Candidates 2008

2008-2010 Board of Directors

Candidates for four open seats on the Board of Directors are listed below in alphabetical order. We will continue to add candidate profiles as nominations are accepted, until the election opens on September 2, so keep checking back as more candidates are added.

The election will be held from September 8 until September 15. (UTC/GMT +5 5am London time; PDT equivalent: September 15, 10pm PDT; EDT equivalent: September 15, 1am; JST equivalent: September 16, 2pm). For information on the election process, please visit the Election 2008 page. Please direct any questions to the Membership Coordinator at membership[at]iainstitute[dot]com.

Candidates


Christian Crumlish

Photo of Christian Crumlish

Bio:

I've been designing and writing about shared information spaces since 1994. I'm the curator of the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library, a design evangelist at the Yahoo! Developer Network, and am currently co-authoring a book for O'Reilly called Designing Social Interfaces. I blog at http://xianlandia.com, tweet at http://twitter.com/mediajunkie, work at http://design.yahoo.com, and practice ukulele in my backyard. I studied philosophy at Princeton and painting at the San Francisco School of Art. I live in Oakland, California, with my wife, Briggs, and our cat, Fraidy.

Position Statement:

I am thrilled to stand for re-election to the IAI board among such accomplished and inspiring company. I feel that the institute would be well served by any combination of these nominees, and I myself would be honored to be elected to a second term on the board.

I ran for the board of directors in 2006 with a primary goal of seeing the website redesign project finished and the new site relaunched. Because of this commitment, I was given the role of director of technology during the past two years and in that role I did manage to oversee the launch of the new design (though the translation projects continue and numerous subsections of the site still require attention). I also helped move from an inadequate membership database system to a slightly less inadequate one, helped consolidate the board's business on a single basecamp site, and supported initiatives related to knowledge sharing and codification of IA principles, terminology, and patterns.

As the incumbent politician's cliché runs, "Much has been accomplished but much remains to be done." In the interests of bringing the redesign to a conclusion, we deliberately postponed addressing a number of known bugs in, and desirable enhancement to, our online presence. These items now require prioritization and volunteer attention.

More importantly, we've shifted away from the model of a grand redesign every three year or so toward a philosophy of constant incremental improvements. There is a lot of room for improvement still, not least of which is the adoption of a fully adequate membership database, and I would like to help the institute address these goals.

Beyond matters related to the technical portfolio, the most pressing challenge to the institute today is executing on a vision of how to best serve the information architecture community of practice, and
provide leadership and institutional grounding to this vital (and still evolving) user-experience discipline.

For more on my thoughts about the institute, my position statement from 2006 still conveys my views pretty well:

http://iainstitute.org/pg/candidates_2006.php#crumlish.


Nominations:

"He's done a great job over the past two years."
(Nominated by Jorge Arango)

"Christian has been a member of the Board the past two years. And I have been incredibly honored to serve with him. His contributions to our electronic infrastructure, including shepherding our website relaunch in 2007, have been phenomenal. Without Christian's cool and knowledgeable head at the helm as our IT Director, the Institute would probably not enjoy the success it has today."
(Nominated by Eric Reiss)

Jonell Gades

Photo of Jonell Gades

Bio:

Jonell has over 8 years of experience architecting and directing complex interactive projects. She is currently a Design Lead and IA at Fidelity Investments, working out of the Raleigh, NC office. At Fidelity, Jonell has been involved in next-generation vision projects, myPlanSM initiatives for Fidelity’s Employer Services, and implementation of the online messaging infrastructure, as well as other projects. She has been appointed by Fidelity’s senior leadership in Design to co-chair a process innovation team, tasked with providing recommendations to improve internal processes and morale within the Design group. She has also been providing mentorship to young IA’s and Design Leads, and has been instrumental in establishing the Design group in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Jonell served as Web Consultant at MIT in Cambridge, MA, providing communication and information architecture strategy to departments, organization and special groups within the Institute. Jonell also served as Sr. Interactive Producer and IA at Cramer Productions in Norwood, MA, working with clients such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Gillette, and Serono Reproductive Health. Her maiden voyage as a lead IA at Cramer produced 2 national Medical Marketing and Media awards for Serono Reproductive Health.

People who have worked with Jonell recommend her for her sharp eye for creating exceptional user experiences, excellent project management skills, and ability to create solid, trusting relationships among team members. No matter what the environment, Jonell brings an empathic heart, a "let’s do it" attitude, and a Midwestern farmer’s daughter work ethic.

Jonell in a native of Minnesota, but prefers the winters of North Carolina. She has a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from Kent State University and is also a Certified Executive Mediator.

Position Statement:

When I was very young in my professional career, I had the opportunity to complete executive mediation training. During that training, I witnessed the raw power emotions have over the way in which we communicate with each other. Learning how to navigate contentious situations while simultaneously suspending judgment, aiming to understanding the unspoken expectations and motivations an individual has in responding or reacting a particular way, and simultaneously leading parties to peaceful and creative solutions has been invaluable in my role as IA and Project Manager. I seek to leverage my past training as a mediator and experiences as an IA and project manager to:

Help develop and promote stronger communication and working relationships between IA’s and business partners, the IA and Marketing communities, IA’s and other project team members…the list goes on.

Mentor young, blossoming IA’s on how to navigate challenging conversations and difficult situations.

Additionally, as a practicing IA, I recognize the need to evolve our approach and tools for the changing demands of our practice and what our business partners need during the design process. We’re all learning and we’ve got so much to share along the way. With that in mind, I hope to:

Help bring tactical curriculum suggestions to make the learning process more approachable.

Further promote and evolve the IAI mentorship program.

