UNM Continuing Education held its 4th Annual Digital Arts Conference on March 7, at our campus in Albuquerque. This year’s conference was titled The Road to Creative Success.
Attendees arrived around 7:45. They enjoyed a buffet breakfast, spent some time networking, and visited exhibitors. Attendees entered the auditorium around 9:00, then were inspired by Robin Williams’ Keynote address: The Best of Both Worlds in Design—Hand Made and Digital, and Joey Belville’s General Session: The Magic of Digital Audio.
Attendees chose one of three di
scussions for each breakout session. Digital Arts reporters attended each session, here are some thoughts on three of the nine sessions:
First Breakout Session:
The Latest in High Dynamic Range Photography – Joanne Schmidt
Joanne Schmidt’s presentation focused on technique. She talked about how to take HDR photos, necessary equipment features, and software differences between the canonical Photoshop and Photomatix Pro for making HDR images. She also gave out a few secrets. To get started with photo-editing, come to our infoByte session this Thursday, March 19, from 5-6:30pm, and don’t forget to enroll in Beginning Photoshop or Photoshop Elements this Summer.
Second Breakout Session:
The Photographer’s Guide to New Mexico –Efrain Padro
Photographer Efrain Padro’s presentation centered on New Mexico’s visual greatness. In addition to his remarks about being in the photography business, Efrain talked about many regions of New Mexico, and the images those locations afforded his newly published book. Photographers looking for a great way to meet people and explore New Mexican locations might want to take a tour through Story of New Mexico.
Third Breakout Session:
Real World Marketing Success: Bridging Old and New Media – Mary Ellen Merrigan
Mary Ellen runs the ProfitMeister blog. In her presentation, she connected local New Mexican businesses to examples of what she calls the four channels, and delineated the positive and negative sides of bridging Web marketing methods with physical marketing methods. One case study that really sticks in my mind is the example of the Slate Street Café owner’s ability to connect her advertisements to her work practice, then connect those foundations to an article in a nationally syndicated magazine. According to Mary Ellen, the restaurateur’s attempts paid off and her restaurant has seen the results of her hard work and smart thinking. Mary Ellen also spoke briefly on generational issues in marketing with old and new media, Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In. Mary Ellen Merrigan teaches Marketing: Building the Buzz for Your Art; Social Media: Blogs, Facebook and Linked-In; and The New Social Web for Visibility at our campus in Albuquerque.
Conference exhibitors included Sony Pictures Image Works Interactive, the Albuquerque Film Office, Media Arts Collaborative Charter School, as well as others who provided demonstrations with equipment and techniques.
Overall this year’s Digital Arts Conference has been a huge success. We hope you enjoyed it too, and that you will join us next year. Please feel free to drop a line if you have requested topics for 2010.
Blogs and Articles relating to the Digital Arts Conference:
City of Albuquerque’s Announcement
Click here to see more images from the Digital Arts Conference.
The UNM Continuing Education Digital Arts Program will be hosting an exciting one-day conference, exploring current topics and trends in graphic design, web design, digital photography, filmmaking, and animation. Attendees will enjoy a special keynote presentation by Robin Williams, a general session speaker, breakout sessions, exhibitors, including Sony Pictures ImageWorks Interactive, and meals, including breakfast buffet, lunch, and snacks.
Maggie Macnab, UNM Continuing Education instructor and one of our workshop presenters for the Digital Arts Conference on March 1, 2008, recently attended the 2007 Icograda World Design Congress in Havana, Cuba.
The other distinctive quality was a setting with no visual pollution from advertisements — no storefronts other than a few bars, restaurants and hotels — no McDonalds, Starbucks, or Gap. Read more in Maggie’s online article about her eight days in Cuba: 
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