Candidates 2009
2009-2011 Board of Directors
Candidates for three (3) 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 8, so keep checking back as more candidates are added.
The election will be held from September 8 until September 14. (UTC/GMT +5 5am London time; PDT equivalent: September 14, 10pm PDT; EDT equivalent: September 14, 1am; JST equivalent: September 15, 2pm). For information on the election process, please visit the Election 2009 page. Please direct any questions to election2009@iainstitute.com.
Candidates
Will Evans
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Bio:
Will Evans is Director, User Experience Practice Lead for Twin Technologies with 14 years industry experience in presentation layer and user experience design. His experiences includes directing UX for AIR Worldwide, UX Architect for social media site Gather.com, and UX Architect responsible for the interaction design of Kayak.com. He worked at Lotus/IBM where he was the senior information architect, and for Curl - a DARPA-funded MIT project when he was at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science. Prior to Curl, Will was an interaction designer working on various search and knowledge management related product suites including Northern Light, KM Suite II and QueryServer.
Will holds masters degrees in business administration, human-computer interaction and cognitive science. His interests and studies have focused on design, information architecture, human factors and information visualization. He earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics and philosophy.
Position Statement:
My goal, if elected to the IAI Board of Directors, is to use this Social Brand Strategy as a conversation starter with existing and newly appointed board member, as well as to open the dialogue up to the membership in the spirit of transparency so that we can all be heard and contribute.
A SOCIAL BRAND STRATEGY
- Build a more passionate, active and engaged IAI membership by enabling connections that generate relevant and valuable conversations.
- Establish the community with principles of welcome, energy, and usefulness.
This is the cornerstone of a strategy to bring “A Community of Passion” to the IAI Brand. Reaching across the entire web ecosystem and integrating various channels of conversations, currently disjointed and haphazard, will drive membership, create cohesiveness in the community, and further the profession of practitioners. It will drive membership because there is a value the IAI can provide to people that are part of this community by serving as an aggregator, curation center and a hub of conversation.
This community includes everyday Information Architecture and UX practitioners who bring wisdom, new voices who bring energy & inspiration, and seasoned professionals who bring the value of experience over time.
This community will help the IAI stand above and apart from its competitors by positioning it as the best participation-driven and expert-led organization.
The IAI will build a stronger, more vibrant community that will become the heart of a new IAI web presence.
Read more about Will's Social Brand Strategy for the IA Institute at:
http://www.semanticfoundry.com/docs/IAI_Strategic_WillEvans.doc.pdf
Nominations:
"To call Will a thought leader in the world of UX/IA is a given. But, what makes Will truly unique is his ability to glimpse into the future and see how an organization like the IAI can take the field of IA to the next level. Being a member of the board, he would be able to share this vision will all members, and drive us to become something bigger and better than we are today."
(Nominated by Brad Nunnally)
"Will Evans is a master practitioner who would bring a unique and intelligent voice to the board. He is equal parts leader, mentor, philosopher, anthropologist, planner, master synthesizer and wisecrack. There are few leaders in the UX community that rival his degree of passion and curiosity about the intellectual strands of our field. He also thinks deeply about nuts and bolts practice and actively works for it’s betterment through writing, teaching, collaborating and freely sharing his own work. On the flip side, Will is a sensitive community builder, a man about people. He actively supports the work of his peers and encourages the inclusion of newcomers. He pays special attention to the dynamics of this community and has a habit of finding ways of bringing people together. To this end, he is also a capable planner, someone who knows how to make things happen. And most important, he seems to have the energy and drive of about ten people. Who better to have on this board? I wholeheartedly nominate Will as valuable new voice and agent for positive change."
(Nominated by Cindy Chastain)
"Will Evans is a person that every team needs to have on it. Will has vision, passion and drive for his causes and professional and personal projects. Will not only advocates the greater practice of user experience design, he also guides and leads through his actions within our community. Will is not one to minimize his efforts and involvement, but instead, continues to find outlets to further the practice. He is quick to acknowledge and respect the past and present of our field, and very capable of helping us move it forward. Certainly, there are people who are driven to succeed and there are those who drive their greater communities to succeed--Will manages to excel in both of those regards."