Last, but certainly not least, I feel passionately about continuing the mission of raising awareness of the IA discipline and our community of practice.

I shared with Eric that while the notion of serving on the IAI Board scares the living crap out of me and is quite humbling, I am honored to be on the ballot among such esteemed, talented professionals. Thank you kindly for your consideration.

Nominations:

"Jonell has been an outstanding citizen in the world of IA. She has been able to implement IA best practices throughout our firm as well as her previous jobs. Her leadership and mentorship has been the reason why many people, including myself, stick to the principles of IA and understand the world of IA, outside of our box. Jonell will leave an important impression on anyone she meets and will build a bridge to continue the conversation, regardless of specialty, background, or whatever. The IA institute would benefit greatly from her talent, skills, and passion."
(Nominated by Theresa Crafts)

Austin Govella

Photo of Austin Govella

Bio:

I've worked as an active volunteer with the Institute since it was founded. In that time, I've seen how the numerous boards, volunteers, and the membership interact to help initiatives sink or float.

I am deeply interested in how information architecture—as a discipline—evolves within the design community and firmly believe the Institute is a vital, important part of that evolution.

Position Statement:

Writing a position statement is so difficult. It might be more difficult to parse how a position statement would impact what your Institute does.

So, I've tried to connect my positions with the initiatives they would impact.

I don't care what IA is. I'm more concerned with who we want to be. We should dress for the job we want, and the Institute should act as a reference for that job. When people ask, the Institute should explain what we do well and what jobs we do best. Defining the damn thing is pretty irrelevant.

As an organization, the Institute collects together people of like-minded interests and should act as a platform that enables members to participate and share in discussions around whatever topics they're interested in.

From my position, those are jobs one and two: explain what jobs IA does well; and enable member interaction.

The last job the Institute needs to accomplish is to provide a limited set of member services that make membership more valuable.

So, that, in order of importance is how I would approach a position on the board. I would focus on improving the Institute's messaging (what IA does best), shift the web presence into a platform that enables member discussions (local groups, mentoring, education), and shore up a limited set of member services (job board and conference/software discounts).

For more insight, please glance over my blog at http://www.thinkingandmaking.com to learn more about how I think and approach information architecture.

Nominations:

"Austin has contributed tirelessly to the IAI's infrastructure. He is a thought leader with his thinking and making blog, a mainstay of Boxes & Arrows, a huge force for positive energy, a good guy, and talented information architect"
(Nominated by Christian Crumlish)

Whitney Hess

Photo of Whitney Hess

Bio:

Whitney Hess is an independent user experience design consultant based in New York City. Most recently she was on the design team at Liquidnet, an international financial software company that runs the leading electronic marketplace for wholesale stock-trading. Previously she was an interaction designer at two marketing agencies, Digitas and Tribal DDB, where her clients included American Express, New York Times, Allstate, Claritin, Tropicana, and EarthLink. Most notably she helped to conceive, design and test an innovative card search tool for American Express and is named as a co-inventor on its U.S. patent.

Though she began her higher education in computer science, Whitney received a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. For the Master’s capstone project, she was one of five HCI students to develop Roadcasting, a system that allows drivers to create and share their music playlists with other cars on the road. The project has received press from Wired, MIT Tech Review, Slashdot, BoingBoing and more.

Whitney writes about technology and customer experience on her blog Pleasure and Pain at http://www.whitneyhess.com/blog

Position Statement:

When a friend mentioned that I should nominate myself to the IAI board of directors, I was apprehensive. I doubted whether I meet the qualifications and assumed I wouldn’t be taken seriously.

Then I realized what I bring to the table. My age, experience and background – quite different from the other nominees and current board members – are actually assets. I have been a professional in the field for less than four years, but in that time I have worked on several high profile projects, challenging the status quo in a quest to create fresh, compelling, effective user experiences. My adaptability and perseverance are obvious to anyone who knows me.

My Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction gave me the skills to participate in a broad range of user-centered research and design activities beyond IA, and instilled in me a sense of responsibly to improve people’s lives by affecting the way they use technology. My Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing made me a strong communicator and ardent observer, further enabling me to create change.

Being at just the beginning of my career, I feel enormously invested in helping to shape the future of this field. I want to better articulate the purpose of information architecture and develop its relationship to related activities and organizations under the umbrella of user experience. As our discipline enters the mainstream, we need to unify to attain common goals and create a clear, powerful message to our peers in technology and business.

I began to reach out to this community early this year because I felt a lack and was looking for the next challenge in my career. In this short time I have become an active and visible participant, and have been fortunate to become friends with some of our most vocal and influential members across a wide range of practices. My overt passion for people (not only in my work, but in my life) makes me a natural liaison and community organizer. I want to lead the new generation of practitioners in the field of user experience, and I believe that being an IAI board member will enable me to do so.

CONTACT INFORMATION

E-mail: whitney[at]whitneyhess[dot]com
Twitter: @whitneyhess
Blog: http://www.whitneyhess.com/blog
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/whitneyhess

Nominations:

"I believe I can help to grow our community, evolve the purpose of the organization, strengthen our partnerships with related organizations, and evangelize our vision to the greater population. I bring a fresh perspective and want to challenge some of the preconceived notions about what's possible in this community. We're at the tipping point of going mainstream and need to prepare for the influx of new professionals to come. I want to help make it happen."
(Nominated by Whitney Hess)

