Arrival.

Prepping for the AIGA NEXT Conference in Denver, Colorado, was a virtually nonexistent endeavor. A series of unfortunate events took my Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and warped them into an incoherent mess of deadlines, stress, and car-trouble that can only be described as “phenomenal.” So laundry and packing were done beginning at 11:00 Tuesday night for a Wednesday afternoon flight.

My wife, one of many designers I know not attending the NEXT Conference, dropped me off at the Omaha airport, where I proceeded to pick up two necessities: reading materials (who can resist a James-Bond era Sean Connery?) and gum. I chose Orbits specifically for my main man Von Glitschka, who once regailed us in Nashville with the tale of explaining to a woman at the cash register that he did the illustrations on each pack. Her reply, “oh, you made the circles?”

Also, note to GQ: 85 pages of ads before the Table of Contents is for women’s magazines.

The flight was the first breath of fresh air I’d had in past week. Frontier Airlines gets two thumbs way, way up from me, and the Newcastle was worth all 500 of its glorious cents. After a one-hour and five-minute trip into the past (time zones, people), I arrived at TEH FUTUR.

In TEH FUTUR, I immediately ran into Eric and Adam from Volume, Inc., in San Francisco. We had a quick few minutes to catch up while finding bags and transportation, then we parted ways, only surely to be reunited again in TEH FUTUR’s future with beers in hand. Actually champagne, but that hasn’t happened yet.

After a lengthy (and not complimentary — thanks Hyatt) shuttle ride to the Hotel, I walked through the giant lobby surely meant to humble foreign heads of state and checked into my cozy room. Near the elevator, I spotted the grey beard and sharp smile of none other than AIGA Executive Director Ric Grefe. This is his show, really, so I popped my over to where he was having his shoes shined to say hello.

I also need to point out this gigantic blue bear. In TEH FUTUR, your bear wants a convention center.

So that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, less than an hour into TEH FUTUR, and all of the people I have run into so far have been guests on the Be A Design Cast. Makes a brother feel legit.

I busted over to 16th street and had a bite to eat at the Paramount Diner, right across the street from Nike Town and a giant Virgin Megastore. Then it was back to the hotel to freshen up for the Champagne Celebration, an evening honoring the recipients of the AIGA medal. If only I had any idea where that was…

Will Nate find the Champagne Celebration? Will Donovan ever make it to Denver to record a show? What does TEH FUTUR hold for our heroes? Tune in tomorrow to find out!