(Nominated by Russ Unger)
"Will is clearly at the national, if not international forefront of Information Architecture: in theory, in practice, and in understanding how the profession should be moving forward as part of a larger community. He will be a tremendous asset to the IAI at many levels, and as a board member would certainly propel the Institute forward with his experience, strategic insight and tenacious work ethic."
(Nominated by Michael Leis)
"Will is a brilliant thinker, researcher, and designer. He has some really solid experience in experience design for social interaction, which is an even bigger part of our future than it is in our present. Also, Will is an instigator. He has good ideas, acts on them, and gets others to do the same. I think his voice would be one that could really help move the practice of IA more confidently into the future."
(Nominated by Fred Beecher)
"Will is the kind of person I'll go out of my way to try to spend time with. He sees the world from a perspective that is completely different from mine and every time he opens his mouth I go: Wow. The man is smart. We need smart people who can appreciate complexity and are able to think about long-term impact to take the Institute to where it needs to be in the coming years. More than that, we need people who take action. Will is that guy. I absolutely want to work with him to make these things happen. If you don't know him yet, it's because he's a low profile guy, though a HUGE contributor to our community, so hopefully having him on the board of directors will help you get better acquainted. Will has been heavily involved with and contributing to various UX organizations, such as the IXDA and the IAI, and made the very successful DC REDUX event happen this year bringing an impressive number of UX practitioners across the US to distill Interactions and IA Summit events together. That's the kind of kick-ass energy, commitment and thinking that Will brings to the table; I want to channel all that goodness to your benefit via the IA Institute Board of Directors by having Will join us for the next term and therefore fully support his nomination."
(Nominated by Livia Labate)
"Will is extremely passionate, practiced and interested in growing this community. He works tirelessly volunteering for many different UX publications and communities. He would be a real asset to the IAI board. Will is also a thought leader. He has been involved in some leading work that can actually be named in our field, such as kayak.com and Gather.com. He is also a very social person. He likes to bring everyone in to the conversation. I think he does a good job of making people feel included and also of inspiring others to contribute."
(Nominated by Jennifer Bohmbach)
"Will Evans is one of the most impassioned people I know. His mind never stops, making connections between today's foremost issues and historical precedents from a wide range of fields. His analytical abilities are unparalleled, and the wealth of knowledge from which he draws on is nothing less than staggering. Not only is he a highly sought after user experience consultant -- having worked with the world's largest agencies, best-known startups and much loved brands -- he is also a mentor to many up-and-coming practitioners, and even many seasoned ones. His reputation for brazenness proceeds him, and is a welcome change to the echo-chamber lip service that has been all too pervasive in our community. The man never sleeps, never stops learning, never stops teaching, never stops giving back to the user experience community in long-lasting, meaningful ways. He is one of the most, if not the most, prolific contributors to the various mailing lists, sharing his unconventional realizations, answering people's questions, providing links to valuable resources, and just generally giving his time to those who need it. The most remarkable thing about him is that despite his never-ending contributions to the community, he has still managed to stay out of the spotlight, always working behind the scenes to make the experience better for everyone else. Will Evans is unusually qualified to serve on the next board of directors of the IAI because of his absolute independence, unwavering dedication, rare work ethic, terrifying smarts, and deep desire to help bring the practice of user experience far beyond where we are today. We need to start doing some things differently: more aggressively making ourselves known to the larger tech and business worlds; more intelligently collaborating among the various organizations and factions; generally taking a more sophisticated approach to way we conduct ourselves as business partners and product developers. Will Evans can help the IAI play a pivotal role in ushering in the next phase of our growth. I have my fullest belief in him. Please join me in ensuring that Will Evans serves on the 2009-2010 IAI Board of Directors."
(Nominated by Whitney Hess)
"As a thought leader, innovator and practitioner in this area, he would make an excellent addition to the IAI Board of directors."
(nominated by Brad Simpson)
Jonell Gades
Bio:
Jonell has over 9 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 for Fidelity.com, myPlanSM initiatives for Fidelity’s Employer Services, and implementation of the online messaging infrastructure, as well as other projects. She was 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 within the Fidelity Web Design group.
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 Mediator.