"I would like to nominate Whitney Hess to the IAI Board. I can say with confidence that Whitney is one of the future leaders in our field. She brings a fresh perspective to our work and constantly challenges us to "think outside the browser". She encourages and inspires abstract thinking and challenges my very own notions of the truth. As everyone knows, innovation is achieved by those who challenge the status quo, and she does just that. Whitney invests a tremendous amount of time in networking with her peers, attending conferences, and giving 'food for thought' through her Website. Her reputation speaks for itself, and those of us who know her are appreciative to call her a friend and colleague. Her peers hold her in the highest regard, and her commitment to making all experiences better is a testament to who she truly is. Her unique perspective and commitment would definitively translate into significant benefits for the IAI, and would have an impact as we move forward. IA is alive and well, and will keep thriving so long as there are people like Whitney Hess fighting in the trenches."
(Nominated by Mario Bourque)

Andrew Hinton

Photo of Andrew Hinton

Bio:

For 18 years now I've worked as a designer, instructor, writer or consultant of various stripes. But I didn't discover the nascent IA community until 1999, and it was a revelation: people figuring out what happens "between the pages" of the Web, and who understood that a new kind of space needed a new kind of architecture. Since then, I've been fortunate to continue being a part of the community, and seeing IA mature and grow as a community of practice.

In the past, my clients have been small and large, including Fortune 500s such as American Express, Shaw, Wachovia and Kimberly-Clark. For the past 5 years, my day job has been as a Senior IA in Vanguard's User Experience Group.

From my pre-Web education, I hold a BA in Philosophy, an MA in Literature and an MFA in Writing. I'm a regular speaker at conferences like the IA Summit, and sometimes write for publications like Boxes & Arrows. My current obsessions include Communities of Practice, social design factors, what games teach us about design, and the meaning of context in digital spaces.

As a co-founder of the Institute, I was honored to serve on the 2008 IAI Board of Advisors. You can find out more via my home on the Web at inkblurt.com

Position Statement:

This community has excelled at creating a "shared history of learning" over the last 10 years. We've seen it bring essential elements to the emergence of User Experience Design, in the form of methods, tools, knowledge, and especially people. I think the IAI has been essential to how the community has developed, thanks to the hard work of its volunteers and staff creating excellent initiatives for mentorship, careers and other important needs.

The next big challenge is for the IAI to become more than a sum of its parts. How can it become a more influential, vital presence in the UX community? How can it serve as an amplifier for the amazing knowledge and insight we have among our members and colleagues? How can it evolve understanding of IA among business and design peers? And how can we better coexist and collaborate with those peers and practices?

From the beginning, IA has grappled with one of the most important challenges designers now face: how to define and link contexts usefully, usably and ethically in a digital hyper-linked world. I don't see that challenge becoming any easier in the years ahead. In fact, the digital world is only becoming more pervasive, strange and exciting.

As a board member, my focus will be to help the IA Institute grow as a valued, authoritative resource for that future.

Nominations:

"Given that we've brought on an executive director to look after the operational stabilization and growth of the Institute, the board will have a greater opportunity to focus on high-level challenges we're facing (branding, the development of the profession, etc.) I can't think of a more qualified person to help mold these discussions than Andrew."
(Nominated by Jorge Arango)

Livia Labate

Photo of Livia Labate

Bio:

I have been designing shared information systems my entire professional life. I consulted for small, medium and large enterprises across several countries for several years, where I learned that observation and adaptability are IA’s best friends. As the owner of my own business, I learned how to apply IA to business situations as successfully as to design problems. Finally, as the one responsible for developing the practice inside a large organization, I’ve learned that competence, self-confidence and bravery take you very far, but it’s in caring for and understanding the goals, interests and needs of others that you deliver meaningful results.

I was lucky to come across the IA community and subsequently the IA Institute, where I jumped to the opportunity to participate in the Translations Initiative, Mentoring Initiative and as a member of the Board of Directors in 2003-2005. I have also been part of the organizing committee for the IA Summit for the past 5 years where I’ve been involved with pre-conference seminars, organizing Bird-of-a-Feather sessions and more recently, the very successful Wall of Deliverables.

The quality and energy of the IA community was a key influencer in my decision to pursue Information Architecture as a career. More than a professional relationship, it’s in the IA community that I connect with people with like minds and interests, and continue to expand my horizons and contribute to something bigger than myself. In that continued pursuit, I believe I would be a valuable addition to the IAI Board of Directors.

Position Statement

"Vision, Empowerment & Transparency"

Matthew Milan, Russ Unger and I are running on a common platform in the hopes of being able to make a more meaningful impact to the Information Architecture Institute if we are elected.

We believe that the IAI needs to be a more transparent organization. We need to open a dialog with our members, encourage their involvement and find improved methods of making people aware of what is happening within the organization.

We believe the IAI should take a leadership role in educating our membership, people who are new to the workforce, new to working within our field and the companies that will hire them.

We believe that the IAI needs to get better at marketing and selling Information Architecture. We need to, as an organization, provide the services to companies who want to hire our members and begin practice areas where our coaching would be invaluable. Likewise, we need to train our members how to do this within their companies.

Finally, we strongly believe that the IA Institute should have a clear vision of its role within the User Experience community and more importantly how it contributes to the advancement of the field of Information Architecture. With strong vision comes strong capability, and we have a duty to our membership to provide this role.

We need to ensure the profession grows as we encounter new types of digital spaces. A large portion of IA practitioners have been web-focused, but as the web itself is crossing device, domain and platform boundaries, our practice needs to follow suit. That includes the substance of our practice as well as how the IAI supports its members and collaborates to accomplish its goals.

  • Let’s take advantage of our expertise in engaging audiences with like interests in non-physical spaces to further develop the Institute’s role. Our membership has grown and evolved along with the practice; there are numerous tools to explore beyond discussion lists and newsletters that can better fit this audience’s expectations. If I can accomplish only one thing as a member of the board of directors, that will be to bring the membership into the decision-making process -- whether that happens through direct participation, awareness about actions taken by the directors or shared feedback.

