ve got passes, we’ve got plane tickets and we’ll be there with bells on.  Or books on, as the case may be.  We are in the process of working out a signing at the SXSW Bookstore, so if you’ll be there, say hi!

Or if you see a blonde and a brunette with pink laptop bags strutting around with that “I just had a Bloody Mary” face, that would be us.

In other news, ChickChat Radio contacted us for an interview on January 9th at 7:30pm EST and we’re really looking forward to it. Now that we’ve been “radio de-flowered”, we’re looking forward to more interviews coming our way.  Plus, the chicks at ChickChat, Lara and Heidi, have been our clients for quite a while and they’re really nice, so it will be great to chat with them in a different capacity.  ChickChat Radio is available via podcast or on XM Satellite Radio Channel 155.

And with that, I’m off to answer emails. *scurries*

We’re planning on attending SXSW Interactive in 2008 together which will be the first time Kathy and I have attended something at the same time and the first time I’ve seen her in over a year. I think it’ll be only the 4th time we’ve ever been in the same vicinity, actually.  Not only are we hoping to participate on a panel but we’re planning to hopefully have a Blogging with Moxie book signing at the SXSW Bookstore as well which will be both fun and probably the basis of some good comedy.  Susannah Gardner of Hop Studios submitted our proposed panel this year for Blogging Tool Death Match where a group of us will “throw down” and battle it out over the best and the worst of blogging platforms.

Blogging Tool Death Match!

Every blog project starts with the same question: Which blog platform is the right one to use? Answering this question correctly can make or break the final product. Get the nitty-gritty on each platform from experts who will defend their software choice against all challengers. Will it come to blows?

Obviously, we’ll be defending Expression Engine and I will totally take it outside if I have to.  If the panel is chosen, one of us will go up against our fine colleagues including the lovely Lisa Sabin Wilson (WordPress – she did write the book afterall), Peter Flaschner (covering MT and we all know how I feel about that), and Paul Chaney for TypePad.  Susie Gardner will be moderating the panel in case it comes to name calling and hair pulling. 

It hasn’t been chosen yet, voting ends TODAY, September 21st at 11:59 pm so we need your help to vote us into the mix this year! Go! Now! Please??  This is going to be a great panel, even if it doesn’t get violent… but with this bunch, who knows?  Please go vote if you haven’t already.  You’ll need to quickly register and place your vote (5 stars!!!) for the Blogging Tool Death Match panel.  Search for “death match” if you lose your way.  While you’re there vote for any other panels you think would make a great addition to the conference. Even if you’re not attending, you can still sign-up and vote for us.  Do a girl a favor, won’t you? 

Also, while I’m begging shamelessly, if you’ve not already sponsored me for AIDS Walk 2007, I would appreciate any penny you can give to help this cause.  I’m up to $330 $380 $405 (through some very kind donations — thank you!) and have been holding there for about a week. I’ve only got until next Sunday to meet (or hopefully exceed) my goal of $500.  Please help support AIDS and HIV support and services.  Thank you!

Well, it’s almost time to go home.  Despite our Hilton shenanigans (which I will expound on more later on), we had a really great time at SXSW and I hope that they ask us to come back again. I’d love to participate in another panel (and next time, I want my partner in crime to come, too!) I’ve run into people I’m familiar with, but don’t know and spotted people I was too chicken to talk to, for whatever reason, including Jennifer Robbins.  I must have seen her 10 times and every time thought, “I should introduce myself.” and then I just stand there like a tool until she passes by.  I’m smooth like that.

I think I saw j. brotherlove last night at the hotel and I almost ran up and said hi again, but I wasn’t positive it was him because I was kind of far away and again, that “tool factor” came into play. So, I got coffee instead.  Everyone should have a backup plan.

I just got out of the CSS Problem Solving panel, which if I’m being perfectly honest, didn’t really share anything like, new or advanced.  I think I underestimate myself sometimes.  I assume I don’t know this or that or whatever and it turns out, hey!  I know stuff!  Who knew?  The best parts of that panel were the self-depricating, charming goofiness of David Shea, who looks nothing like I thought he would (in a good way!) For some reason, I pictured a beard.  I have no idea why.  Anyway, the best parts were some little tricks that he and Ethan Marcotte (also charming) shared, the latter of who had the more thorough and dynamic presentation.

I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time writing because there is a guy at the table next to me who just keeps staring. Stop it, dude!  I don’t think he’s really looking at me, but more like in my direction. He’s on the phone, but every time I look up, he meets my eye and it’s freakin’ me out. Stop it. No, really. Stop.

