My top reasons for attending CreativePro Week

The people

First of all, it’s actually my first time speaking at CreativePro Week. I know I know, I’ve spoken at PePcon and the InDesign Conference before. But this is CreativePro Week, the all-in-one-super-awesome-graphic-design-conference, with a pickle on top. So this means I’ll get to talk to not only print designers but also photographers, illustrators and many other talented people. And then of course there are the speakers. I have to say it’s quite an impressive line up (for the record, not because I’ll be there myself ;-P). Mark Heaps, Julieanne Kost, Nigel French, Von Glitschka, Russel Brown … the list goes on and on. To me it’ll be a time of seeing old friends and hopefully making new ones.

The content

Because of this wide range of speakers and topics through out the week, there’s bound to be a few very juicy tips and tricks. And though I live and breath “Adobe” everyday I’d never go around claiming I know everything. I always like to compare this to cooking. It’s not because someone is a great chef that he can’t experience good food or learn a few new dishes using the same ingredients. So I hope I’ll have some extra time to attend a few sessions myself. And if I don’t learn any new tricks, I can always end up learning interesting presentation techniques (btw, did you know during CPro there’s the “Click” conference as well? Be sure to attend that if you want to beef up your own presentation skills).

I’ll be able to disclose more about my exact sessions pretty soon, so stay tuned!

The location

I’ve visited the U.S. many times now, on an average of 2 times a year. But I’ve never been New Orleans before and it looks so exciting and different. So I’m very much looking forward to just being a tourist. You know, try the food, stroll around, buy things I don’t need. And best of all, the conference is located downtown.

So as you can see it’s more than worth jumping on a plane and visiting New Orleans next June. And if you do, be sure to say hi when you see me. You can’t miss me, I’ll be the tall guy ;-).

More info here.

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Just like last year, 2017 will be filled with conferences and other interesting events. And lucky for me I get to speak at several of them again this year. So if you’re around and you have a few hours to spare be sure to attend a few sessions. The importance of learning new skills, being agile and knowing what’s happening in the world of design and technology has never been greater. Here’s a preliminary list of what’s happening in my world:

I’ll be speaking at:

• 16th Feb: Mobile Matters Seminar (host) (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
• 20-21st Feb: FITC (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• 28th Feb: UX Meet-up: The English Breakfast edition, Dutch Digital Agencies (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• 18-19-20st March: Professional Imaging (Nijkerk, The Netherlands)
• 30th March: Digitale Werkplek (Brugge, Belgium)
• 20th April: UPRISE Festival Europe (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• 8th June: Get Smart (Affligem, Belgium)
• 12-13th: MakingDesign (Oslo, Norway)

Attending (not speaking, or too soon to say):

• 18-19th May: The Next Web (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• 16-20th Oct: Adobe MAX 2017 (Las Vegas, USA)

Interested (but we’ll see what happens):

• 6-7-8th April: OFFF Festival (Barcelona, Spain)
• TBA: OFFFbyNight (Antwerp, Belgium)
• TBA: Bump Festival (Kortrijk, Belgium)

If anyone else is interested in hearing me speak, I wouldn’t mind flying to the USA, Japan or Australia for a change 😉

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OFFF  Festival has had its roots in Barcelona for many years now. And after having attended one of the festivals myself this year I have to say it was freaking awesome. So many speakers, art and raw talent under one roof is an awe-inspiring experience that you just can’t miss. And lucky for the Belgians (or whoever lives nearby) OFFF is coming to Antwerp in a slightly different concept: OFFF by Night. So sessions start in the late afternoon and continue on through the evening.

I’ll be hosting a Keynote session for Adobe, talking about various things. Here’s my session description to give you a little hint:

The creative world is constantly evolving with new tools, devices, ways of communication and how we work and design. Learn how you can stay ahead of the game thanks to the newest innovations in Adobe’s Creative Cloud. We’ll also share insight into the latest design trends, the importance of social … and of course some Adobe magic. All packed into an informative and fun keynote session.

So if you’re free on 22-23-24 Sept I’d suggest you book yourself a ticket and head down to Antwerp.

Home

See you there!

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Though already “old news”. A few weeks ago I learned that I was named an Adobe MAX Master for my InDesign sessions. This means I was one of the top 20 speakers at the conference. And not only that, I was also awarded the speaker with the highest overall score. So a big thank you to everyone who attended my sessions and supported me. I hope to see all of you again this year in Las Vegas during MAX 2017!

I’m ecstatic to announce I’ll be speaking at the Adobe MAX 2016 conference in San Diego this year.  I’ve spoken at several other events and conferences overseas. But the sheer size of the conference (probably around 9.000 creatives this year), labs, sessions, announcements and other overall craziness makes MAX a totally unique event that you should attend at least once in your creative life. Something to scratch off the bucket list!

Ok, so what’s the gig?

I’ll be hosting a 90-min hands-on lab for Adobe InDesign users. MAX has a whole range of InDesign sessions available going from an introduction to Adobe InDesign to other specialties like handling good typography, creating ePUBS and other fun sessions.

