If you haven’t heard of it (which I suppose is excusable as it’s very industry-specific), Flash in the Can is an annual conference for anyone involved in digital media. Oh my Lord the names it brings. As well as the students, the seasoned digi-teers, the tech-heads, the brilliant artists, all sorts of clever, creative people. I arrived with a kind of jaded skepticism and have left the events feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, inspired to put my efforts in the right places. Money can’t buy that sort of thing. FITC can now be found “through 30 cities and eight countries” – so see if an event is coming near you. They’ve got a kickin’ new website, too: www.fitc.ca.

Since I had the luxury of not having to buy my way in (I received a free ticket from the Female Initiative – 100 free tickets given to women so we would get our asses out to these events), I wanted to share what has been shared with me. Plus my little Beast friend (see illustration above) was on my back to tell him why I was gone so long, where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing. Here you are little Beast Friend, everything I learned at FITC:

1. Don’t be afraid of technology. You artists and designers – I feel your pain, it’s hard work trying to squeeze math and programming into our already overcrowded, buzzing brains. Sin curves fill me with as much fear as the slow ascent in a rickety cart to the top of a wooden roller-coaster. But the sheer volume of people who attended this event, and people who appreciated what other artisans were doing with technology (Joshua Davis, James Paterson, 1st Ave Machine), goes to show that the extra skill-set is well worth the effort. I don’t think we’ll put any programmers out of jobs by learning a little Actionscript, but it helps us open our mind to possibilities, to think creatively in a less usual way, and to communicate better with the awesome programmers who help bring creative executions to life.

2. Find the ideals you believe in and hang on tight. You will always be able to find someone or something to share your beliefs, your lifestyle, your hopelessly idealistic conversations (ie. if you believe in hotdogs, eventually you will find some real-life condiments). Hang in there, and seek people out who look intriguing.

3. Be so so nice to everyone, even little bugs. Some day those little bugs will grow up to be monster bugs and could eat you alive. Or maybe they’ll become fabulous superstar bugs and give your rides to all your favorite concerts. I don’t know. What I mean is just be humble and kind, and little bugs (like myself) will appreciate it and remember you.

I could go on with my life lessons forever but I’ll limit them to the key points – I think practical advice is overwhelming the twitter-sphere right now anyway. So here’s a list of awesome people I had the opportunity to see speak at FITC, and whom I think may inspire you as well to do some awesome thinking and executions:

Big Spaceship – the company structure makes me giddy with hope for humanity. I met a couple of  the company’s aeronauts and found them fantastically genuine and approachable. Their Experimental Side – Big Spaceship Labs

James Paterson – funny, jaw-dropping, poetic work. James considers himself first an artist, then a programmer, and not an illustrator or designer at all (this is another topic of discussion). I’ve been a fan since I was 14 – keep in mind that the humor originates from that era of my life! He’s got a bit of work online but when I suggested he post more, he claimed he didn’t want to be held accountable. Fair enough! www.presstube.com

1st Ave Machine – highly polished motion work but what really caught my attention was Matt Lambert’s emphasis on concept. I haven’t heard it enough since graduating college, but concept concept concept is SO important. 1st Ave Machine

Powerflasher – Maybe more technical than artsy, but Carlo Blatz also speaks to non-linear project conception/development/management. This was the first presentation I attended and I found the company structure again, really inspiring. Get past the techno music to the meat of the presentation

Zachary Lieberman & Golan Levin – implementing advanced technology to really help every day people. For example, they presented an eye-tracking program that is still in development. They have tested their experiment with an ex-grafitti artist who is unable to move anything but his eyes due to the debilitating effects of Lou Gehrig’s Disease. This software enables tracking of his eye movements so that he can actually still draw and communicate. Completely amazing. They say it better than I do: Levin’s site and Lieberman’s site

Closing words: Do consider going to FITC next time, I found it well worth my days and nights. All the FITC sessions were recorded, so I’m hoping I can get a link for those out fairly soon so that you can revel in all the motion, technology, and design goodness. Peas fellow geeks and artisans!