Adobe and Xerox sponsored me to set up a booth and draw cartoons at the 2nd Annual Print Buyers Conference Nov. 7 & 8 in Westford, Ma. The event was hosted by Margie Dana's Print Buyers International. Print Buyers Conference Above is the cartoon I drew of Margie Dana. We originally met at one of Xerox's Thought Leadership Workshop where I was also drawing cartoons of attendees. Margie commissioned me to draw her cartoon/caricature for her website and other promotional material. Now, tell me she doesn't have a face cartoonists dream of sketching? All those curls , the funky glasses and big bright smile. I tell ya, it sure beats drawing all those boring corporate bald guys. :^) None of this would have happened had my old RIT buddy Mike Riebesehl not introduced me to Bob Wagner, VP at Xerox Creative Services Business and Premier Partners Program. If Margie Dana is the most charming person, then Bob Wagner is the most generous person I've ever met. His positive energy is contagious accept when it comes to his baseball team. :^) In The Balance BlogThe poster was kind of a Where's Waldo type of image. Margie wanted me to try and capture the festive atmosphere of her trade show while showcasing some of the seminars, lectures and sponsors. That's me in the bottom right corner sketching away with my buddy Mike taking pics. Margie's a Redsox fan and we were in the heart of Red Sox nation so Bob had his tail between his legs somewhat. Did I mention I'm a long suffering Pittsburgh Pirate fan..... :^(I have to thank my friends at Adobe, Robin Tobin and Harry Miller for their generous sponsorship that made this all possible. That's Robin and Harry at their Adobe booth. They also were nice enough to include CS3 of which I used Photoshop to create these cartoons.A little over a year ago Bob asked me if I'd like to draw cartoons of attendees at some of Xerox's local 2 day seminars. On our first attempt, I started by drawing quick cartoons of the attendees "live" during the cocktail hour. After a couple cartoons, I realized most of the attendees would rather drink with their friends than sit in front of a nervous cartoonist. So, I broke out my digital camera, took a quick picture, asked them what their hobby was and tried to keep an accurate list so the names and hobbies matched the digital faces. Easier said than done! Wacom let me demo the beautiful Cintiq 21UX at the Print Buyers Conf. I'm telling all illustrators right here and now. If you like digital tablets, you will LOVE the WACOM CINTIQ UX !!! I've been using the Wacom Intuos 2 graphics tablet for years and there's no comparison. It's like drawing on a fine French silk paper- love it! After I drew a quick cartoon, we then printed it on the Xerox Phaser 7760 Color Laser Printer which is pictured above.I averaged around 15 mins. on each cartoon. But , I also enjoyed working the crowd as the attendees lined up for their personalized cartoon. I must admit it was a lot of fun and a great networking opportunity with all the creative types. Before I knew it, I had a list of over 40 names and I started to do the math realizing I'd be up all night in the hotel room drawing. But, that's my life in a nutshell, burning the midnight oil. But we still had happy hour and dinner with the keynote speakers, which I couldn't miss... ;^)````After staying up till 5 a.m. and finishing most of the cartoons, I made it back to the booth and we printed the finished images using a template with the assorted credits. The attendees came by the booth by 10am to pick up their personalized cartoon. The above cartoon is of Frank Romano, one of the keynote speakers, who apparently has a life long fear of flying.I always liked attendees with bizarre hobbies. Valerie Safai said she enjoyed going on African safari photo shoots and throwing spears. I'm not sure what she throws spears at, but it made for an interesting image. For those who don't know, I hide a little character I call "Harri" in most of my drawings. I didn't do a very good job hiding Harri in this one. Another interesting attendee was Hans Andresan, a quiet German printer who claimed he liked observing semi-naked art. And I had to include art director Greg Ryan, from Indiana and his dead pan photo pose of him at his easel. It was a bit hectic, but we fired up the Xerox Phaser and printed all the cartoons. And by 10am the attendees stopped by the booth to pick up their personalized present. Although I had to boogie out of Boston right after we finished printing, I think the smiling faces tell the story. Thanks Margie, for the best darn trade show I've ever attended and/or worked and for hooking me up with my ol' buddy Stanley!! Looking forward to next year! Conference Link