SGC Wrap-up
It takes a lot of people to make a conference happen. Note the city worker polishing Anish Kapoor’s bean especially for SGC.
Despite the cold, Chicago was a huge draw. Attendence estimates were as high 1800! Overall the conference was a smooth running series of events and David Jones and the entire crew at Columbia College & other participating schools and venues deserve a hearty applause. Despite a few complaints about crowded demos (and when aren’t there complaints about that) and lack of tote bags, most if not all attendees seemed very happy with Global Implications. Putting together one of these conferences is an intense amount of work and while we all return to the comfort of our respective homes, they are still working because now it’s time to clean up after the party.
So with another Southern Graphics come and gone, what have we learned? Facial hair is still big in printmaking circles? Yes. Lowbrow is the new mainstream? Seemingly. Get to panels early if you want a seat? Definitely.
But I think if we take a broader view, maybe the most important thing we can walk away with our sense of community and the reality of our network. I say “reality” because so much communication and contact these days is virtual. From email to Facebook to Inkteraction, were all connected but that doesn’t mean we know each other (see ambient intimacy). It is nice to have an opportunity to see the face that goes with the name and have the physical contact of a handshake.
We started Printeresting almost a year ago (RL will have more on our anniversary contest tomorrow!) and this conference was really our first chance to get out and talk to so many people. We’re thrilled that some of you are familiar with the site and we enjoyed the chance introduce ourselves to quite a few new people. Response to the site content in general and our coverage of the conference in particular has been positive but we’re always open to feedback and suggestions. Feel free to drop us a line: printeresting.contact@gmail.com.
Though there will probably be some residual posts inspired by some of the SGC panels, lectures and demos and some of the people we met, this is the official conclusion of our SGC 2009 coverage. You can upload/view more pictures at the SGC Flickr site.
Thanks, everyone.
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