Letter from the Board of Directors

December 2008

Hello fellow practitioners!

In the past 60 days I had the opportunity to take a closer look at the IA Institute and observe how it operates, recognize where some opportunities are and identify some of the challenges that we need to overcome.

It was a very edifying process, but a gruesome activity. Did you know our websites and service run on 26 different Movable Type blogs (version 2.6.6.1 from 2004)? Me neither. It's magic what our volunteers were able to accomplish by hacking and patching that system; mad mad skills, I tell you.

Apart from technical marvels, that discovery process allowed me to think about what the Institute means to me and what it can mean to us in the future.

In recent years I had become more distant from the Institute and also noticed that many of my peers become more detached and less involved with the activities associated with it. I wondered what that meant.

This November was the 6th anniversary of the IAI. I was disappointed that we as a community didn't remember or see the need to celebrate. That's when I understood why I had drifted away myself: I just didn't recognize the Institute as the face of our community of practice anymore.

Thinking about this I re-visited http://info-arch.org and was immediately reminded of where we came from. That was a time when our community was blooming with energy and we were screaming for action. Very talented and dedicated people came together, and out of that desire to evolve our practice, to raise awareness and understanding for what we do and to help move our profession forward, created a thriving international organization that brought our community together.

There was a strong vision from the get-go and progress was palpable. At any time I was involved, whether it was translating an article, mentoring a new professional or helping out during a local event, I knew I was making a difference in our community. It was a pleasure to spend the time and see others contributing as well.

Over the years, we have collectively established ourselves as practitioners and, along with our careers and the paths we have chosen, our needs have evolved. Many have drifted apart because they don't feel the Institute is supporting their individual needs anymore. Others still feel great affinity for what the Institute represents to (and for) this community and continue to be involved and volunteer.

Today we have a great opportunity and an even bigger challenge. We can turn this organization into exactly what we need it to be. And not only for our current set of circumstances, but also for the future. We have matured along with our practice and we need an organization that can continue to support a mature and growing practice while helping a new generation of practitioners join the job market.

Let's make the Information Architecture Institute the place that connects the legacy of our community and our professional future. Speak out now: What do you need? What do you want? How can you help? How can you be helped?

We must understand what our collective needs are in order to continue to build an organization that is relevant and sustainable. The Institute exists to provide infrastructure and build bridges across and beyond our community. Use those assets; tell the Institute what you need that isn’t there today. Let’s ensure the energy and resources from the Institute are used towards the things that really matter to you.

You can use the discussion list, our website, Twitter, our Get Satisfaction engine, Facebook, LinkedIn, talk to your peers and colleagues, your friends and family. Let’s have this conversation and figure it out together.

I am very excited about what we will accomplish in the next year and I most certainly expect you to participate and make the IA Institute work for you.

Happy holidays,

Livia Labate
Director of Getting Things Done
The Information Architecture Institute

November 2008

Greetings fellow members,

It’s been a very busy month at the Institute… we had our yearly Board of Directors changing of the guard, and shortly thereafter hosted our third IDEA conference. Read along for the details…

New Board of Directors

In late September we had our yearly election for new Directors. Andrew Hinton, Livia Labate and Russ Unger joined continuing Board members Peter Boersma, Christian Crumlish, Stacy Surla, and myself to constitute the 2008-2009 Board of Directors. We welcome Andrew, Livia and Russ, as we bid farewell—with heartfelt thanks—to outgoing Board members Donna Maurer, Eric Reiss, and Sarah Rice.

During the weeks leading up to the election, we got feedback from members of the Institute urging us to be more open and transparent. The new Board has spent the last month getting organized, and setting forth initiatives to achieve more openness, transparency, and a more participatory ethos in the Institute. You’ll be hearing more from us soon in this regard.

IDEA 2008

In early October, the Institute hosted the third edition of IDEA, our yearly conference about the issues that affect designers of complex information spaces. The conference, which was held in Chicago’s beautiful Harold Washington Library, was our most successful yet: we exceeded last year’s attendance by more than 50%. We also got very positive feedback from conference attendees. Apart from being a valuable opportunity to discuss the issues that affect IAs, IDEA is also an important source of income for the Institute. I’m happy to report that in this regard we were also considerably more successful than last year: profit from was up more than 140% over the 2007 edition.

IDEA 2008 featured a terrific roster of speakers from a wide variety of different fields, including Dave Gray, Jesse James Garrett, Jason Fried, and many others. Boxes and Arrows—one of the sponsors of the conference—has published audio versions of the presentations in their podcast. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to check them out at http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/idea-2008

A very hearty "thank you!" to everyone who helped make the conference a success: speakers, attendees, sponsors, IAI staff, directors, and—most especially—our volunteers. IDEA, like most of the Institute’s initiatives, is a volunteer-driven event. We are very grateful to the volunteers that made the conference possible: Ulrike Anders, Chuck Ashman, Sarah Beckley, Mario Bourque, Teresa Canna, Cindy Chastain, Greg Corrin, Liz Danzico, Gail Gammel, Patricia Garcia, Ian Haider, Whitney Hess, Anna Kalata Wilkins, Laurie Kalmanson, Grace Lau, Linda Nakasone, Yulia Nemchinova, Jeff Parks, Sarah Rice, Sam Spicer, Beck Tench, Russ Unger, Melissa Weaver, Neena Weng, and Noreen Whysel.

To find our more about IDEA 2008, please visit http://ideaconference.org. And stay tuned as we refine our plans for the 2009 edition of the conference.

Cheers,

Jorge Arango
President, IA Institute Board of Directors


http://www.iainstitute.org

This page was last modified on October 31, 2008 06:42 PM.