I’ll be hosting an “InDesign Deep Dive” session showing off more advanced techniques. This session is ideal for anyone who has a basic understanding of Adobe InDesign and wants to take their skills to a higher level. A few features that we’ll be using  are (but not limited to):

• Advanced style settings, including Nested and Object Styles.
• An introduction to basic and advanced GREP expressions to automate formatting.
• How to use InDesign’s Preflight options and avoid common print errors.
• How to use variable data using Text Variables and Data Merge.
• Set up a collaborative workflow using CC Libraries and Adobe Stock.
• A series of time saving tips and tricks, and much more!

Off course I’m not only happy to be part of the MAX speaking community this year. I’ll also have the chance to meet up with so many friends of mine from around the world.

You can sign up for my session here.

Two years ago I attended my first MAX (pre-Adobe) and wrote  down my impressions. Read the old article here.

I hope to see you all there!

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The big one

As I made clear from my previous blog post about the conference last year, PePcon is something to look forward to. I’m into print and digital publishing workflows, design products and other Adobe solutions. But time and budget restrictions (that thing we all have) only allows me to attend a certain number of conferences a year. Especially when they’re overseas, like in the U.S. This means I need to plan my schedule and budget every year to make sure I spend these two resources as best as I can. And PePcon has been on the top of the list ever since I attended the very first time in San Francisco in 2012.

Other conferences I’m looking forward to this year are the InDesign Conference and Adobe MAX, though I can’t confirm yet if I’ll be able to make it to those. As I explained in a previous blog post, my objectives for visiting conferences are:

1. Sessions: my primary focus is of course learning and attending sessions. So I need to be sure that I’ll pick up tips, new programs, or a new (or updated) sense of direction.
2. Organisation: because I’m personally involved with organising small events in Belgium I think attending sessions overseas gives me a great learning platform because I get to be an attendee myself. So the personal experience I get as an attendee helps me to get things organised for my own sessions and events. The things I pick up could be about how I enrolled, how communication is done, their social media policy, surveys, catering, support, etc.
3. Speakers and keynotes: because I regularly spend time in a classroom environment or on stage as a speaker I constantly pick up tips on improving my own presentations, my slides, technical setup and even get to observe how people improvise, answer questions, introduce themselves or (try to) be funny.
4. Networking: the previous bullets in this list are pretty straightforward and most people just go with the flow. But networking is different and I do believe that the word “work” in “networking” is a true fact. And it sometimes takes some courage to let yourself be heard during a session or just step up to someone out of the blue. But I’ve learned that growing your network and socialising with specialists, Adobe staff and like-minded people is key to growing your own business and staying at the top of your game.

… and PePcon ticks all the boxes!

Me and co-presenter Erica Gamet during a GREP presentation at PePcon ’14 in Chicago. Photo courtesy of PePcon.com

My PePcon 2015

This year I’ll be presenting the “DPS Fundamentals: Building Folios for Digital Publications” session, just like I did in Austin in 2013. This is a half day session that focuses on Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite solution, and will take place on 1st June. This is one of the so called pre-conference sessions where you get to learn more about a specific topic, and will have the chance to meet other people that share your interest.

Photo courtesy of Padi.com

During this session I’ll explain all the ins and outs about building digital publications using the DPS solution. This means we’ll focus on the Adobe DPS workflow and creation of interactive documents using Adobe InDesign and other CC programs to further enrich your documents. A few of the bullet points I’ll be discussing are:

• Getting started
• Building your first folio
• Converting a print documenten to digital publication
• Design tips
• How to set up a DPS workflow with your client
• Things to be careful for
• Previewing content
• Integrating audio, video, and animation into your layouts
• Engaging the reader with interactivity such as buttons, multi-state objects, and scrollable frames
• Dealing with Apple
• …

If you’re interested in this session, be sure to book a seat while they’re still available! All information, registration and full conference schedule is available on the official PePcon website.

Hope to see you all there, and never hesitate to come and say hi during the conference!

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What is PUBKON?

If you’re familiar with PePcon in the US you’ll probably already know what type of conference this is. It’s basically a 3 day conference, split up into 1 day of hands-on workshops and 2 days of sessions. These 45-min sessions cover a whole range of different publishing related topics like

• InDesign tips an techniques
• Digital publishing solutions like Adobe DPS
• Combining InDesign with HTML and CSS
• eBooks and other ePub related technologies
• Web publishing
• …

Photo courtesy of PUBKON.

My (English) sessions during PUBKON 2015

1. Making sense of the digital publishing landscape

There’s no denying it, publishing is going digital. But what does this mean, and what solution would best suit your business? What’s the difference between an ePub, interactive PDF, App Store app or online reader? It doesn’t matter if you’re completely new to digital publishing or just got started with it. You can get all your questions answered while we give you an overview of the digital publishing landscape. Possibilities, ideas, pricing, features, this session covers all the essentials.

2. Making long documents work for you

Do you sometimes need to make documents that are 50 pages or longer in InDesign? Then stop what you’re doing and attend this session to learn more about the awesome InDesign features for long documents. Learn about custom numbering systems, building a table of contents, managing multiple files, cross references and so much more. You’ll discover just how rich Adobe InDesign is and how well you can manage long documents.

Photo courtesy of PUBKON.

So it looks like I’ll have to brush up on my German (which will be a disaster after about 15 years) and look forward to spending a few days in Cologne.

PUBKON 2015 website

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