I attended Adobe MAX in Los Angeles this year with my friend and coworker, Erin. My purpose at the conference was to focus on learning Flash Catalyst and to develop more web design/CSS skillz.

I’m just a girl who wants to be a better nerd.

Erin and I made friends with the locals. Everyone from Los Angeles was super happy!

The stage in the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE was cool, but had no bearing on the presentations like it did last year. I wish the speakers had interacted with it more, I guess.

Erin and I met Kevin Lynch (Adobe’s CTO)! He’s definitely the right kind of “celebrity” for Adobe-loving nerds like me.

Erin picked this woman as her favorite bartender.

Like last year, I drew the Pearson VUE logo on the community chalkboard. Gotta represent, yo!

Celebrities that attended include Mark Hamill (accompanied by Chewbacca and Darth Vader, with Queen Amidala and Obi Wan Kenobi clones) and John Mayer. I don’t care about either of them, but I do care about…

Stephanie Sullivan, the goddess of CSS! If you’re a web designer, you need to read her book. I have learned so many practical and useful tips. It was very cool to talk to her a bit this year—we kept running into each other! It’s a small MAX, after all.

The MAX bash wasn’t quite as crazy/cool as last year’s (though can anything beat the Cal Academy?). Erin and I checked out all of the entertainment (the Conga Room, the Grammy Museum, and the ESPN Zone) then spent most of the evening on the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE plaza, listening to the live band (fronted by an Adobe employee) and chatting with new friends.

Ok, so maybe I was drinking a few beers, too. (I paid for that the next day.)

Erin and I drooled over this car for a while. We asked if we could get in, but they wouldn’t let us. Dang.

I don’t think I’ll be attending Adobe MAX 2010, but who knows? It’s a whole year away.

I brought home a bunch of fun stuff, including a fully autographed copy of Stephanie Sullivan and Greg Rewis’ book, a coffee-splattered attendee badge, and silly little buttons (“Kiss Me, I’m Suite” and “I Weave Dreams” are the cutest). All in all, a good conference. Using what I learned this year, I’m working in Adobe Illustrator and Flash Catalyst to develop a departmental holiday e-card. Wish me luck!