Erik Falat from Likeminds presented a session titled Motion United at Flashforward2006 Seattle. Erik sent us this interview just as the conference was starting, and in the ensuing chaos we forgot to post it. Here it is now, and if it makes you wish you had seen his session, you can download his presentation notes (PDF).

Thanks again Erik!

Flashforward: Can you introduce yourself briefly?

Erik Falat: Picture a setting sun, the silhouette of a man on horseback sauntering off onto the tumbleweed highway of contemporary digital design… after nearly 10 years of interactive and motion graphic production experience, no one knows what to call him — sometimes genius, sometime huckster. Only you can decide for yourself so step right up…

FF: Tell us a bit about your session, and why people will want to attend.

EF: The session will explore how the thread of motion, how the simple transformation of sensory feedback and the way it conveys information connects and extends the disciplines of interactive, motion and industrial design. Big picture: look outside your discipline, think outside your medium — for either inspiration or technical knowhow. Killer work from heavy hitters deepPlay, Resfest and physical interactive designers will be shown for all to bear witness. Small picture: motion advice, how to use motion, how not to, tips on the applications, class kits and devices to be checking out.  

FF: Are you using any new features of Flash 8 that you’d like to share?

EF: Type. Finally. 

FF: What projects do you have in the pipeline?

EF: Converse.com.

FF: What inspires you these days?

EF: Come to my talk.

FF: Care to share what excites you about Flashforward or the Film Festival?

EF: The anticipation. It’s all about the anticipation. 

FF: Any sessions that you’re looking forward to attending?

EF: Yes :) Hillman, Gabe Kean especially…

FF: Any parting words to encourage people to attend your session and/or the conference?

EF: Yes. This conference is what _you_ make it. It will only be as valuable to you as what you put into it. Don’t be shy. Talk to as many people as you can. Buy strangers a drink. Start an argument. And have fun!

* * * * *

Bio: Erik Falat has been developing interactive solutions in Portland, OR since 1996. Working for agencies such as deepPlay, Paris France, and Plazm Media, he has developed major online initiatives for Molson, Virgin, Adidas/Bonfire Snowboarding, Allied Works Architecture, Wieden + Kennedy Advertising, Allsteel Office, Wil Vinton, Nike, The Museum of Modern Art, and many others. Erik’s work has won numerous awards including a One Show Gold Pencil, several Flash® Film Festival awards, among others. Over the past 10 years his work has also been regularly featured in local and national publications, including books, newspapers, magazines, and digital periodicals, including Communication Arts Online. Erik is presently researching and developing full human-scale interactive systems, and speaking regularly around North America on the evolution of the interactive medium.

Let us be the last to tell you about this week’s (non-PSP) Flash Player updates:

Security Update — for most of you this means upgrading from 8.0.22 to 8.0.24, but check the Security Bulletin to see which other products are affected.

Intel Mac preview update — There’s also a new version of the Universal Binary preview release for Intel Macs (8.0.27). It includes the above security updates plus additional fixes. Because this is still a preview release it is not available on the main download page. See the TechNote for details.

An exciting tidbit half-hidden behind the disappointing “PS3 in November” news from Sony earlier this morning: an official Flash solution for PSP is coming this spring!

Needless to say, we’re giddy at the thought. Will it be Flash Lite 2, as recently rumored, or something else? Apparently we’ll all know soon!

Editorial follows…

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Nominations are open for the Flashforward2006 Austin Film Festival. Whether it’s your work or one you admire, we count on you to tell us about the best Flash on the web. Nominations will close on June 23.

Nominate a Flash Site!

Long-time Festival watchers may notice that we have made some changes to the categories — for the first time in three years!

Some of the changes are simply different names and more detailed descriptions, but there are two important differences:

• We removed the Experimental category. We felt that it overlapped with both the Art and Technical Merit categories, and that any work suitable for Experimental would also fit well in one or both of those.

• We added the Experience category. We heard from many of you that your work strove to excel on all levels, and did not specialize enough to be fairly recognized in any of the niche categories available. The Experience category should accommodate sites like this:

Experience - A work for any purpose which is exemplary in more than one discipline and delivers an overall extraordinary user experience.

If you still feel your work is not represented by any of the fifteen available categories, nominate it for the best one(s) available and let us know what different categories you would like to see in the future. And if you’re interested in joining the team of Festival judges, get in touch!

One more plug for the Seattle finalists and winners… an amazing body of work!

The images above are close-ups of the award arrows, taken by Lynda Weinman and Chris Orwig, respectively. Click their names to be taken to their respective galleries from Flashforward2006 Seattle.

Flashforward is accepting session proposals for the 2006 Austin conference. If the latest developments in the Flash landscape have reinvigorated your work, and you want to share your knowledge and enthusiasm with equally passionate peers, then we’d love the chance to work with you.

Proposal Form: www.flashforwardconference.com/speaker_proposal

Anyone may submit proposals, for as many ideas as you have. The primary subject of the conference is, of course, Flash, but we welcome topics about any design or technology subject that might interest the Flash community.

The deadline is April 7, so take a look at the form, compose your ideas, and let us know soon!