Mar 07
Departure pending for SXSW
2006 at 03.11 am posted by Veerle Pieters
It is unbelievable how fast the last few days have been passing and I can’t hardly believe that as of tomorrow I’m on a jet plane to Austin, Texas. I had some ideal scenario in my head that I would have enough time to tweak some nuts and bolts on this site but that will have to wait until I get back. Between satisfying my clients and close running projects there aren’t just enough hours in a day. My RSS reader has 415 unread articles showing and it’s driving me insane so I just close it ;) I will get that number down on the plain ;)
Preparations of my trip
Today will be a hectic day of doing some last work, preparing a list of things that I can't forget, getting my travel money, preparing my PowerBook, charging my digital camera, copying my passport, business cards, writing down my plane schedules and last but not least filling up my suitcase with clothes for the lovely weather in Austin and the colder weather of Washington DC. I will use this a reminder for myself too ;)
SXSW
I'm sure this trip will go down in memory lane as one of those trips of a lifetime. You can't believe how much I'm looking forward to meeting some old friends again and catching up on what has been happening since I last saw them. Some of those friends even had time to prepare their schedule, I still have to figure out what sessions I will go to ;) Another reason is my humble contribution of Nick Finck's panel:
- Starting Small - Web Business for the Rest of Us
- Saturday, March 11, 5:00pm
- Ballroom E, Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX
- James Archer, Michael Buffington, Nick Finck, Leonard Lin, and Veerle Pieters
This will be my first talk so I'm guessing that I will be nervous as hell. So far I haven't had the time to worry about it, but I'm sure that will come ;) So If you are interested in setting up your own shop this is the place to be. If you're there too during SXSW come and say hi ;)
Keynote slides
Last weekend I worked on the slides for our presentation in Keynote. This was my first time that I used the application and it's unbelievable how intuitive it is. For example I never had to fall back on the manual to figure things out. It's really a pleasure to work in such application. If you are a little bit curious to how our slides will look like, here is a little preview.
Washington
After SXSW I'm off to visit two clients in Washington DC and do some R'R. One of those clients is the Library of Congress. In all those years I've never met my contact person face to face, now the time has finally come and I'm very much looking forward to that too. If you are from DC and have some tips to what I definitely must see while I'm there, please share some tips in the comments. Thanks in advance ;) My next post will be when I have arrived safely in my hotel. Fingers crossed that everything runs like clockwork.
Oh yeah one thing that I need to say before I go: Yesterday I got an e-mail from Jon Hicks inviting me, Geert and Kenneth to join the Brit pack for a meet-up. Well Jon, you are a "true gentlemen" for thinking of us lonely Belgians ;) I'll be honest that it touched my heart, you are a teddy bear :) It is very much appreciated!
24served
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OK, first you redesign your blog to shame us all, and then you did the teddy bear thing again. You’re on a last warning Pieters! ;)
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Jon; I might be stupid, but what do you mean “teddy bear thing”? :) Just curious…
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Just before I moved up to Rochester, I was living in DC for 3.5 years. My first advice is…don’t attempt to drive around town if you are getting a rental car. You are better off with the metro. It is a little confusing but not too bad. A metro map would help and don’t be afraid to ask a friendly face. Other things you might enjoy would be the monuments (the tidal basin might have the cherry blossoms in bloom) and I’m guessing you might enjoy hanging around Georgetown for shopping and food/drink.
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Definitely check out “The Mall” in DC. You can then pick and choose what monuments or museums you’d like to see. The Air and Space Museum is great. It’s sad, but the Holocaust Musuem is definitely worth it as well. I’d also recommend venturing over and taking in the Spy Museum. There really is too much to take in during a short trip, but those are all worth seeing.
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“Bon voyage!!” and have fun! ;-)
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I’m not from DC, but I’ve been there a couple of times. I’d say don’t go to the Smithsonian, not because it’s not good but because you’d end up spending your entire time there. It’d take months or years to see all the cool stuff there. In terms of monuments I’d say go to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It’s rather unique compared to the other monuments. I’ve always been a fan of Maya Lin though, so it might not be that interesting to others. It’s within walking distance of many other monuments, so it’s not an excursion by itself to go see the memorial. I haven’t been to D.C. since the new World War II memorial, but I’ve heard it’s amazing to see in person. Have fun.
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You’ve got an awesome life, I’m jaleous!
Hope you have fun!
