That’s an amusing coincidence, military people ans SoTA mentioned in a same message. Sota in Finnish means war.

I’m SO envious of all you who went to Typecon 2007. Glad to hear it was a success.

It was! :-) Now I must sleep...

It was excellent! Congratulations to everyone that made it happen.
I’m already looking forward to next year. (Even have a couple ideas for workshops already!)

It was my first one and I didn’t miss a talk. For the most part, each talk offered something thought-provoking, stimulating, informative or funny (sometimes all of the above). Just two highlights for me were:1) Bill Hill’s (Microsoft) inspiring talk about the Digital Renaissance we’re all part of. If this is the guy Bill Gates wants to keep dreaming about the future of digital typography, then I may have to revise my feelings about that company. 2) The talk by Mexican Font designers Gabriel Martínez Meave and Leonardo Vázquez Conde was an informative and eye-opening look about the history and vitality of the Mexican type community. I want to learn a lot more about those designers.

Tamye and the gang, including ’Stewf’ Coles, did a great job of planning it and keeping it moving right along. The Typophile Film Festival 4 was sensational. ’Helvetica’, the movie, is a must see if you get the chance.

It was terrific to finally meet so many Typophiles I have only ’seen’ online before, but we really need a better way to spot each other. I have no idea how many of you I missed because I couldn’t read the last names on the badges unless you were inside someone’s personal space. That was really my only complaint.

- Mike Yanega

The talk by Mexican Font designers Gabriel Martínez Meave and Leonardo Vázquez Conde was an informative and eye-opening look about the history and vitality of the Mexican type community.

I want those guys to write a book, and I want it to be the first in a series. That talk was my favorite!

> but we really need a better way to spot each other

Perhaps printing the Typophile avatar on the badge :)

Or at least the user name.

What was surprising was the amount of people who have never even heard of Typophile. There were a couple of local AIGA guys here, pretty nice guys, who knew next to nothing about this forum.

But again, the amount of people who DO participate here was also surprising. Most of the type designers participate, exceptions being people like Matthew Carter and John Downer.

The other thing that was surprising was how familiar and friendly the entire type community is with each other. Competitors and rivals are friends and compatriots, all with the twofold goals of learning and having fun. Newcomers are treated as if old friends, and even the old-timers have time to sit and chat with students who haven’t even had a full year’s worth of design.

Bravo!

Newcomers are treated as if old friends, and even the old-timers have time to sit and chat with students who haven’t even had a full year’s worth of design.

Agreed. Type designers are some of the friendliest and most humble folks I have ever come across.

My First TypeCon® was everything I hoped it would be. SOTA and the volunteers pulled off the very difficult job of making a complicated event appear to go off without a hitch. As Dan says (hi Dan!), the friendly vibe really was a highlight, along with finally putting a face to folks like Stewf, Tamye, Kent Lew, Mark Simonson, Nick Shinn, William Berkson and more.

I’m looking forward to Buffalo next year!

I second the suggestion that Gabriel and Leonardo write a book. In fact, I told them that, and suggested they do one on the palaeography, one on the more recent history, and a new one (in a few years) about the current wave of digital type designers from Mexico. Their presentation was amazing.

Thanks to them and to everyone who traveled far (and endured tiresome travel delays) to participate, and especially to the SOTA board who all spent incredible energy and time to make things exciting and informative. This really was the best TypeCon I’ve been to.

I’m still amazed at the fact that a picture of a fish was shown by Gabriel to mean Cocoa. I mean, dammit, it’s a fish! But it phonetically spells out cocoa!

Those guys must have been geniuses.

Hi Marc!

It is amazing how SOTA pulls off so much work with a volunteer army.

Not only a volunteer army, but a volunteer army that isn’t composed entirely of Type nerds. Most of the rest of the volunteers were university students with very little knowledge of type or type design, or of the major players involved.

Marc, I am sorry I missed meeting you. I especially wanted to meet to Type ID Board folks that were there.

- Mike Yanega

Thanks TypeCon Seattle, thanks all exciting type guys, and thanks all volunteers.
I really enjoyed this conference. I was not good at English but all participants were really kind to me.
I’m gonna leave Seattle tomorrow but I’ll never forget this TypeCon.
I hope to go to Buffalo next year. I love TypeCon!