Anyway, the other great thing about the panel was meeting geeky!  I snuck up on her, actually. I walked into the room and sat a row behind her. I didn’t realize it was her until I stole a glance at her laptop and saw she had her blog up.  I said, “That wouldn’t happen to be your blog, would it?” And that was that!  We sat through the panel together and chatted a bit.  What a cutie, too!  And sweet. I dig her.  There’s a photo, but I want to get her permission before I post it.

So, here I sit, waiting for mike to pry himself from March Madness and come join me for lunch.  We got some ass scrambled eggs this morning from room service; they were runny and not just a little.  Like, they only cooked them for 15 seconds in the microwave and poured them on a plate. Ptooie.  So, we’re gonna hit the IHOP again, m’thinks.  All hail IHOP!

Then its just killing time, really, until we have to catch our flight around 7pm.  We’ll probably just hang, watch people and take advantage of the free Wi-Fi.  I’ll be spending the next couple days in “hiding”, catching up on client work and preparing for the week ahead.  I have to wade through a bevy of emails, so if you’re waiting on one from me, I’ll be with you as soon as I can.

If any of my fellow panelists are reading this, you should know that I was nervous about meeting all of you (because I’m a chick like that) and you all made it so easy.  I was honored to be included with you and I admire all of your work. Thanks for such a great experience. I look forward to doing it again!

I haven’t done it yet, though. But let me tell you somethin’ kids, these panels are HUGE!  I went to “How to Be a Web Design Superhero” this morning and it was filled to the rim (not with Brim, though. That was me. Caffeinated and slightly nervous are a classic combo).  It was a great panel, though with Andy Budd and Andy Clarke. It was entertaining and it made me feel better, really, about my process as a designer and how we do things.  We utilize most, if not all the “superpowers” they outlined in the panel, which was reassuring.  But equally and possibly more reassuring was hearing that these two designers also are growing and adapting and learning to better handle clients or critique or whatever… just like we do.  I mean, I assumed that. We don’t live in a vacuum, but it was nice to hear it, straight up like that.  I think that everyone is really their own worst critic, no matter how confident you are in your skills.  It is also nice to hear that many of the designers I admire may be like me, not formerly trained.  Sure, I had a year of design school way back in the Stone Age, but I quit, knowing I could do it on my own.  Comforting, somehow.  It lets me feel like maybe, someone I admire someday may admire my work in return, however remote the possibility.

So, I’m having a cup o’ joe and taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi they’re offering over here at the convention center.  Mike‘s back at the hotel. He’s still feeling under the weather and I’m working on catching it. I think I’m just staving it off until I get home.  Fortunately, working from the couch in my bathrobe is something I do best. 

I still haven’t run into anyone I know. At all. ANYwhere. Really makes me feel out of touch. I wish I had more time in my everyday life to connect with colleagues. I feel like sometimes we’re so busy that we don’t get a chance to come up for air and really network.  Obviously, being busy is a plus, but balance is really the key, I think.  We’re workin’ on it.

Our panel is at 3:30 CST.  I haven’t seen Susie, Peter, Paul or Lisa yet.  I suppose I may have and didn’t know it, but I’m fairly conspicuous with my pink bag and pink shoes and look of complete “holy crap!” so I’m sure they’ll find me. We have to meet in the “green room” at 2:30, which I’m looking forward to, mostly so we can chat about what we’re going to say. “How to Make Money with your Blog Design Skills”… what do I say? What do I say?  Add one part coffee, two parts photoshop. Shake and serve with a CSS garnish?

I’m off to Austin, Texas this weekend for SXSW Interactive. If you’re going to be there, say hi!  I’ll be the one with the sexy pink laptop bag and the coffee stain on her shirt.  I love Austin, it’s such a cool city. 

I discovered that my nemisis, Haagen-Dazs, has come out with seven new flavors in their “Light” line.  First, let me preface this by saying that their Light Cherry Fudge Truffle is just… orgasmic. It’s glorious. It’s the best thing on a spoon, I swear.  But, that didn’t stop me from trying the new Blueberry Cheesecake or the Vanilla Caramel Brownie (the latter is delicious, the former? It’s ok, if you’re in the mood for fruit cheesecake. I wasn’t.) I just discovered they have a Caramel Cone and a Cookie Dough, too, so I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled.  Or, I could just tape a pint to each ass-cheek and go about my day.

How’s that for random?