  • For Information Architecture to become widely applied, we need to reduce the barriers for people to adopt the practice. From new job seekers to seasoned professionals, we need to convey simply what value our practice ads to people’s professional experiences, whether they are IA practitioners to the core or professionals with other interests that can benefit from the thinking offered by IA approaches. The IA Institute was born out of this need and it’s originally stated goals remain as applicable and relevant as ever.

  • There is a whole generation of practitioners that have graduated to positions of more visibility or influence, a luxury we did not have when the Institute began. They are ambassadors for our discipline and true enablers for expanding our reach and visibility. Whether they identify themselves as information architects, product managers, entrepreneurs, design managers, principals, or something else, the IAI can help channel that collective expertise and help those starting off their careers or exploring new paths, to figure out how to introduce, develop and advance the practice across their own organizations.

  • We can play a much stronger role in the field of User Experience by working with our sister disciplines and their respective entities. We have common goals and many overlapping interests; this represents an opportunity to combine our different strengths to shape what we want UX to become. We see practitioners doing this individually every day and we can accomplish exponentially more as an organization; one that learns from and with its members and external collaborators.

Establishing a more transparent organization with a long-term vision that empowers its members to fulfill our mission requires a board of directors that defines measures of success for the organization, with clear criteria and accountability. I hope to be a part of that.

Contact Information

I would be happy to further explore our position in greater detail. Please feel free to contact me via any of the methods below.

Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/openiai
http://www.twitter.com/livlab

Join the discussion on Facebook at:
http://bit.ly/openiai

LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/livlab

I blog at I Think, Therefore IA:
http://www.livlab.com/thinkia

I can be reached via email at:
liv [at] livlab [dot] com

Nominations:

"Livia is a thought leader in the IA realm, a great communicator, a wonderful person, a huge supporter of IAI both locally and abroad, a noted design manager who brought her entire team to the IA Summit now several times, and a hard worker."
(Nominated by Christian Crumlish)

"Increasingly, demonstrating leadership in the Information Architecture field is about providing, understanding and integrating perspectives. I can't think of anyone who personifies this needed leadership ideal better than Livia. Her impressive breadth of experience spans countries and cultures, organizational models, practitioner roles and gender perspectives. As the IAI expands and continues to reach a broader global audience, we need a person like Livia who not only clearly recognizes the opportunities for the IA field in the future, but also has the experience to understand and integrate the range of viewpoints that make up the community. Her past experience as a member of the IAI Board of Directors only reinforces her suitability for this role. Livia never shies away from a tough problem: she's a bridge builder, a connection-maker and an inspiration to those who work with her and know her. Most importantly, Livia is someone who has a great deal of respect for the opinions and thoughts of others. She's someone I hold in extremely high regard, and I strongly encourage her consideration for a position on the IAI Board of Directors."
(Nominated by Matthew Milan)

"Livia is a big-picture thinker combined with a big ability do-er. She is a thought-leader in our industry and a proven leader in the field--when I think of IA, I am constantly reminded how deeply involved Livia is in her commitment to better user experiences. Livia has a voice that you recognize--both online and off--and she is well-respected by her peers. After having lunch with Livia, I quickly understood that she is the type of person that we all hope to have the opportunity to work with, and as a member of the Board of Directors, we would be given that opportunity. The major difference is that it would be exponentially better for the community as a whole, because Livia would be working for all of us in order to see the organization and the field continue to thrive. I strongly believe that Livia would endeavor to continue to improve upon the IAI as previous Board of Directors have worked so hard to do."
(Nominated by Russ Unger)

Harry Max

Photo of Harry Max

Bio:

Harry is a seasoned Web strategist, combining broad high-tech business experience with an unusual set of strengths. The most recent associate to join the Rubicon ensemble, his working knowledge spans Information Architecture, customer engagement models, systems design and strategic problem solving, and includes recent OD work in leadership coaching at Google, SAP, and other well-respected companies. Harry helps clients get to the heart of their problem and identify solutions that work.

Harry has enjoyed working with some of the finest companies in Silicon Valley including Apple Computer, DreamWorks Animation, Hewlett-Packard, O'Reilly and Associates, and Silicon Image. A co-founder of Virtual Vineyards (wine.com), Harry is recognized as having designed all of the user interaction concepts behind the first secure Web shopping cart system. He was also the founder and CEO of Public Mind, an enterprise software company focused on
demand-aggregation-enabled customer feedback.

He is co-author of the books Skype: The Definitive Guide published by Que, and Art-directed Technology: Anatomy of a Shrek 2 Sequence, an introduction to the software development process behind the making of a feature-length, animated CG film in a fast-paced, creative environment.

Position Statement:

Architecting high utility, usable, and entertaining information spaces has made the transition from esoteric discipline to a required fundamental in every sector: business, government, education, and not-for-profit.

It's no longer a nice-to-have, it's essential. And the people running these organizations are becoming clued into the fact that it has less to do with designer PiBs (persons dressed in black) and more to do with a set of skills, capabilities, and knowledge they desperately need but know little about.

In the next few years, our job as IA's is to get a seat at the table; to have the right conversations at the right level, and get commitments that stick so we can be the difference that makes the difference.

I believe the IAI is well positioned to step up and take more visible leadership position; to assist the community and those who consider themselves to be Information Architects, those who are architecting information spaces, and those CREATING information architectures.

But we can't do this alone. To get to the next level, we must change the nature of the conversation. We must learn to speak the languages of value creation, organizational development, and the idioms of the executive staff. We must be come strategic.

