For a few years now, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Gel Conference, where people gather to talk about experience, perception and customer service.

One of this year’s speakers was mapmaker Connie Brown of Redstone Studios. Her one-off painted maps show not just geography but perspective. In her 20-minute presentation, she shows us how maps are both descriptive and opinionated. It’s worth watching, whether your preference is for the science or the art of cartography.

Enjoy.

Connie Brown, mapmaker, at Gel 2010 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

A really good session, in my opinion, is not about the how, it’s about the why. … A really good session, through arguments and examples, stories and slides, humor and deep thoughts, compels you to try something new. A great session exposes you to something you haven’t done before and inspires you to take action, change the way you do things.

— From “What I learned at An Event Apart Minneapolis” by Marc Drummond, via zeldman.com