It happened like this, I was walking with the rest of my AIGA Nebraska Crew (Drew Davies, Donovan Beery, and Tom Nemitz, along with non-BADG’ers Cathy and Heidi), shopping our butts off before the conference proper had begun, and amidst the rest of the shop signs, including one of such similar visual language I swore their logo was being ripped-off again, was the Sterling Brands mark. It was about this time I realized Sterling has a San Francisco office. We looked down, wondering if we should just jump on in and crash the party like we knew somebody, and low and behold; the one person we did know was waiting to be buzzed-in.

Now don’t ask me how I know what Debbie Millman looks like from behind. That is not knowledge I possess, no matter what my fiancé says. But you see a woman of near-average height, looking like a designer on their day off, with a hint of those black, cat-like glasses, and you can be reasonably assured that if you shout out “Debbie” you might just get a response.

We were invited in for a quick tour, which was the first mistake. The elevator to the fourth floor had all the room of a child’s shoe-box. Undeterred, Drew, Donovan, Tom, Cathy, Heidi, Ms. Millman and myself piled in, violating far too many personal-space bubbles in the process. The doors shut.

The elevator, however, did not move.

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco,” is Mark Twain’s famous quote about San Francisco’s remarkably cool summers. Downright cold at night, actually. Air-conditioners are a very rare thing. So this day, of course, it was 100 degrees out. And in. And when you have seven people in a metal shoe-box with closed doors, things get …sticky… pretty fast. Thank god Tom was there to Rambo that door back open after three to five minutes of what only hell must be like. After taking the stairs up to the fourth floor, were informed by the office that seven people in that elevator might have been “a little reckless.”

After a quick tour we were invited back to sit in on the live recording of Design Matters the next day, and of course Donovan and I were all too happy to oblige. This was the 25th Design Matters in 25 weeks, a staggering feat. We do a prerecorded, edited podcast show here, and the pressures of a live broadcast were palpable in the conference-room studio.

If you haven’t listened to the Stanley Hainsworth interview (creative director of Starbucks, formerly of Lego, formerly of Nike), he is the kind of designer we all wish we could work for. A wealth of knowledge and breadth of experience, he was a brilliant guest. So brilliant, in fact, that as I went to ask a question I spent 20 minutes preparing, I fumbled, I stumbled, and was only saved by Stanley’s good on-air presence (thanks, Stanley). The show was made available for download on the iTunes music store last week, and I highly recommend it. Donovan did not ask a question.

The trip lasted a good three days past that, and there were plenty more adventures of which I will not speak, but only allude to in broad gestures and vague photographic evidence. It is a great experience for people who believe in the mission of AIGA, whose company I gladly keep. Good times were had and good friends were made in blistering-hot-then-cold-then hot-again San Francisco. I could spend a week just giving shout-outs. To those good times and friends I dedicate this entirely too small photo gallery, culled from over 800 photos we returned with.

Next year: Miami! I can only guess what sheer awesomeness await the year after that…