LA Flash Celebrates 6 Years!

Join Artisan Creative as it sponsors the April Meeting of the LA Flash Users Group (LAFU) where LA Flash (the world’s large Adobe user group) celebrates their 6th Anniversary! 

When: Wednesday April 15th
Where: The Rich Media Institute @ 525 Venezia Avenue, Venice, CA 90291
Time: 7 - 11:30pm
Cost: Free

What’s planned:
There will be two great talks, a restoration of the classic ‘crit’ session and plenty of networking time.  Also - for the first time ever - there will be an open-entry to IRON LAFLASHER (come-one, come-all and try your hand for a shot at a free copy of CS4)!

TALK 1: Duct Tape, Bubble Gum and New User Experiences - Advantages of Prototyping for Clients and Co-Workers
Andrew Keegan the manager of the Advanced Interaction Group at Schematic will be discussing the uses and advantages of prototyping during different stages of development. Real project samples will be shown, as well as a series of rad experimental prototypes dealing with the emerging user experience changes brought on by mutli-touch, gesture, camera recognition, and physical computing technologies.

TALK 2: Flash Developers Guide to building iPhone Applications
Adam Venturella, Senior Software Engineer at Blitz, will explain and demonstrate how to go about making your first iPhone applications with Objective C. This talk is similar to the one Adam delivered at MAX ‘08. Adam is one of the agencys in-house experts in database driven content and developing Web applications. He is responsible in managing BLITZs most challenging projects and takes charge of planning, architecture, integration and development of gadgets, widgets and full Web sites through final client delivery. Well familiar with the latest technologies, application trends, programming techniques and languages, Adam effectively translates a clients business goals into executable back-end applications.

IRON LA FLASHER III
The thrill of victory! The agony of defeat! The human drama that is IRON LA FLASHER! Perhaps you’ll recall the drubbing Noah ‘The Hammer’ Dziobecki doled out at IRON FLASHER I, or the remarkable creativity Jon ‘Yeah, I did that’ Ruppel demonstrated in IRON LA FLASHER II. The rules are simple. Show up with a laptop, get your ‘ingredients’ from R, and then build Flash for three hours.

Well now, for the first time, IRON LA FLASHER will not be restricted to just three competitors. Instead, it’s open to EVERYONE!!! Anyone who wants to compete this year, can! And, while we can’t disclose the ‘ingredients’ in advance, we will say that this year is also structured to allow people to submit multiple entries, instead of spending the entire time on one project (alternatively, you can quickly submit one entry and then return to the meeting).

All types of Flashers are encouraged to compete this year. While, the previous two contests rewarded coding skills, this one will be much more freeform. If you’re a great motion designer, then your submissions can illustrate that. If you’re an outstanding animator, then your submissions can illustrate that. In short, this year’s IRON LA FLASHER is meant for ANY AND ALL MEMBERS!!!

To enter IRON LA FLASHER III, email with the subject line ‘IRON’, including your contact information in the body of the email.

CRIT SESSION
For those of you who have been long-time LA Flashers, you’ll likely recall the regular critique, or ‘crit’ sessions led by our fearless former co-leader, Elliot Mebane. We are incredibly happy to welcome Elliot back for a restoration of the crit. Elliot will lead a fun, dynamic and harmless group discussion of a series of web experiences, some of which Elliot will pick, and some of which will be from our fearless members! Do you want to have your work ‘critted’? Well, email with the subject line ‘CRIT ME’, and explain what project you want to have discussed at the meeting.

RAFFLE & NETWORKING
As usual, there will also be a raffle & networking time for you to announce job positions and make the next big deal with your colleagues or peers.

Can’t make it?  Don’t worry!  We will be webcasting the meeting so you can attend it remotely, from any computer with a Flash Player and broadband connection. Email with the subject line ‘RSVP’ and you will receive login instructions prior to the meeting.

Hope to see you there!