(Hey make pics! héhé)
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Hi Veerle,
That is exciting you are going to D.C. I’m sure it will be fun for you to see The Library of Congress, and Capitol Hill, as well as other monuments. Right now, they do have a good exhibit at the Smithsonian called “Cezanne in Provence,” which didn’t take too long to go through and the paintings and colors are beautiful. I would recommend visiting The Corcoran Gallery of Art as well - on the corner of New York Ave. and 17th Street, right around the corner from The White House. They have an excellent School of Art and Design, and student exhibitions might be up too this time of year. Last year, about this time they had an exhibit of Dutch Royal Silver. An Andy Warhol exhibit is there now, but anyway, it is a design-oriented museum you might enjoy.
There is a group here called the DC Web Women, which is a huge list-serve that has lots of designers/developers on it. I think some other members of it know about your blog too, and I know they are interested in accessibility, CSS, and so forth. Might be something you could look into.
Here is the site: http://www.dcwebwomen.org.
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Hey, gratz for nice blog! Nice style and good colours combination.
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Hey Veerle,
I’m not from DC, I’m from Leuven myself, but I’ve lived in NC for a few years and been to DC a few times in that time. I agree with Dustin, the Smithsonian is very good, but if your time is limited, there’s better stuff to see. Neverheless, if you have to see *one* museum in DC, I’d suggest the Holocaust museum. It’s not as crowded as the ones on the Mall, but only one block away, so still very conveniently located.
HTH,
—nico
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Veerle,
Long time lurker, first time poster here… I went to SXSW last year but I do not think I will be able make it this year.
I will more than likely make my way down to Austin and hang out with fellow programmers (I’m definitely not a designer). Maybe I will see you down there. :)
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First I just want to say I’ve been a lurker for awhile and I wanted to say that I love the redesign.
I don’t live in D.C. but I have been there a couple times. My friend went to American University which is in D.C. so I went out there a few times.
There is an Albert Einstein monument a couple blocks off the mall. If you stand right in the center you can hear an echo if you talk, that was pretty cool. here is an image of me on Albert :). There are some other pictures of D.C. in my gallery if you want to take a look. here and here
If you plan on visiting the capital building, you need to get there early. They only allow so many people through each day and the tickets go fast.
I found that there was always something to do. We were able to get anywhere we wanted by just using the metro.
There is a pizza place that we went to and 1 slice took 2 plates just to hold it. It was fantastic.
Check out this cool map of the mall area.
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Hey, another Expression Engine user. I knew you were use the old pMachine engine. This upgrade is sweet. Oh yeah, your design is also the bees knees. (means very good).
It does feel very designed and less personal. I’m sure that is what you’re aiming for. Now you’re a famous keynote speaker and all. :)
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Like Stephan said, long time lurker, first time poster here… but.. I just spoted you on flickr with the ‘SXSW’ tag, visited your blog and realize you’re really here! See you around tomorow or later.
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INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM.
couple years hold. nice design, nice exhibits, nice layouts, and nice flat panel tvs.
great overall museum experience
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Don’t worry about your first talk. You probably have loads of valuable info to share with the other people at sxsw. You will get their attention in a jiffy. I’m very sure about that :)
Have fun!
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My favorite place in DC is the National Cathedral. It’s absolutely georgeous. Be sure to take a guided tour or the audio tour - it’s well worth it. They are builing a parking garage right now, so some of the grounds are in disarray, but it is definitely worth a visit - http://www.cathedral.org/.
Also, if you are in DC on Saturday or Sunday, make sure you stop by the Eastern Market. It’s a weekend market on the outskirts of Capital Hill with a ton of interesting trinkets and food.
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Oops… Forgot to add the Eastern Market link - http://www.easternmarket.net/.
Also, if you are in Northwest and you enjoy good Mexican food try the Cactus Cantina. They are particularly good at the grilled items - 3300 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC.
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I LOVE YOUR BLOG!! i am a designer in portland. i do websites, flash animations, basically all sorts of interactive stuff. keep it up! i’m lovin’ it. :)
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Great website, keep it up :)
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Have a nice stay at the SXSW.
Nice new blog design, keep us up to date ;-)
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Congratulations on winning the ee contest!
I knew you would win the moment I saw the redesign.
It’s all been said, but the site is such a joy to look at & visit.
Thank you very much for being so inspiring.
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Veerle,
do you have your SXSW Slides online soewhere (either PDF or Keynote)? They look promising and i’d realy like to throw an eye on them.
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@Stefan Seiz: you can download them from the Starting Small website.
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