The sure-to-be-scintillating “New Frontiers of Graphic Design” panel discussion is fast approaching. Next Thursday evening, designers, creative directors, marketers, branding junkies, and design lovers will converge on Tribeca Cinemas in New York City to hear from Heidi Dangelmaier, Doug Jaeger, Chris Rubino, and Felix Sockwell about the opportunities and anxieties driving design today. How is the the role of old-school design fundamentals evolving in the age of Illustrator? What’s changing in the way marketing and professionals work with designers? What’s new, innovative, and unexpected? This is your chance to find out.

We’ve got two pairs of tickets to bestow upon the readers who send us the best design-themed haikus. (Haiku insta-lesson: Three phrases/lines of five, seven, and five syllables, respectively.) As you know, “design-themed” is a terribly elastic phrase, so be creative: an ode to a favorite (or particularly evil) typeface, a laconic love note to Steven Heller, a minimalist magazine design critique, whatever strikes your fancy. E-mail your design haiku to unbeige@mediabistro.com (subject: Contest) no later than this Monday, March 23. Those who have an aversion to contests and/or Japanese poetry can buy tickets the old-fashioned way: by clicking here, and as an UnBeige reader, you can save $25 by entering the discount code TW25.