JohnnyL’s Blogic

Last year I attended my first MAX conference just a few months after started working at Adobe. MAX is our three-day, interactive event aimed at showcasing the latest technologies and strategies to developers, creative professionals and, generally, anyone interested in what we're up to. The most positive response I get from attendees is the insight they get via the keynotes, the number of "sneak peeks” we use to showcase what's on the horizon, and most importantly, the opportunity to speak directly with our top evangelists and engineering experts. The most compelling reaction is a good "oooh or ahhh".

We had great attendance at last year's event. Shortly after, we announced CS3 and began shipping to the kudos and applause of our customers, industry pundits, reviewers, bloggers... just about anyone who used them. The better news is that the momentum just keeps building - and this years' MAX is yet another example. More than two weeks before the start of the program, we passed the 4K registered attendees number for the first time in the history of the event. And I suspect we'll get to the maximum capacity for the show well before opening day and beat last years' crowd by a ton. We've been doing that at all our events this year. The buzz and anticipation that is building for MAX is simply huge - and for good reasons.

MAX 2007 will feature more than 200 sessions in five tracks from which to choose. The group I run, the Creative Solutions Business Unit, developed two tracks this year. The first is Design Across Media - a key workflow for just about every media-based company I speak with of late. And the other is Web, Video and Interactive Design. There are a ton of strong sessions in each of those two tracks.

You shouldn't miss 'What is the New Publishing Workflow Anyway?' being led by Will Eisley. He'll be talking about how Adobe technologies enable you to create, manage and publish content across multiple channels.

And if you want a look into the future, Joan Bodensteiner, Rick Grefe – the AIGA Executive Director, and Darcey Merriam will be talking about Designer 2015 - a look at the trends and opportunities we see for the designer in the year 2015 and "visioning" what creative tools may look like to address the way they will be working.

And for those of you using the Master Collection - or aspiring to use it - some of our top evangelists will be running a session called Unlocking Cross Media Workflows. With Jason Levine, Greg Rewis, Rufus Deuchler and John Schuman leading the session - I can promise that you will not be bored! (We have a strict Adobe policy that these individuals are not allowed to be exposed to caffeine during work hours.) Guaranteed to be both informative and entertaining.

For those of you who attend MAX - let me know what you think of the event. Be sure to attend the sneak peek sessions. And please "oooh" and "aaaah" and applaud when you see things you like. I'm never tired of those reactions!