Pinching ourselves as we say it, we are delighted and humbled to announce that we have been asked to deliver the keynote address at the Society of Illustrators Educators Symposium this fall in New York City.

I am equally delighted to announce that we said yes.

It is, without a doubt, our most prestigious speaking engagement to date. Now, all we have to do is not suck.

More than a century old, the Society is a venerable organization dedicated to promoting and supporting illustrators and illustration, celebrating the history of illustration, and providing programming and education for and by illustrators. It’s also a gorgeous building in Manhattan that features a gift shop, multiple galleries, meeting spaces, and a fabulous cafe.

The Educators Symposium is a biannual gathering of the men and women who teach illustration in colleges and universities across the country. They come together to listen and learn and network and have a little fun. Or, hopefully, a great deal of fun. We will do our best to set a tone.

We’ll have the stage for 90 minutes. We plan to start by using our story as a lens for looking at the three modes of collaboration we encounter most often in our creative lives. Then we’ll do a collaborative group exercise—making microflash picture books together—before attempting to unpack the underlying mechanisms of collaboration so that others can leverage it in their classrooms and creative lives.

That’s the plan, anyway. Now all we have to to is figure out what to say.

If you are an illustrator or an educator or an educator of illustrators or an illustrator of educators, we would love to see you at the Symposium. I think it’s going to be an incredible weekend. Click here to buy your ticket.