Carsonified.

Carsonified is hosting a contest to win an all-expense paid trip to any Carsonified event, and all you have to do is write a blog post about why you want to win the prize and get 25 comments on that post.

I’d say that this post was my entry for the contest, but in all honesty, getting 25 comments on any post on this blog would be a bit of a stretch. So while I’d appreciate it if you could leave a comment so that I can qualify for the contest, I’m not forcing you to comment if you don’t feel as though you have anything to say. The comments on i tell stories are for you, not for me.

I do, however, want to tell you why I’d love to go to another Carsonified event.

Last year, I had the opportunity to attend the Future of Web Design conference in New York. There, I met some wonderful people, saw some amazing speakers, and learned a whole lot.

The highlight of the conference, however, was not the speakers or workshops or even the parties. It was meeting one of my heroes — someone whose work continues to inspire me on a daily basis — after a session: Bronwyn Jones.

I’m not going to gush about Bronwyn here because I do enough of that already. Instead, I want to thank Ryan Carson and his team for facilitating that connection by creating an event where influential people in the industry (like Bronwyn) can interact and exchange ideas with common people like me.

That’s the real reason I want to go to a Carsonified event: to connect with people I would normally never have the chance to interact with on a regular basis. That golden ticket sure would be nice.

(Photo of Bronwyn by Ryan Sims.)

Yup, Bronwyn is my hero

So you know that post I wrote today where I said that Steve Jobs was wrong when he said that reading was dead? Well, as much as that post came from my heart, it wasn’t really the best post I have ever written.

What I really wish I had written, instead, was something akin to what Bronwyn Jones wrote on her site today. Here’s a great gem from her post:

If the Kindle fails, it won’t be because it’s ugly or because it uses only one font or because people don’t read anymore. It will fail because of a lack of imagination. The book was a fucking great idea. Seriously ace. Thank you, Aldus Manutius, you 15th-century Venetian crazy genius. The Kindle is not a unique idea, nor does it improve on Manutius’s really great idea.

Bronwyn is one of my heroes, and has been for a long time. Not only is she one of the best writers I have ever read — which she definitely is — but the way she crafts her thoughts is enlightening and inspirational.

There are very few people that inspire me like Bronwyn Jones, and I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to tell her that in person. (Aside from her amazing writing, she’s also a wonderful person.) If you don’t subscribe to her blog, you’re missing out on some of the greatest word-craft you’ll ever witness on the web.

Subscribe, enjoy, and thank me later.