Thank you for considering having me work along side the other excellent board members to continue furthering the vision, mission, and strategy of the IAI.

It would be an honor and privilege.
-Harry Max

Nominations:

"Harry Max is a very experienced Information Architect, he supports the IA Institute since a very long time and knows extremly well how to face the challenges of our profession within the next decade. He even supported the Institute as an advisor since a few years already. 1st Reason - IA Institute next important phase (adress the business and strategic leverages) In order to support Information Architects in business in the next years, it is essential to face the common challenges of the (IAI) members world wide. For the proceeding of the field of profession of Information Architects (on a higher level), a even stronger connectivity to business and the awareness as professionals who find solutions for business goals and talk business language is a great leverage for all of us. It will be important that the Bord in the future also faces these challenges with future programms. 2nd Reason - Harry Max - a person we can learn from By holding workshops in conferences like: "Becoming a leader - from IA to business and beyond" Harry Max has proved many times that he has a great ability to teach other Information Architects new core knowledge to leverage their career. Therefor I can emagine what great value a person like Harry Max could bring for the members of the IA Institute."
(Nominated by Wolf H. Noeding)

James Melzer

Photo of James Melzer

Bio:

I am a Principal Information Architect at SRA International, one of Fortune's Best 100 Companies to Work for. I have practiced information architecture and interaction design for eight years. I have been a researcher, a developer, a librarian and a project manager, but my first love has always been Information Architecture.

I fell in love with IA early. I began my IA career in 1999 as a Library and Information Science student, working for the University of Maryland's web shop. Two years later, I was running that web shop and leading a motley crew of programmers, designers and nascent IAs.

At SRA, I have built a reputation for outstanding design documentation that results in products that delight customers and achieve business goals. My experience with SRA runs the gamut of information architecture specialties, from taxonomy development to content modeling to page layouts. In recent years, I have assumed the role of mentor and technical lead on our IA team. Like many practitioners in our field, I am passionate about identifying design patterns and
incorporating them into my work.

Position Statement:

The Board and active volunteers have built the Information Architecture Institute into a formidable agent for the field and practice of information architecture. If I am elected to the Board, I would work to expand IAI's reach.

I would also like to see IAI build on that solid foundation to help tackle some of humanity's big information problems. Our organization's members are uniquely equipped to help identify solutions to these problems, and the IAI is clearly the right vehicle to support them. For example, the (US) National Archives and (US) San Diego Supercomputing Lab are attempting to solve the problem of permanently storing digital information in a retrievable and intelligible manner.
Digital formats and platforms change so often that permanent storage has been impossible. Much of the problem is purely technological, but the organization and findability of unimaginable quantities of information is a core facet of the problem. I think IAI should help this critical project. Government records enshrine our freedoms and preserve our history. [Read more: http://www.archives.gov/era/]

Another initiative I would like to see IAI undertake is a renewed focus on tools. As a field, we have not clearly articulated what we need from our tools, making it difficult for vendors to support us. The building blocks of our practice, like diagramming, content management, web analytics and development tools often do not support IA work directly and rarely work together through a project's life cycle. IA practitioners have made heroic efforts to rig effective solutions from the available toolset, but their results are often proprietary and difficult for others to reproduce. The IAI's IA Tools initiative has helped make these solutions available to the community. Some practitioners have even started companies to make their own tools to fill this void. As a field, we could do more. I propose a vendor outreach initiative, where leading IAs work with vendors to build useful, compatible and practical tools for our field. IAI can provide the vehicle for this important initiative. The Web Standards Project's ongoing browser compatibility initiative is a great example of this kind of advocacy and collaboration. I believe our field has matured to the point where we can have a meaningful discussion about requirements with vendors.

As a Board member, I would also work to continue and extend the IAI's existing support for IA professionals. Initiatives like the Mentoring Program and Local Groups are critical to maintaining the collegial and nurturing community that distinguishes our profession. I am particularly interested in expanding the IAI's support for people entering the field or undertaking a career change. It is much easier to find high-quality IA training now than it was only a few years ago, but I think the IAI has an obligation to help people break into this field. IAI's conference discount program is an excellent start, but it is not enough. As a Board member, I would work to establish a need-based scholarship program to send new IAs to training and/or conferences.

We need to continue to make the IAI a home for user experience professionals of all stripes, whether or not they hold the formal title of information architect. We have an opportunity to use the IAI as a vehicle to solve our field's big problems, to focus our collective wisdom and experience. If elected to the Board of Directors, I would work to strengthen our foundation and extend our reach.

--
James Melzer
blog: http://www.jamesmelzer.com
photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/melzer/
bookmarks: http://ma.gnolia.com/people/jamesmelzer

Nominations:

"James Melzer is a successful IA practitioner based in Washington, DC (USA). I met James at the IA Summit several years ago and whenever I have the opportunity to hear him, I do. James has perspective. That's such a unique trait in a world (and professional domain) that can be marred by fluff, superficiality and hype. I'd like to see James bring his perspective to the IAI and help us continue to further the role of the Institute and IA beyond the realm and influences we have grown accustomed to and comfortable with. James is a quiet guy, so I'm nominating him with the hope that it will make him speak up and let the community become more aware of his great thinking."
(Nominated by Livia Labate)

Matthew Milan

Photo of Matthew Milan

Bio:

I'd like to recognize the IA Institute and the people who have nominated me, as well as the many community members who have helped me over the years. This is an exciting opportunity, and I wouldn't be here without your support. Thank You!

