If I wasn’t morally opposed to exclamation marks this headline would defintely have one, because that’s how excited we are about the AIGA Design Conference in New Orleans, which kicks off just one month from today. I can’t think of a better time to visit the city (avoid the heat of the summer, skip Mardi Gras madness, less tourists = more beignets for me, etc.) or a better reason: our annual conference.

There’s still time to get your pass and book your flight, which are actually super reasonable. If you can’t make it we’ll be live tweeting @AIGAdesign and hosting videos of the main stage speakers on aiga.org in the days that follow. But if you want to hear a seriously incredible line up of speakers extoll brilliantly on a slew of thought-provoking topics, from NASA and hyperreality to the future of design education, practice, and its role in social change—plus be part of the excitement of Command X, the Emerging Designers Symposium, the Design Fair, roundtables, workshops, the always entertaining Type Quiz, as well as nightly film screenings, parties, and cocktail hours where you can mingle with your design heroes and new friends.

Live tweeting is great and all, but there’s a lot you just can’t experience on your feed. So join us in NOLA, why don’t you, and when it’s over we’ll celebrate together at the sure-to-be-epic closing party at Mardi Gras World (where the city houses its crazy Mardi Gras parade floats) and toast the winner of the lively Shutterstock “Pixels of Fury” live design competition. Here’s that registration link again. See you there.