I wanted to call this post ‘Rut Removal’ (but as every blogger knows, opaque or clever titles get you nowhere in the blogosphere) – because along with the cold dark days and nights here in central NY comes the familiar winter cabin fever and accompanying professional rut. Happily, I had the good fortune this month to enjoy a fabulous get-away to far-flung Ecuador. I’ll save the photos and travel recos for a Facebook update; suffice to say, getting out into unfamiliar territory, being exposed to fresh visuals and culture was just the kick in the pants I needed.

I vow to keep it up. My business new years resolution is to get out more and attend more events. Spend more time in New York City, which I miss greatly. Meet people, learn, grow, invigorate, and bring it all back to my design studio to enervate my design work and my business practices.

So far on my list of conferences and events is the HOW Design Conference, in Denver in June, the Creative Freelancers Conference, also offered by HOW; the BRITE Conference at Columbia U (Branding, Innovation & Technology – I went last year and it was great); the Go Green Expo at the Javits Center in NYC in March; and in the immediate near future, the Empire State Tourism Conference in Albany next week. The only one I’m definitely committed to at this point is BRITE, but the others are on my calendar and I plan to decide soon.

Obviously my choices are based not only on my industry (graphic design & branding), but also the sectors I specialize in: food, wine, tourism, sustainability/green.

What events will you be attending this year? Have you attended events in the past that you loved and want to recommend? I’d love to hear from you.

One additional thought: my *other* New Years resolution – by the way – is to reinvigorate my blog by writing more, and more consistently. So on that note, see you back here soon!