I’m heading to Macworld/iWorld Expo in San Francisco next week. I love this show because even though most of the exhibitors are showing stuff I’d never need (a bazillion different iphone and ipad cases, gadgets that turn your Mac into a kitchen sink), there are a few really great companies that show up and this is my one chance to see them face-to-face. Plus, there are wonderful tips and tricks at the sessions and loads of old friends.

I’ve been speaking for the past few years on InDesign topics, but this year I’m doing something totally different: I’m giving a 45-minute talk based on my new popular science book, Spectrums: Our Mind-Boggling Universe From Infinitesimal to Infinity. Should be fun. (If you can’t make it to Macworld, you can see a very rough video of me giving a similar talk on youtube.)

Anyway, for those who are going to the Expo, here’s a list of the booths that you certainly shouldn’t miss:

• Adobe (booth #MacIT S4) will be there, but probably not in a huge booth as they have been in the past.
• E Ink (booth 341), the makers of eInk hardware used in most readers, such as the Kindle and Kobo.
• Readdle (booth 641) has what I consider one of the best PDF readers for the iPad, PDF Expert.
• Recosoft (booth 749) will be showing their innovative PDF and InDesign related solutions, such as PDF2Office, PDF2ID (which does PDF-to-InDesign and PDF-to-IDML conversion), and ID2Office (which converts InDesign to Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint files). They are also highlighting their new “PDF2Office for iPad” app — an iOS app that literally converts PDF files to MS Office files (e.g. MS Word) on the iPad! I saw a demo and it’s cool.

I would also highly recommend people check out:

• AgileBits (in the Appalooza area) to see 1Password
• Code 42 Software (MacIT P2 or booth 502) to see CrashPlan
• Fujitsu (booth 610) to see what’s new with ScanSnap scanners
• IRIS (booth 535) to see if they have any cool new scanners

And, of course, there are some great sessions to learn from, including:

• eBook Production with Adobe InDesign (Hal Hinderliter; Wednesday pre-conference tutorial, 10 am – 5 pm)
• Multipurposing Design: Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop: Web and Print for Mobile and eReader (with Andrew Shalat; Wednesday pre-conference tutorial, 10 am – 5 pm)
• The iPad for Photographers: Rate, Tag, Edit, and Publish Photos from the Field (Jeff Carlson; Friday, 2-2:45 pm)

Keep your eye out for me and say hi if you spot me! I’ll come back and report if I find anything new and exciting y’all should know about.