Couldn't Stand the Rain

I skipped day three. I woke up and it was raining. Hard. I still had the bitter taste from yesterday's 3D fiasco lingering in my mouth like the hangover fairy had visited for the first time since college, so I packed it on home. Some impressions:

Before the Internet came and saved my life, I was a hotel manager. At the end of my career I was responsible for a (small) upscale property with a top line of about $4M for rooms alone. I know a thing or two about hospitality and meetings. FlashForward2000 was exceptionally well-concieved and executed.

Speaking of executed, the people hired to do A/V for the conference should service a firing-squad as their next gig. (I wasn't ambitious enough to find their name - probably some NYC-type arrangement: the nephew of the venue owner...) This was really the only glitch, operations-wise, I could see with the entire conference, (and this is the type of thing you can't foresee until after you have worked in a particular location a time or two). For being in their very first year, FF deserves congratulations for rising from origin to the big time in a single step. The point is: you are getting your money's worth when you go to FF.

Even if none of the presentations had been beneficial, there would still be enormous value for the Flasher going to an event like this. You run into Flashers with similar interests you wouldn't have met otherwise. You get a good feel for what is now, what is new, and what is around the corner for your craft. You can reach a depth in discussion face-to-face that seems (to me) to be elusive through electronic media. You have an excuse (and hopefully and expense budget - not your own) to go to the most vital city in the world and have a great time.

Most of the presenters and their presentations were top-notch. Authoritative. Informative. Helpful. Insightful. I think my commentary is weighted too heavily on the negative side because of the severity of the incidents of hucksterism.

In the case of hucksterism, I suppose I should be more sympathetic - you can't blame a guy for trying to make a buck. I guess I just project my wish for Flashers to be a more savvy group of developers into an unrealistic visualization. Go ahead and pitch your crap. I'll sit quietly from now on.

3D: I guess my issue is this: I think the major fronts of Flash 3D are (1) Character Modeling, and (2) Tools. The presenters at FF seemed to think that it was more beneficial for the assembled community to see (1) a demo of motion capture technology that is likely out of reach for every single Flasher present except the one putting on the demo, and (2) how to make a spinning logo and a few other trinkets on the same order.

Given the history of Flash development crazes, it is probably more likely that Flashers will pursue 3D along the lines of spinning logos and non-ideas abstracted in primitives and extruded Illustrator 2D compositions. So be it. Your blood be on your own hands.

Recap:

Flash Forward	Rocks. If you use flash for your design work, you really can't afford to not go.
Alternator Auditor	HUGE step toward Flash growing up and moving out of parents' house.
Flash 5	Everything is fixed. Preorder now. You absolutely cannot afford to not have it. This is not a typical version revision.
3D	Just stay away from 3D unless you have a thousand hours to throw at it. Flash is an extension of sophisticated 3D programs, not vice-versa. 3D is a huge, complicated world. Modeling, animation, materials, and rendering will require 5x more diligent study and hard work than it took you to get where you are in Flash.
Generator	I really didn't have a personal problem with Generator until they pitched it to us like a Saturday-morning kids' cereal ad. It really is a clever app. Useful, even. If you and your clients have an unlimited budget, go for it.
Appearance of Flash sub-disciplines	Good good good! Maybe someday soon you won't have teenage kids replying to sitecheck posts, telling artists they need something moving in the background - maybe a spinning 3D logo...

Hey CoolAid! -- Oh Yeeeeeeah!
Flash Forward 2000