I’m writing this from the US, where I’ve been in San Francisco for Solid.

My talk – A Lamppost Is A Thing Too was a revision of the talk I gave at FutureEverything. However, I expanded a section at the end about what civic connected objects could be and showed Columba, a prototype of a connected wayfinding device for hire bikes.

I’m hoping to get a version of the text online in the next week or two, as I don’t think I’m going to be delivering that talk in that precise form again.

Otherwise, I’ve been bathing in sessions and catching up with old friends – as well as lots of new faces I’ve met at the conference. As ever with these events, the value emerges a bit later. I go to conferences to have new thoughts, not to remember what other people tell me. There’s been some really strong sessions, especially on Thursday (the second day) – and a lovely time talking to Richard Isaacs of Fisk about organs and organbuilding.

The only other frustrating news this week is that it looks like Bardon had fallen through. A shame; it would have been an interesting project, but this is all part of planning, and the pipeline should take account of it. So it’s worth mentioning I’m definitely available for work from early June; if you’ve got a project that might suit (keywords: web applications, ‘creative technology’, interaction design, connected objects) do get in touch.

And now, the out-of-office is on, and I’m on vacation for Week 85. Back shortly.