Position Statement:
In talking with Christian at the 2009 IA Summit, I discovered that I have a real passion for wanting people to feel welcome and comfortable. I would really love the opportunity to help onboard new IAI members, help them feel warm and fuzzy about this community, or in the very least, feel like they’ve got a personal welcome wagon. I would also like to become more involved in the mentorship program and work with younger, blossoming IA’s, helping them navigate the challenging waters that we often find ourselves in during projects and in every day interactions.
With regard to the discipline of IA, my experiences as a project manager and sr. producer before becoming an IA has taught me much about interpersonal relationships, team dynamics, and bridging communication gaps between people (regardless of discipline). When I was very young in my professional career, I had the opportunity to complete 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 an IA.
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 our business partners, our project teams, etc.
I’m fairly new to the IAI community and I’ve been fortunate to have connected with so many brilliant and genuinely nice people…who I now call friends. I hope to carry on that spirit and build upon that with our membership base.
I am honored to have been nominated and to be on the ballot among such talented professionals and lovely individuals. Thank you kindly for your consideration.
Nominations:
"Enthusiastic volunteer, particularly concerned with onboarding and welcoming of new members, should have valuable insights toward retention (minimizing attrition) and outreach."
(Nominated by Christian Crumlish)
"Jonell is passionate about her craft and committed to the UX community. I respect her opinions and work ethics and feel she would be a good influence on the board of directors. Her enthusiasm is infectious; we need her positive attitude and values to build the team that will take the IA Institute to great heights."
(Nominated by Livia Labate)
Jonathan Knoll
Bio:
Since 1990, when I put up my first BBS. I've held positions including: content analyst, developer, tester, product manager, information architect, and user experience designer.
After receiving my bachelor's in Political Science, I moved to the Bay Area to ride the dot-com wave, before returning to school for graduate studies, where I sought to improve research methodology by using available technologies to work more efficiently in the study of comparative electoral systems, voter strategy, and other related sub-fields. Currently, I am an independent user experience design & development consultant based in Brooklyn, NY.
You can find me online at:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanknoll
Twitter: http://twitter.com/yoni
Position Statement:
While the IAI continues to embody the evolution of Information Architecture among our membership, our technological infrastructure must also lead by example. If elected to the board, my goal is to personally create a new, efficient, sound technical foundation for the IAI – to iterate and scale that foundation in executing on the IAI’s promise of a more open, inclusive, and globally-advanced framework: delivering the IAI’s mission to every member and every line of code.
Since my introduction to this community last year, I have been serving as the primary or supporting developer for the IDEA 2009, Interaction '10, IA Summit 2010, and Social Software Strategy & Interaction Design websites. In addition, I'm a member of the planning committee for the New York chapter of UX Book Club.
I am running to formalize my role and provide consistent support to help strengthen IAI. I am eager to work with others already on the board as well as whomever will be new to the board: to see their great ideas move forward effectively. My strength is getting things done for the IAI members and community. This combined with my passion for UX I believe I will be a great asset to serve on the board for IAI.
Nominations:
"Jonathan "Yoni" Knoll has been working with the IAI on the IDEA team this year. He's efforts have gone above and beyond and have already helped the IAI manage some messy back office functionality with our membership system and how it relates to IDEA. That said, I would like to nominate Jonathan--very specifically--to fill the role of Technology Director for the IAI. I know this approach may be considered uncanny, but this is the role that he is perfect for. In addition to being committed to the community, Jonathan is the type of developer you hope to see on any project you work on. He knows his code, but he understands users, and he understands our community and has a desire to help. At many points throughout the planning and developing of the IDEA Conference website, Jonathan has helped both the IDEA Conference and the IAI by stepping in and donating his time and talents to help automate and/or semi-automate many of our overly-complex processes. Adding Jonathan to our board of directors would be an asset to an organization that is virtual, and would provide an extreme benefit to the membership as a whole. I believe that Jonathan has the desire and ability to help bring the IAI to the next level from a technology perspective."