I've been involved with the web for 10 years and the Information Architecture community for the last 5 years, working in both practitioner and management roles. I've worked for companies large and small, been an Innie and an Outie, and have led teams of 20+ people as well as worked as the lone IA. You can check my past experience on LinkedIn if you're interested in the details.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/mmilan

I'm a co-founder of the UX Irregulars, a Toronto area user experience group with over 200 members. I've been a mentor and an instigator, and love both roles. I present and speak at conferences and workshops on the subject of Information Architecture and I have a strong set of opinions as to what the future of the Information Architecture field ought to be. If you'd like to get a deeper understanding of what I've been exploring, my SlideShare account is a good place to start.

http://www.slideshare.net/mmilan

As a practitioner, I've literally grown up with the IAI. I joined the Institute during graduate school and immediately fell in love with the strength of the community. I was one of the first Progress Grant recipients; if you've been to one of my Backcasting presentations or workshops at the IA Summit over the last couple of years, you've seen the results of this investment by the Institute. At many points in my career, the IAI and its members have supported me. I'd like to return the favor by taking an active role in helping the Information Architecture Institute to be the best resource possible for the members of today as well as tomorrow. I believe I will make an excellent addition to the board and I hope that you will consider me as one of your elected representatives.

Position Statement:

"Vision, Empowerment & Transparency"

Russ Unger, Livia Labate and I are running on a common platform in the hopes of being able to make a more meaningful impact to the Information Architecture Institute if we are elected.

We believe that the IAI needs to be a more transparent organization. We need to open a dialog with our members, encourage their involvement and find improved methods of making people aware of what is happening within the organization.

We believe the IAI should take a leadership role in educating our membership, people who are new to the workforce, new to working within our field and the companies that will hire them.

We believe that the IAI needs to get better at marketing and selling Information Architecture. We need to, as an organization, provide the services to companies who want to hire our members and begin practice areas where our coaching would be invaluable. Likewise, we need to train our members how to do this within their companies.

Finally, we strongly believe that the IA Institute should have a clear vision of its role within the User Experience community and more importantly how it contributes to the advancement of the field of Information Architecture. With strong vision comes strong capability, and we have a duty to our membership to provide this role.

We strongly believe in our platform, and the value that a unified perspective can bring to the IAI Board. Your duty as members is to elect a board that will serve you best. We hope that our platform demonstrates our commitment to understanding and addressing your needs.

If you elect me, I will commit to helping the Institute achieve these goals. I believe that one of the increasingly vital roles of the IAI is to act as a vehicle that creates a valuable future for its members. The next two years are critical to the long-term sustainability of the discipline and practice of information architecture. There is an opportunity for the Institute during this time to not only to protect Information Architecture from marginalization but also to help it grow and adapt to serve the future needs of its members. If elected, I will not shy away from these challenges, but help the board to meet them head on so that we can truly begin to realize the promise of our field. I hope that you share my conviction and support our goal to make the IAI one of the best member organizations in the web industry.

I am happy to further explore our position in greater detail. Please feel free to connect with me at any of the following points of contact.

Personal points of contact:

Email: mmilan [at] gmail [dot] com
Blog: http://mmilan.typepad.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mmilan

Platform points of contact:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/openiai
Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/openiai

Nominations:

"Matt Milan is the type of person who not only understands Information Architecture the way it is today (and has the wherewithal to discuss it openly to a crowd of often not-in-agreement peers), but also is the type of person that wants to help shape the way Information Architecture is tomorrow. Simply put, our organization needs more thought leaders who can take us beyond our existence today. We need a person like Matt Milan to help shake the foundation, chart that course and bring consensus and direction to the path we need to travel. Being brilliant simply is not enough--Matt is humble, likable and if nothing else, a helpful person not only wants to succeed at all he does, but equally as important, he wants you to succeed as well."
(Nominated by Russ Unger)

"I like working with smart people and I specially like smart people taking a leadership role in causes I believe in. That is why I want to see Matt Milan at the IAI board. Matt's values and his passion for our practice transpire in everything he does. I could speak about how great I think Matt is as a person and what/how he has contributed to our practice in the past, but it's in what he can do for us in the future that makes him such a good fit for the IAI board; Matt is a conscience for Information Architecture. Whenever I feel like we have reached some sort of plateau and/or we are patting ourselves on the back, Matt brings a fresh perspective that makes me reflect on who we are as professionals and what we can accomplish as a community of practice; opinions grounded on facts, insights from experience, and an eye towards the future. That's strategy, that's though leadership, that's who I want to see in the IAI board next."
(Nominated by Livia Labate)

"Aside from being a very intelligent person, Matthew is a motivating, inspiring type of leader. His actions speak volumes, his ideas are full of insight, and his perspectives really bring a whole new understanding to our daily work. His peers speak highly of him and his reputation is outstanding. Matthew's active involvement revolves around promoting our discipline, raising awareness, and creating enthusiasm for IA in Toronto and around the globe. He is the catalyst we need in order to gather interest to our craft and also to the IAI. He will continue to challenge convention, and more importantly challenge everyone to be better. Those are the reasons why I believe we need Matthew Milan on the IAI board."
(Nominated by Mario Bourque)

"Matthew Milan is a bright, strategic thinker, a passionate advocate and a gifted communicator. He understands the issues that IAs face on a daily basis as a practitioner, a manager, and a community leader in Toronto and beyond. Anyone who has seen Matthew deliver a workshop or talk at IA Summit - or had a quiet conversation with him over a leisurely dinner - knows that he is a true thought leader who loves to tackle wicked problems and delivers practical, effective solutions. As a colleague who has worked closely with Matthew in both professional and volunteer contexts - and as a friend - I cannot think of a candidate more perfectly matched to be on the IAI 2008 Board of Directors."
(Nominated by Kaleem Khan)

Andrea Resmini

Photo of Andrea Resmini

Bio:

I've been working in the ICT field since 1989 and have been into professional information design since 1999.

