Friday was my first day with a Platinum badge at this enormous conference full of talks, learning, celebrities, films, and music.

I’m anti-FOMO at the most FOMO-inducing event in the interaction design conference circuit. I decided to do quite a bit of planning ahead of time in order to have a low-anxiety experience. I leveraged the workshop RSVPs, chose the talks to use my SXXpress passes on, and made back up plans for the popular events. Here’s what the week’s overview looked like:

And here’s my Friday details:

So Friday was all about the opening keynote: Brenè Brown! And the Us premiere that night.

Brenè was wonderful to hear in person. She exudes authenticity through be vulnerable on stage and speaking her truth. She spoke about belonging and I felt every word of that talk in my soul.

Notes from Brenè’s talk.

I spent some time in Amazon’s Garden of Earthly Delights (to promote Good Omens). It was a beautifully produced experience. I tweeted about it, and my life was made when Neil Gaiman retweeted it!

I ended the night at the Us world premiere with Jordan Peele and cast in attendance, watching themselves on the screen with us, and taking questions after. It is so amazing to be with an artist or creator, to experience their work with them, and feel their pride in what they’ve done. What an honor to attend.

It was amazing first day for the conference and one I’ll never forget!