(Nominated by Russ Unger)
"This is meant to nominate Jonathan Knoll (Yoni) to the IAI Board. I have been very good friends with Yoni for a few years, but over the past year have had the opportunity to work with him across a number of projects including the design and launch of the IAI’s IDEA2009 website as well as the planning for the upcoming IxD10 conference. Many of Yoni’s collegues will remark that he is blessed with considerable, almost scary talent. What is especially noteworthy is that while he came to UX from a developer background, he has, over the last few years spent a considerable amount of energy learning UX on his own, from mentors, and from all the conferences he has attended as he worked to fold those skills into his repetoir. I think his efforts are well know -- for instance: he was able to single-handedly implement from wireframe through delivered code a fantastic website for the Idea conference – while collaborating and contributing to not just the implementation, but the IA of the site as well. In fourteen years of practice in IA, IxD and user experience design, I have known and worked with many fantastic developers that tried to cross the schism between development and UX, but none as talented or as passionate as Yoni. 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 and the community through his efforts. Yoni is a motivated professional of numerous talents and considerable self discipline. He is passionate about the user, likable, enthusiastic, and selfless in his commitment to the IAI. Looking out over the next few years, I think there are a lot of strategic and tactical initiatives and projects that can really grow the IA community, and Yoni would be an integral part of making that a reality."
(Nominated by Will Evans)
"Jonathan is a self proclaimed 'developer that knows how to sketch'. This is important since it is rare for someone to both fundamentally understand user experience and be able to develop the designed interactions needed to facilitate an experience. He would bring a great perspective of realism to that IAI coming from the ‘other side’."
(Nominated by Brad Nunnally)
"Jonathan is a tireless advocate of IAI with keen insights into user experience and the ability to build and implement those solutions."
(Nominated by Brad Simpson)
Charlene McBride
Bio:
I have been a UX professional since 2000. I have worked with agencies in New York and Austin, TX on projects in pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, government, and consumer packaged goods. Currently, I am a Sr. Interaction Designer at Digitas in Boston, MA.
Prior to diving deep in the interactive world, I worked in children’s television for what still can be considered a huge chunk of my life.
I am the organizer of VizThink Boston and I helped launch VizThink Austin.
I also paint, design jewelry, and textiles.
Where to find me online:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/charlenemcbride
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ursonate
Position Statement:
I am honored to have been nominated for the board of directors of the Information Architecture Institute.
There may be those out there saying, Who is she? Where’s her blog? where are her 15 SXSW panel ideas? Where has she been? It’s pretty simple: I’ve been working.
When it comes down to it, nothing matters more than the work we do. It’s not about being a star. It’s about finding ways to perform to the best of our abilities, being responsive to the constant change of our practice and adding value for our stakeholders as well as ourselves.
I want to bring the dialog away from the definition discussion. We have a huge challenge in front of us: designing for a moving target. Technology and users are in constant flux. The damn thing will define itself.
We should be examining what it takes to get the job done and identifying ways to share, mentor and educate each other and those who are new. There are so many questions to consider: What are the awesome new ways people have figured out to sketch and prototype? How do we shape user experience now and what is that going to look like in 10 years? In 20 years? How do we think and how do we communicate that thinking to others? What is so unique about the way we think and how we apply it to our practice? How do we teach this way of thinking to others? Is it even teachable? What are your questions?
I decided to run because I love the work that I do and I I see myself as someone who can help it continue to grow. I’m someone who works hard and thinks hard. I’ve watched our profession grow tremendously over the years and I believe we can go a lot farther when we focus on the stuff that matters.
Nominations:
"Young, talented, energetic, positive, engaged, smart, etc. "
(Nominated by Christian Crumlish)
Andrea Resmini
Bio:
Andrea is an Information architect. He has a formal background in Architecture and Industrial Design and a long-standing experience of System and Network Administration. He has been practicing information architecture since 1999 and is currently pursuing a PhD degree focused on IA and UX for large complex online juridical and historical collections.
Andrea is on the Board of Advisors of the Information Architecture Institute, chairs the Italian Information Architecture Summit, is a founding member of the European IA Network, and coordinates REG-IA, the Research and Education Group in Information Architecture.
Andrea co-founded the Journal of Information Architecture and acts now as Associate Editor in charge of 'keeping it going'.
Position Statement:
As a Board Member, my principal concerns would be:
- to support the educational / academic effort, as I do believe that not only professional but also academic recognition plays a key role in the future of the Institute and the discipline;
- to help grow the international community and build stronger ties with the non-americans;
- to consolidate and expand IAI's presence on the Internet through quality initiatives like the Journal.
