It’s Monday. More than that, it’s the Monday following CSUN ATC 2025, and the web is chock full of awesome takes, hot takes, and really bad takes. So I guess it’s time to add mine!

Here they are, no particular order. YMMV, experiences mine, yadda yadda.

The Conference

  1. The sheer amount of physical accessibility tech is incredible. Sony’s OTC hearing aids and retina-projection camera kit for low-vision users were the most interesting to me, but there was a dizzying array of physical products that are just so freakin’ awesome.
  2. Highcharts demoed charts with soundscapes. I didn’t think we could do whimsy on the web, but here we are.
  3. I liked the conference app well enough, I accept that as a conference attendee I will have to deal with some amount of advertising noise after. I did NOT like that I couldn’t tag multiple sessions for the same time slot; CSUN ATC is notorious for sessions being too full by the time you get there and no seats being left. So being able to indicate interest in different sessions would have been nice, since it would be easier to get to another choice in time. However, since there was a printed schedule/book, this did provide a use for my cute stickers from JetPens that I keep in my Hobonichi. I do hope in future years they will improve the app, though.
  4. I was a teensy bit uninpressed by most of the technical talks I saw. Either they were a little naive, or it was clear the idea wouldn’t scale, or it was a sales pitch talk whose abstract sounded like a technical talk. I would really like to see a conference at this scale with a solid technical track where talks were vetted first.
  5. I saw that a large company used Continuous Accessibility® in their talk title and that made me both happy and annoyed at the same time. Happy because YES THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING but annoyed because, really? I obtained the registered trademark for a reason. I’ve talked about doing it and the reasons why in a very open way. I even mention it on socials from time to time. At this point if you’re using it and not crediting it, I will just assume that you’re being purposefully obtuse. Maybe judge yourself a little bit, because we both know you know. Just ask.
  6. Some of the sessions were pretty good for giving you a feel for whether or not you are on the right track for the program you are trying to build where you work (although I think M-Enabling does a better job at this specifically). I especially liked the talk from JoAnna Hansen, Earning Trust with Effective Prioritization Frameworks; is was excellent in its pragmatism. Anyone who works at scale would benefit from hearing/reading this talk. She did a great job at explaining types of risk, and it was just super useful…and it’s also what I’m already doing and I liked the validation, TBQH.
  7. I would have really liked to have some in-depth technical conversations at this conference. It’s big enough for minds to meet but there’s barely time to say hi much less meet much less have in-depth technical discussions. Oh well.

The Experiences

  1. Glenda Sims in a carebear suit might be the best thing I’ve ever seen in this world. Maybe surprised kitten? but probably Glenda.
  2. Played a tabletop game with some old friends and new until way too late one night. 11/10, highly recommend.
  3. The number of people that do not understand that a company’s design system is probably not what is used for the brand’s dot com site was really surprising to me. Like, really surprising. Folks, unless it’s a small company, it’s probably not the same design system.
  4. There should be a different phrase for “nice to see you” because once you start thinking about it, it feels like a weird thing to say to someone with no vision. Eep.
  5. The number of consultants throwing shade at…other consultants…was way too high. Same team, y’all. Same team.
  6. It was great to see people I knew and do some catching up! It was also great to meet people IRL who I’ve only ever known online. I got to meet someone that moderated my talk at a virtual conference and that was kinda fun! Also, “oh you’re Melanie from the internet” is still my favorite thing for someone to say to me at a conference.
  7. Shoutout to the salesperson that totally sniped me on that massage gun. All that walking around and being on my feet and…okay. You got me. My wallet is lighter and I don’t even care. Good job!
  8. I had face masks with me and wore one when I felt like I needed to. But I also felt annoyed at the people who were definitely virtue signaling with their masks because lol that’s not what they are there for! I also felt bad for the people who just couldn’t be there because of long COVID or similar reasons.
  9. Rooms were very crowded. Too crowded. And that’s even in a year that felt light on attendees compared to other years I’ve attended. I am not sure what I would even suggest be done about this, but there has to be a better way.
  10. I was able to spend a little time chatting with Lainey Feingold about staying grounded right now. Her legal updates about digital accessibility were spot on. It was also pretty great to spend time chatting with someone whose work I respect and admire.

Some Travel and Location Notes

  1. It’s so weird that the location itself didn’t have a lot of food choices. I was kind of tired with burgers and tuna tartar by the end of the week.
  2. The GoPuff app is the delivery service app I use while travelling, that way I don’t fuck up my family’s routines & then Instacart or Doordash gets delivered to the wrong address (yes it’s happened). But that location had a dreadful selection, I ended up not using it and taking an Uber to go do a small shop instead. That was…mildly inconvenient.
  3. Marriott upgraded me to a “better” room than I reserved to thank me for whatever status I have with them. Only, the room they upgraded me to had no furniture other than the bed and the desk! It was so strange. When I called to ask about it, it got even more strange because they said, “there are no upgrades available.” Dude. I wasn’t asking for an upgrade, I was asking for that weird little uncomfortable sofa thing you put in all your rooms across the country. Maybe next time check to see if I want a “better” offer, because I’d rather have the tiny room and the weird little couch!
  4. Shoutout to the United Club employees at SNA who, when I checked in because I got to the airport way too early, noticed that I was on a flight that was going to be severely delayed due to 50mph winds in Chicago. They immediately called this out to me and helped me get on an earlier flight (which should have already left by the time I got there, but…delays!). I was still home later than expected but only by an hour or so, which is nothing if you’ve ever experienced ORD before. They were pretty great and I am grateful for this small mercy.
  5. I’m kind of tired of travel. It’s been such a race to the bottom and that’s even after reducing risk by reducing the brands I use. I just want it to be nice again.
  6. I’m happy to be home.

Until next time. -M