IAI Newsletter #3.4 April 2008

March 30, 2008 12:43 AM

IAI Newsletter #3.4 April 2008

The Information Architecture Institute (IAI) Newsletter features news about IAI and our partner sites: Boxes and arrows and IAwiki. We've also added a list of conferences, workshops, F2Fs, and job postings at the end, so scroll down!

In this issue:
* IAI News
* Volunteers at IAI
* What's New with Our Partners?
* Upcoming Conferences and Workshops
* Job Postings

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"IAI NEWS - http://iainstitute.org/news/

Hi, fellow IAs –

The big news this month is that it’s IA Summit time again. And we’re looking forward to meeting folks face-to-face in Miami – particularly the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who work so hard to build our virtual organization. (And we can always use an extra brain, so let us know if you’d like to join our volunteer team).

As always, the Institute will be repsented in force. On Friday, April 11, we’ll be holding a fabulous p-conference workshop, “Becoming a leader - from IA to business and beyond.” With psentations by Christopher Fahey, Margaret Hanley, Harry Max, Karen McGrane, Josh Rubin, and Jorge Arango, we’ll explore the relationship between Information Architecture and Leadership from two perspectives:

  1. How we can become effective leaders
  2. How IA skills can make us all more effective.

Participants will leave the workshop with thoughts, tools, tips & tricks to help ppare them for positions of leadership, in their organizations and in society. Don’t miss it!

Once again, we’ll also be setting up an informal “Mentoring Booth,” where anyone and everyone is welcome to sit down and share their experiences. Remember, you don’t have to be an old hand in this business to share good advice.

In addition to the main conference program, attendees are invited to join us for our Annual Meeting on Sunday, April 14 at 6 PM at the Miami Hyatt. The Board is just finishing up the 2007 Annual Report, which will be available soon.

If you happen to be flying in from South America, IAI Board member and Director of Events, Jorge Arango, has cut a great deal with Copa Airlines, Just give them the discount code D01818 for 20% off air fares to Miami between April 5th and April 19th!

There’s lots more going on – our island in Second Life is about to start a new lecture series, we continue to expand and improve our multi-language website, and we are kicking new life into a wide range of initiatives and member benefits. And to top things off, our new membership sign-ups and membership renewals hit all-time record highs this past month. Thanks so much for your continued support!

Warmest regards,
Eric Reiss

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VOLUNTEERS AT IAI - Volunteer Opportunities

Repsent the IA Institute at the IA Summit

Here’s a great opportunity to meet IAI members and Summit attendees – help us out at the IAI Information Booth. Want to meet and greet attendees and share your experience with potential new IAI members? We’d love to have you join our staff and other volunteers for an hour or two. Contact membership AT iainstitute DOT org to sign up.

Networking

This collaborative project featuring a group of members from around the world requires technical expertise to take the final design into the next stage. If you have some time, and html/css/php skills to offer, please contact volunteer AT iainstitute DOT org to join the team.

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VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Who: Darren Evans,User Experience/Creative Services Manager
Where: London (UK)

What would you like to tell IAI members about IA in your part of the world?
Information Architecture is vital to consumer acceptance and commercial success. At a basic level, websites need to ensure consumers can find information or products they want quickly and efficiently. This interaction directly affects sales, customer loyalty, and almost every other aspect of online business.

What most excites you about IA in the future?
Innovation; the consequent explosion of content and functionality now means that online users have higher expectations for their ability to manage information, powered by adoption of broadband, social networks and personalisation.

Why do you belong to the IA Institute?
I am part of the IA Institute because I am passionate about new media and new product development. I want to ensure that all my projects achieve the ultimate goal of ensuring people can find the information or product they need.

Where can we find you?
I currently manage all digital creative output for the development of Camelot Group plc’s interactive sites.  As the licensed operator of the UK National Lottery, Camelot's prime business objective is to maximize returns to Good Causes in the most efficient and socially responsible way.

My role involves managing visual direction, usability and accessibility for the largest interactive lottery in the world, with particular emphasis right now on developing the National Lottery website.  My pvious experience covers blue chip operators within Retail, Publishing, Banking and, latterly, Lottery sectors. Roles have encompassed product management, information architecture and marketing strategy to enhance both product value and return on investment.

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WHAT'S NEW WITH OUR PARTNERS

ASIS&T Bulletin, Boxes and Arrows, and Web Indexing SIG

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ASIS&T Bulletin - http://www.asis.org/bulletin.html

This issue of the ASIS&T Bulletin features our own Board of Directors psident, Eric Reiss in the IA Column. With “It’s Not What You Think, but How You Think” he explores best practices in conjunction with creativity and innovation. Curiosity is the key to more than just the creative process. Curious? Read more

It’s Not What You Think, but How You Think - http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-08/FebMar08_IA_Reiss.html

And don’t miss the special section on Information Professionals in a Globalized World.

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Boxes and Arrows - http://www.boxesandarrows.com
The definitive source for the complex task of bringing architecture and design to the digital landscape.

Cues, The Golden Retriever : How our natural responses to stimuli can inform the design process
by Jamie Owen

Our brains constantly process the stimuli in our environment and respond, consciously and unconsciously, to what is going on around us. Cues help us navigate this environment. Jamie Owen explores how memory, cognitive psychology, and multimedia research integrate to affect how information is encoded and retrieved as well as how we can best utilize cues in our work.

Enhancing Dashboard Value and User Experience
by Joe Lamantia
 
In this article, part five of a series, the author describes ways to enhance the long-term value and user experience quality of portals by encouraging portability and natural patterns of dialog and interaction around aggregated content.

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Web Indexing SIG: http://www.web-indexing.org

The Web Indexing SIG (Special Interest Group) promotes the human indexing of Web sites and HTML documents.