Nominations:
"First of all, Andrea is exploring (both in research and in practice) the topic of IA in physical environments or physical-digital ones (the so-called mixed reality or augmented reality systems). This is a promising sector for expanding IA beyond the web and spread it throughout new markets. Moreover, Andrea is already an active IA evangelist and practitioner:
- he spoke in several international conferences
- wrote several papers on the topic
- is in the committee of EuroIA and the promoter of the Journal of IA - http://journalofia.org
- is already in the advisory board of IA Institute."
(Nominated by Luca Rosati)
"A true advocate for Information Architecture, Andrea has been a valuable advisor to the Institute, and has demonstrated great leadership skills in starting the Journal of IA. He is also an active member of the European IA community, an important part of the Institute's constituency."
(Nominated by Jorge Arango)
"Tireless volunteer work, advocacy for the org, and efforts to advance the theory and practice, most notable of late through the Journal of IA but also an interesting book in the works and many other activities."
(Nominated by Christian Crumlish)
Fatima Roels
Bio:
Hi everyone, I’m Fatima Roels, and this is my bio. I’ll try to sketch a bit of my background as I realise that I’m perhaps not as well known to you as some of the other candidates.
Let’s start with where I am now. I’m the managing director of Website Copy, a company which manages online content and email communications on behalf of large corporations. I’m currently finishing an MBA (or Masters in Business Administration), where the focus is on how to achieve the best in an organisation from a strategic level, whether that is in the arena of strategic marketing or from a global business environment perspective. But I’m not all about business.
Previously I worked as a consultant in the field of content strategy and IA, both client-side and agency-side. I have produced wireframes, content and taxonomy restructures for a number of UK financial institutions, telecoms operators, design agencies and a HR organisation. And that’s in the UK... Before I moved to the verdant English countryside, I lived in Belgium, where I worked on content for both offline and online publications. Originally (what seems like a lifetime ago...) I lived in South Africa, where I worked as a radio and journalist, presenter and TV news anchor. I’m still a card-carrying member of the National Union of Journalists! (New media section of course...)
So as you can probably guess, a lot of what I’m passionate about is anything that relates to content and how the user experiences it: from the written to the spoken word.
I discovered the IA institute while working agency-side as an IA, and was delighted to discover a rich vein of enthusiasm, expertise and passion for the subjects of information architecture and content. Via the chats in the mailing list, I’ve discovered a vibrant community of thinking individuals that support and challenge each other from diverse locations across the globe.
This interaction has given me food for thought on many occasions, as well as dollops of insight and oodles of inspiration...which is why I’m keen to join the IA Institute’s Board of Directors.
I’m in a unique position of having been handed the tools to take an organisation to the next level from a strategic perspective. I’m doing this for Website Copy as a company. And I would be honoured to be able to do the same for the IA Institute as an organisation.
Position Statement:
The IA institute faces an interesting challenge in trying to pull together a disparate group of members, separated not only by experience and job role, but also by geographic location. This means that, of necessity, dissemination of learning and thought leadership occurs mostly via message boards.
I believe that the IA Institute has several roles to play:
- To bring together leaders in the field of information architecture and more easily share the wealth of knowledge and experience, so that every stakeholder (from junior to consultant) is informed and engaged.
- To promote knowledge of the field of information architecture within the wider global business community (i.e. the folks who need us).
- To act as a cohesion point for growth and regionalisation of IA interest groups in a number of locations geographically.
- To lower the perception of barriers to entry within the IA field by forging closer ties with education institutions on an international scale.
Ultimately I think there’s an opportunity to build on the brand of the IA Institute. We know what we’re about, what we’re passionate about, and what we stand for. We know what we do, and why we do it.
Now it’s up to us to get that message out there. There’s an ocean of opportunity open to the IA Institute. And I’m offering to pitch in and get my hands wet.
Nominations:
"Ex-IA, both agency and clientside; Keen focus on Content Strategy in particular; Currently running a Content Strategy/Content Management Agency; completing an MBA, and now looking for challenge at board level."
(Nominated by Fatima Roels)
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This page was last modified on September 8, 2009 08:14 AM.