I'm currently a freelance IA and a PhD candidate in Legal Informatics at the University of Bologna, Italy, although in recent years I spent quite a lot of time guest researching at JIBS in Jonkoping, Sweden. My academic research field is IA, UX and content management for historical and juridical online libraries and for digital libraries in general, with a focus on medieval manuscript sources.

I'm Board Coordinator for the Italian IA Summit, happen to lead the Higher Education in IA Working Group, and one of the founders of the European IA Network Group. Finally, I'm a Linux buff and I usually pretend I can still play the piano.

Position Statement:

The situation hasn't changed that much from last year to make me think that a change in direction would be necessary: on the contrary, much of what was just talk at the time has become factual and needs time and dedication, so I'll basically echo what I said then, with a little trimming.

There is a number of people nominated for the Board who are much better than me at the business side of things, so I won't pretend to be good at that at all. But being trained as an architect in the Eighties-Nineties in Italy basically meant you had to play ball as a team, and that's still what I think I can do best: I'm usually pretty good at keeping things moving along and in smoothing out rough edges when it comes to teamwork. As a Board Member, my principal concerns would be:

  • to support the educational effort, as I do believe that not only professional but also academic recognition plays a key role in our future;

  • to help grow the international community through networking;

  • to consolidate and expand IAI's presence on the Internet, be it web sites, mailing lists, wikis, glossaries, podcasts or new initiatives.

This includes helping out to improve the Morlock piping below these, the network infrastructure and broken apps like the Library and such, and help establish the IA / IAI brand in other domains coherently.

I'm not afraid of shooting at the moon, but I also think so much can be accomplished in small incremental steps, simply by adding a little something everyday, and that's what I intend to do if elected.

--

Andrea Resmini
Information Architect
www.resmini.net

Nominations:

"--Andrea has played a relevant role in the IA Journal and IA Edu projects -- very precious initiatives in my opinion.
--Andrea may represent an important link between the USA IA world and the European one, helping in such a way IA discipline to expand its boundaries and integrate different cultures and perspectives.
--He also supports a multidisciplinary approach to the IA, and a global view of that discipline (IA not just for the web but for every shared information environment: digital, physical, procedural or a mix of the above)."
(Nominated by Luca Rosati)

"I would like to suggest Andrea Resmini for the IA Institute Board: Andrea has already made important contributions to the IA community and will hopefully continue to do so for many years to come. Andrea sees IA in a broad and global perspective and he has such excellent team-building skills, and so constructive and positive to work with. I’m not sure how he does it, but in less than 6 months, he has managed to make most European IA academics work as a team to conduct a survey, to give a joint and (hopefully) coherent presentation for the upcoming EuroIA in Amsterdam – and has played an important role in getting the ball rolling for our own IA Journal. (And if the presentation in Amsterdam should not be coherent, Andrea will definitelly not be the one to blame). Andrea is a man with a vision. A vision for IA in the future."
(Nominated by Dorte Madson)

Russ Unger

Photo of Russ Unger

Bio:

I have been working on websites since 1993—when there was only Notepad to code with and Mosaic was the only browser around. That was when I found that my interest in User Experience Design and Information Architecture began to flourish.

Since then, I have worked with a number of major brands on large-scale Intranet and Extranet applications. I have also worked off-line, creating unique biometric (fingerprint reader) applications and have been responsible for creating user interfaces for mobile. I have also taught courses in Web and Interactive/Flash Design.

I have been active in our community as an editor for Boxes and Arrows and have recently explored the role of author. In addition, I am currently co-authoring a book on User Experience Design with Carolyn Chandler for Peachpit Press.

I am a mentor for the IAI and have worked with several mentees to assist them in their careers. This experience has allowed me to revisit and renew my appreciation for people who are just starting out in their careers and what we, as an organization, can do to further support them.

I am the current Event Coordinator for the IDEA Conference. I have actively pursued and landed several sponsors for the conference through my personal contacts. I have assisted in identifying various speakers and have encouraged many to become speakers. I have supported the effort for many months and have learned a great deal about the Information Architecture Institute and conference planning and marketing. This has been a lot of effort—and a lot of fun. I would like for my involvement to continue beyond IDEA and feel I would be a valuable member to the board.

Position Statement:

"Vision, Empowerment & Transparency"

Matthew Milan, Livia Labate and I are running on a common platform in the hopes of being able to make a more meaningful impact to the Information Architecture Institute if we are elected.

We believe that the IAI needs to be a more transparent organization. We need to open a dialog with our members, encourage their involvement and find improved methods of making people aware of what is happening within the organization.

We believe the IAI should take a leadership role in educating our membership, people who are new to the workforce, new to working within our field and the companies that will hire them.

We believe that the IAI needs to get better at marketing and selling Information Architecture. We need to, as an organization, provide the services to companies who want to hire our members and begin practice areas where our coaching would be invaluable. Likewise, we need to train our members how to do this within their companies.

Finally, we strongly believe that the IA Institute should have a clear vision of its role within the User Experience community and more importantly how it contributes to the advancement of the field of Information Architecture. With strong vision comes strong capability, and we have a duty to our membership to provide this role.

The Information Architecture Institute is an organization that our founders and previous boards of directors have built-up and established as one that is well respected. I am constantly reminded of how proud I am to be a part of the IAI every time I meet or engage another member of this thriving community. My goal is to continue to guide our organization into a long-term future of sustainable growth.

We are at a critical time in our growth and evolution as an organization. To me, the highest priorities are to establish a more transparent organization with a long-term vision that empowers our membership. We have an incredibly gifted member base, many of whom are very interested in becoming more active, helping to grow and shape our organization.