Check out these excellent workshops organized by the Web Indexing SIG:

Creating Web A-Z Indexes

Date: April 23, 2008, 6:00 - 8:30 pm (6:00 - 6:45 networking; 6:45 - 8:30 psentation)
Location: Meeting Room of the Piccadilly Cafeteria in the Melbourne Square Mall, 1701 W New Haven Ave., Melbourne, Florida, USA.
http://www.stc-spacetech.org

RSVP to: programs AT stc-spacetech DOT org or call Dawnell K. Claessen at 321-373-4582

Taxonomy and Thesaurus Creation Full-Day Workshop

April 30, 2008
Denver, USA
A p-conference workshop of the American Society of Indexers annual meeting, but full conference registration is *not* required.
Price is only $295 ($245 for ASI members).

Conference home: http://www.asindexing.org/site/conferences/conf2008/index.shtml
Workshop details:  http://www.hedden-information.com/taxonomy-workshop.htm

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ONLINE WORKSHOPS

Taxonomies and Controlled Vocabularies Online Workshop

April 1-30, 2008, with login access any time (not real time).
A new online workshop offered to the public through the continuing education program of Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

Cost is $250. Details are at:
http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/continuinged/workshops/online.shtml#online_a18
Contact the instructor, Heather Hedden, heather AT hedden DOT net you have any questions.

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UPCOMING EVENTS - http://iainstitute.org/calendar/

Events on the IAI Calendar website offer discounts to members. We are always looking for new partners and events we can share with our membership and newsletter subscribers. If you’d like to promote your event, please contact events AT iainstitute DOT org.

The Calendar is bursting with events, check out the full listings online! http://iainstitute.org/calendar/

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IA INSTITUTE SPECIAL EVENT:

IA Institute pConference at IA Summit
Becoming a leader: from IA to business and beyond
April 11, 2008
Miami, USA

Information Architecture is maturing as a profession, and IAs are increasingly being called on to leadership positions within their organizations. This seminar will be a daylong workshop that will explore the relationship between Information Architecture and Leadership.

Christopher Fahey, Margaret Hanley, Harry Max, Karen McGrane, and Josh Rubin will be exploring the relationship between Information Architecture and leadership. If you aspire to a position of leadership — in any capacity — you cannot miss this workshop.
http://www.iasummit.org/proceedings/2008/becoming_a_leader_from_ia_to_b

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UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS - http://iainstitute.org/calendar/

Content Convergence and Integration 2008
March 12-14, 2008
Vancouver, Canada

A conference for content professionals who need to find more strategic ways to manage their content in a world where content now gets created and syndicated, integrated, repurposed, and redistributed. IAI members eligible for discount.
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000700.php

Information Architecture Essentials
April 9, 2008
Sydney, Australia

In this one-day workshop, Patrick Kennedy will psent the fundamentals of information architecture (IA), the core methodology for organizing and designing websites and intranets. Key skills such as card sorting will be taught, and this workshop is designed to build in-house information architecture skills. A must for all web or intranet teams. For more information and to register, go to www.steptwo.com.au/seminars/080409/ . IAI members eligible for discount.

IA Summit 2008
April 10-14, 2008
Miami, USA

The pmier gathering place for information architects. This year your peers and industry experts will speak about how topics such as social networking, gaming, patterns, tagging, taxonomies, and a wide range of IA tools and techniques can help as users "experience information". IAI members eligible for discount. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000702.php

Doctrain West 2008
May 6-9, 2008
Vancouver, BC, Canada

The 2nd Annual Documentation & Training West Conference theme is Web 2.0 and Its Impact on Communication. The event features a keynote psentation from Dr. Robert Glushko, author of "Document Engineering: Anayzing and Designing Documents for Business Informatics and Web Services" (MIT pss). Glushko will outline a new discipline for specifying, designing, and implementing the electronic documents that request or provide interfaces to business processes via web-based services. IAI members eligible for discount. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000696.php

Enterprise Search Summit
May 20-21, 2008
Hilton New York, NYC

The Enterprise Search Summit is a highly intense, in-depth, 2-day conference that covers how to develop, implement and enhance cutting-edge internal search capabilities. If you are an information manager or IT or search professional, ENTERPRISE SEARCH SUMMIT is where you will learn strategies and build the skill sets you need to make your organization's content not only searchable but "findable." IAI members eligible for discount, contact Melissa at membership AT iainstitute DOT org for the discount code.  http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000710.php

Web Content 2008
June 17-18, 2008
Chicago, USA

Event brings together nationally recognized technology, content, and marketing authorities involved with creating, organizing, maintaining, and delivering web content. psenters will share best practices, new approaches, lessons learned, and provide real-world examples. This year's theme: Web 2.0 and Its Impact on Web Communication. IAI members eligible for discount. http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000701.php

Documentation and Training Life Sciences 2008
June 23-26, 2008
Indianapolis, USA

The theme of the Documentation & Training Life Sciences 2008 Conference is The Right pscription For Life Sciences Content. The event explores content challenges faced by pharmaceutical companies, medical device and durable medical equipment manufacturers, and health and hospital corporations around the globe. IAI members eligible for discount.
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/000697.php

Check out full listings and future events:
http://iainstitute.org/calendar/

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IAI JOB POSTINGS - http://iainstitute.org/jobboard/

The IAI Job Board lists job postings related to information architecture, as well as information design, interaction design, user experience, and HCI.

The following are just a sample of recent postings:

User Experience Architect
Recruit Media, London, GB GBR

Information Architect
Thomson, Eagan, MN USA

Taxonomist
Consumer Reports, Yonkers, NY USA

Job board newsletter archives are available at: http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/iai-jobs-iainstitute.org

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Thanks for reading and we'll be back with another newsletter in about a month!