There has always been something special about that place for me — when I met Maxine and John at SXSW in 2005, I found two people with whom I immediately connected and provided me speaking opportunities on the world stage. Now, they have become great friends, and even business partners — Dave Shea and I brought Web Directions North to Canada with John’s and Maxine’s support and guidance.

My schedule is pretty open while in Sydney — a full-day workshop on Tuesday, and then a session in the main conference on Thursday. This is good — I get my speaking out of the way early and have time to enjoy the rest of the conference rather than my usual routine of scrambling to add slides to my presentation after seeing all the other sessions on the first day. Yes, I obsess over my presentations and sweat right up until the last minute.

I’ll also be at WebJam — this sounds über-cool — 18 presenters with 3 minutes each to show off their hottest web work.

Add to all of this the chance to reconnect with old friends and to meet new ones, and I can’t help but think this trip will be anything but special. Please come up and say “hi!” I’d love to chat with you about your work or play. If you want to talk WaSP, rugby, triathlon or anything else, count me in — it is all about the conversations!