Moving forward with the doors wide open, it is crucial that the IAI continue evolving as a transparent organization.

IAI members need the ability to become as aware and active within the organization as they choose to be—with ease. Support can come in ways large and small: through publicly displayed meeting minutes, open-attendance Board of Directors meetings or other methods, such as via Twitter, Directors blogs, etc. An increased transparency of our on-going efforts and activities is something that we can be proud of, and reach out with.

We need to identify new ways to empower our members further by helping them in the field, where it counts the most. As a dynamic organization of professionals, we do a fantastic job of being at all of the places where we all are supposed to be. We need to get better at being at the places we currently are not at.

Now is the time to use our membership’s successes to help them open doors into other industries and start reaching out to organizations where the relationships are as untapped as the mutual benefits.

A few introductory approaches to this could include:

  • Encouraging our membership to present at other industry conferences; selling is one thing, educating and sharing knowledge on the value of Information Architecture throughout the business world will create true long-term strength.

  • Improving upon the established marketing of the organization and help our members "Sell IA".

  • Engaging beyond our members, to the companies who are interested in working with us. These companies need coaching and education that foster understanding common career goals, paths and placement of these roles as pillars of their organizational structure. We can help them "Sell IA" to the companies they work for.

  • Expanding IAI outreach to aide and assist the people in our field who are (or will be) new to the workforce. We should start in the college years by speaking to students and counselors. We need to help them understand what skills companies value, and to help them locate jobs. We need to coach them on appropriate types of work product and examples to be able to show and highlight experience and growing expertise. As a mentor, these particular issues strike close to home; many of our members who are new to the workforce are communicating that they are having difficulties finding their first jobs.

The IAI can continue to expand and lead with a clearly defined vision for our future, initiatives to empower our members by providing appropriate marketing, training and tools that meet their needs, and by becoming a more transparent organization that we all have the power to engage and influence.

I hope to be a part of this.

Contact Information
I would be happy to further explore our position in greater detail. Please feel free to contact me via any of the methods below.

Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/openiai
http://www.twitter.com/russu

Join the discussion on Facebook at:
http://bit.ly/openiai

LinkedIn:
a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/russunger">http://www.linkedin.com/in/russunger

I blog at UserGlue UserBlog:
http://www.userglue.com/blog

I can be reached via email at:
russ [at] userglue [dot] com

Nominations:

"I have been acquainted with Russ for a few years but came to know him well this last year, as we have connected both on and off the IA list, as well as through the IxDA and over Twitter. Many of Russ’s colleagues will remark that he is blessed with considerable talent. What many of them overlook is how hard he works to cultivate his talent, whether it be the development of his design deliverables for clients or of his relentless advocacy of IA within the greater UX community. I think his efforts are well known -- for instance: his recent interviews of speakers for the upcoming IDEA 2008 conference posted on Boxes and Arrows – he is constantly deflecting attention from himself and instead focusing on the community and the practice. In fourteen years of practice in IA, IxD and user experience design, I have known other professionals with talent equivalent to Russ’s. Many of them lack his good nature and humility, and few demonstrated the genuine intellectual curiosity combined with an earnest desire to advance the discipline -- a passion that is often accompanied by his excitement or enthusiasm for an idea, an author, a concept or the lead role in a challenging project. Russ is a motivated professional of numerous talents and considerable self discipline. He is fun-loving, likable, enthusiastic, trusting and trustworthy. Bottom line – no other person I would more heartily recommend or have a beer with."
(Nominated by Will Evans)

"I met Russ Unger through the IAI members list in January, but it was after the IA Summit in Miami that we became good friends. Russ is a very intelligent and highly competent individual and, with 15 years of experience in the field, he is at the top of his game, constantly improving himself and our discipline. His involvement with the IDEA Conference as a mentor, event coordinator and active participant on the IAI members list clearly demonstrates his commitment to the IAI. While building great experiences for his customers, Russ raises awareness about the importance of Information Architecture to the online world, and to our community. His upcoming book will shed light on user experience practices for individuals and small teams, and will become a valuable addition to the library of novices and experts alike. Russ has the respect of his peers and his active involvement in the user experience community does not go unnoticed. He would bring a great deal of knowledge to the board, work relentlessly to establish the IAI as a definitive authority on Information Architecture, and help guide the evolution of our discipline for those that will follow."
(Nominated by Mario Bourque)

"A great leader needs to show visionary thinking, but also lead by example. This combination is exactly what makes Russ Unger an excellent candidate for a Director position with the IAI. Russ exemplifies the kind of dedication and commitment that the IAI needs to thrive. He's humble, smart, articulate and passionate about the field of IA. His selfless dedication to the Institute through various initiatives (and the field in general) is inspirational, and frankly, something that needs to be recognized for what it truly is; leadership through action. I've met lot of talented people in the IA field, but Russ is one of those rare individuals who makes those around him noticeably better. Always willing to help out and lend a hand, Russ is constantly looking for opportunities to improve things, whether it's a quick win or long term success. The ongoing success of the IAI is dependent on a number of factors, but in my mind few are more important than the ability to show tangible results. Russ doesn't just have the vision, he also knows how to get the job done. This is why he needs to be a Director of the Institute, and more importantly, it's the reason why the IAI needs him."
(Nominated by Matthew Milan)

"Russ has demonstrated, through his involvement with the IDEA conference, Boxes & Arrows, the IAI list and his activities as an IA, a capacity for sharing and helping others that would be an outstanding asset for the IAI Board. Russ is personable, energetic, and engaging, with a true passion for the discipline."
(Nominated by Steve Baty)

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This page was last modified on September 5, 2008 04:29 PM.