#hikecon

The career advice website that I read religiously reframes the idea of networking. From a mild point of view, The Muse says networking is a chance to meet cool new people and connect. 

On my first day at my digital design bootcamp, we had a lunch session devoted to playing Cards Against the Humanity. That game works in breaking the ice. Nothing is as simultaneously comforting and disturbing knowing that people are as terrible as you are. Our connections after that became even stronger.

Networking as much as I have this year takes me back to those awkward first months of freshman year in college. Groups aren't solid yet, homies have yet to be selected.

My freshman year at U of I, the first event I was invited to was a picnic at the local park. During the first hour, I only spoke to three people. We did the "What's your major?" dance, as well as the "Where's your dorm?" tango, and the sultry "Are you joining a frat?" fox trot. In total, these conversations took no more than ten minutes.

Wanting to switch gears, I began to hoop with a girl I already knew from high school. Yeah, I brought a prop to a networking event, a basketball. It served two purposes: (1)so I had something to do in case the picnic was lame and (2) to show how cool I was that I could shoot a reverse layup. 

I was getting ready to leave when a SENIOR approached me. He noticed my lacrosse shirt, and I talked about how I was joining the club team. #sports

"You're pretty cool," he said. "We should hang out. I'm not asking you out on a date, or anything."

By the look on his face, he immediately regretted that last sentence.

I didn't say anything.

He walked away.

A girl overheard my exchange, related a similar incident, and we laughed. I ended up staying a couple more hours to talk to her and other people she met at the picnic. 

 Today, I'm an advising alumni member of that club.

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This weekend, I'll be going to Hike Chicago. It's a conference for new designers. Its welcome page explains that "your design career is a journey, not a destination and you don't have to travel alone." *snaps*

I found out about Hike from the other site I read religiously, Learn the Secret Handshake. I'll post about my conference experience later on.

I woke up last Saturday morning at 6:30 am to go to the Adobe Headquarters and listen to speakers talk about design until 5:30 pm. That same day, my friends were headed to bottomless mimosa brunch. When my alarm went off, I regretted not joining them. Until I made my way to the hikecon which proved to be one of the best Saturdays I have had in awhile!

This was the first hikecon ever and I must say I was incredibly impressed by the hosts Jason Schwartz and Laura Helen Winn, who met for the first time ever this weekend for the conference. The two of them had great chemistry with differing backgrounds that complimented each other well (Laura new-ish to design while Jason was a veteran). Often it is hard to pull off an event for the first time without disorganization, but the two of them (and their team) hosted a well executed event from start to finish. 

hikecon's mission was to be a one day educational design conference for new designers looking for insight, honest answers, and solid solutions to help you go pro. Not only did it do that, but it exceeded my expectations. hikecon provided inspirational speakers and a friendly environment to meet and mingle with a lot of designers. 

A few of my biggest takeaways from the conference:

1. Just start already: Starting is the hardest part for new and veteran designers. I was incredibly impressed by Alice Lee, a new designer and illustrator at Dropbox (also of the best public speakers I have heard in awhile). Alice talked about the "start" and her journey from an unfulfilled college experience in business school to finding her true passion in design.  One of her quotes was from a coworker of her saying "We are all noobs" meaning that everyone is a novice at any given time, even if they are very far in their career. The biggest takeaways were to make your own opportunities and to just do it already. She talked about turning a business internship at Path into design experience by asking for design projects that no one wanted to do. She got her experience by turning anything into an opportunity opposed to waiting and being afraid she didn't have enough experience. 

2. Relationships are everything: This is definitely something I have learned first hand during my career to date. The first speaker to kick off the conference, Christopher Simmons took the attendees through a timeline starting with his high school girlfriend, addressing how each person he has met along the way has impacted his career. He had a great quote: “F*ck talent—go with personality. Go with the person you want to work with.” Obviously you have to have some standard abilities, but many skill can be taught. Interpersonal skills cannot. This applies to every industry and every job, so make sure to foster the relationships and make sure you are the best version of yourself as someone desirable to work with. Alice Lee also brought up a good point about internships and taking the role at the company where you will learn from the best people in the industry. That is why she chose Path where her internship was not design oriented but she knew she would be surrounded by some of the best designers out there. 

3. Passion is the best ingredient for success: Brian Singer  led a talk "How to get rich in design." This wasn't quite what I expected (no tips on rates and hustling your way to your top), but far exceeded my expectations. Brian pretty much showed how he focused on projects he was passionate about. One of the examples that really stood out to me was his 1000 Journals project which connected people across the world through journaling. This project then got picked up for a book, a movie, and an SF MOMA exhibit. Now it is a way to help patients fighting cancer. Another example is how Brian took photos of people driving while texting and posted his designs on billboards. This went viral and got picked up by Time, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, etc. His point illustrated through his projects: the best way to get rich (literally and figuratively) is to focus on meaningful projects to you. 

4. Everyone has doubts; learn how to handle them: This came up through a few presentations, but was the focus of Marc O'Brian's talk. His presentation was titled "What to do if a glacier in Iceland throws a rock at your neck which automatically leads you to doubt your talents and question your confidence." He took everyone through an example of when his own confidence was shattered through a failed project. His biggest points: confidence is not a given, success is not a given, doubting your talents is a given, humility is important, stop comparing yourself to others, and the voice in your head is never leaving. The most important thing is to remind yourself that having doubts is normal and "to proceed and be bold" (Samuel Mockbee). 

5. Designers hold great power and obligations to the world (more than they think): By far the most electrifying presentations of the day, Mike Monteiro really made designers aware of their responsibility to the word. His speech "How Designers Destroyed the World" focused on how much power designers hold and how it is imperative to be conscious of this responsibility. Mike Monteiro showcased the Bobbi Duncan incident, where Facebook privacy settings basically outed her as a lesbian to her parents, as an example of how bad design seriously impacted someones life. Monteiro had a great quote: “Designers need to fear the consequences of their actions more than they love their ideas.” He had another point that industrial design used to be the most dangerous form of design until the internet. He brought a lot of awareness to the responsibilities of a designer outside of just making products pretty and usable. 

For new and seasoned designers, the speakers were incredibly inspirational. I highly recommend looking up some of their presentations on Vimeo, etc if recorded. Mike Monteiro's presentation can be found here: http://vimeo.com/68470326

A GIANT THANK YOU from Jason & Laura and the entire Hike board & volunteers.