Oz-IA: Info Architecture conference Sydney, 22-23rd Sept
Over the last couple of weeks I have been looking into some of the upcoming conferences on web development, design, usability, information architecture, and well basically anything to do with online technology as part of my quest to learn as much as I can so that I can make the online world we live in a better place. I have found lots of interesting conferences, most of which are located either in the states (Austin, Texas - SXSW Interactive March 7-11 2008), London (Future of Web Apps Oct 3-5 2007 ) and New Zealand (Webstock). Which based on my (non-existant) budget, means the chance of me making it to any of these is currently unlikely. But don’t fret cos today I found something even better… SitePoint blogger Lisa Herrod posted an article about events coming up in Australia.
YaY!!!
But wait it gets better - one of the events, Oz-IA is offering a free pass to one lucky blogger. Woot! That is exactly what I need and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The catch… entries close today at 6pm so I am now hurriedly writing to try and get an entry in. Heres what I have found so far about the conference from their website.
When: 22nd - 23rd September
There will be 8 sessions a day, the ones I am interested in most include:
Ethical issues and information architecture by Donna Maurer
Last week I downloaded a podcast by Donna on Usabillity for rich internet applications from the 2006 Webstock Conference, and although haven’t had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet, I really like where it is going and I think she definetly has some great ideas hat we could all learn from.
Designing sites people love - balancing emotion with business reality by Elizabeth Pek and Andy Coffey.
I think theres a lot I could learn from this presentation. At Uni, the IT componenet of my degree focussed mainly on the back-end programming and as long as something worked then it didnt matter how ugly, or un-user-friendly it was. I disagree and I want to change that by making applications that work and people actually love using them… so hopefully this should give me a couple of tips.
Semantic analysis in IA by Matthew Hodgson
I am a sucker for organisation, so Information Architecture is something I have started doing a bit more research into, but I haven’t really had a chance to get deep in yet, so this would potentially give me the motivation to learn more.
Exploring multidimensional tagging frameworks by Scott Parsons
I love tagging, I think its great. However I don’t think it is currently being used as widely as it could be. Also I am considering implementing tagging in one of my upcoming applications, so multidimensional tagging sounds interesting..
It is at this point that I realise I think I am going to like all these sessions.The winners keep on coming…
Open your mind - map it by James Breeze
I like getting all my ideas out on paper (or a whiteboard), however there isn’t too much structure to it, so this could be a good way to learn how to get more out of my crazy mind jotting sessions.
Information Architecture of Wikis by James Matheson
I haven’t worked much on the development side of Wikis but now that I think about it, they are pretty good at structure information so it would be nice to learn a bit more. Potentially something we could all learn to use when creating information structures in other applications.
Landing Page Optimisation by Hurol Inan
This is a must. I think the first page you go to really makes a difference.. if the first page is confusing, chances are the other pages are not going to make much difference. First impressions count.
“Theres no I in team” a case study in collaborative information architecture by Patrick Kennedy
In my experience teams can either make or break a project. Working with a good team is great, but if you have a bad team, then it makes you wish you could do it all yourself.. I’m interested on finding out how to make teams work better.
ROI in Information Design by David Sless
This isn’t really something I have looked into before. Potential to learn something new here.
Rise to Play a Greater Part - Delivering Specs in the Bigger Picture by Faruk Avdi
I love project management and I love planning so this would be fun.
I am running out of time, so I am just going to leave it at that for now. I will have a more in-depth look into all the presentations over the next couple of days and post some more info for anyone who is interested.
Overall the conference looks very interesting. If you have any interest in Information Architecture, or even if you don’t I suggest you check it out, I am sure there is something we all can learn.
If I am lucky enough to get picked, look forward to hearing a lot more about the all the sessions. If I don’t get picked - look forward to hearing more about ways to help me make money to cover the cost of getting me down there
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