Some IPAY Inspiration

I was MIA most of January between both APAP and IPAY - the first being the industry's huge national conference and the second being my niche conference for youth programming.

IPAY this year was in gorgeous sunny hip Austin, TX.  Seriously, who knew Austin was TX?  It's like a red headed stepchild (or maybe blue headed?) in the otherwise red state.  So fun, so hip, full of young and old alike but you totally picked up an artsy vibe immediately.  The city's slogan is "Keep Austin Weird."  Well, that was enough for me!

The weather for January was in the 50s (lows) through the mid-70s (highs) and I walked for miles schlepping from the hotel to the theaters to the funky shops, to just exploring the walking trails along the river.  I wish I could have seen and explored more but I'm happy to have seen the little bit of U of TX at Austin, the see south Congress St and take it in like a local, and dine out at authentic BBQ and Tex Mex joints.

Below are some pics I took from the first "showcase I saw" -- more like an exhibition.  Architects of Air out of the UK create these amazing sculptures that you walk through. This was my favorite, probably because I couldn't stop photographing every square foot of it.  It was an abstract artist's dream.