Why An Event Apart is Awesome

Last year I convinced my supervisor to send me to An Event Apart in Washington DC. The conference was approved and I was excited to learn from best minds in the industry. I attended the first day, but couldn’t make it to the second day. I had to drive back to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to pay my last respect to my aunt who lost her life to cancer.

Looking at the schedule for An Event Apart Washington DC this year, I wanted to go again, but the school doesn’t have a budget for it. So I contacted the organizers, explained to them the situation, pointed them to a tweet I posted last year, and asked if I could attend one day of the conference this year to make up for last year. If one day is not possible, could I just attend Jonathan Hoefler’s presentation?

If the organizers turn down my request, I would understand completely. Business is business, but I did’t think it would hurt for me to reach out to them. Less than 12 hours, I received a respond stating that they make an exception for me this time even though they don’t typically allow attendees to transfer part of their pass to another event.

I was in awed and grateful that they would make the exception. Again, they had no obligation to do it and I would be fine if they said no, but they have shown that An Event Apart is not just about making money. I respect them for that.