We’re excited to announce that we’ve recently arranged to be a community sponsor for the forthcoming Blend Conference that’s taking place right here in our hometown from September 5th through the 7th. This is a cutting-edge conference, one that will showcase 50 speakers who will share their thoughts and opinions on user experience design, user interface design, and web development. So, basically, when it comes to all things web design, this is an experience that you certainly will not want to miss.

Organized by the Queen City’s own Bermon Painter, the conference promises to provide knowledge galore, with 40 talks spread across three tracks, plus a full day of hands-on workshops that will keep your gears turning. A ton of thought has gone into curating a diverse mix of speakers, as evidenced by the 50/50 male-to-female speaker ratio and wide range of disciplines covered.

And at AIGA Charlotte, we love irony. One of the conference rules is that no devices —that’s right, no laptops, tablets or phones—are to be used during the conference sessions. Don’t freak out. Seriously. You can handle it. The purpose of this is to promote conversation and collaboration between folks from all of the disciplines. Our forefathers did that anyway, right? (Seriously, they did.)

To learn more about the conference, head on over to Blend’s official website. There you’ll find a full list of speakers, venue details, and—if you’re an out-of-towner—a hotel option. We certainly hope to see you on the 5th.