EVENT: Information Architecture Summit 2008

I was offered a scholarship to go to the Information Architecture Summit 2008 and I immediately though of the reasons why I should not go. Probably the same reasons that keep most people from doing a lot of things nowadays:

- Lack of money

- Lack of time

You may say – “but, you got a scholarship!”. Yes, I was one of the lucky students to receive a FatDux scholarship given to 6 American universities. But it was thanks to their generosity in the name of growing the IA field, I was exposed to this wonderful event. And being in this position, I feel responsible to share the knowledge of how this opportunity is so unique for other students and practitioners that want to get ahead in their careers.

Of course I had to still spend money. When attending to such event, you have to spend on transportation (air tickets in this case), hotel accommodations, food (which is always more than you spend on every day life), and take time off from work. Those are the investments that you need to make in order to get the payoff. But nothing good comes easy and I had to consider those small sacrifices.

Gladly, I thought about it and immediately accepted the offer. I just had to figure out how cheap I could make this trip and make the best out of it. A gut feeling told me that this could be a great opportunity I could not afford to miss. That was one of those moments that I listened to my instinct and kept on going. I searched the travel sites, airlines, asked people for tips, and looked for the best bargains and cheapest hotels I could find. The total amount was more than I expected to spend on it, but the pay off was way higher and more that I could ever imagine.

Over all, here is what I got out of it:

- ROI (Return on Investment)

- Productivity and inspiration

The money I put into it was way less that I have paid in a class, but the learning and insights I got were relative to taking one very intensive class in what is information architecture and how practitioners are accomplishing goals using information architecture in their work.

The combination of taking he classes at my university and attending to the conference helped me connect a lot of dots. There were many things I have wondered about and questions I had that have been answered. Those insights where so very lasting and inspiring that I came back from Miami feeling like a new converted religious freak trying to recruit everyone around.

After the presentations, discussions, and materials presented at the conference, I feel my perception of the field has become so sensitive that my mind cannot stop thinking and waning to know more. I feel charged and inspired to study and talk about information architecture, interaction design, and user experience in general.

Additionally, the community was very welcoming. There was a lot of network opportunities starting from the official website social network online through Crowdvine.

If I made you curious enough about this, here are some cues you can follow to learn more:

IA Summit 2008 official website:
http://www.iasummit.org/2008

Sponsoring Professional Communities:
http://www.asis.org
http://www.iainstitute.org
http://www.boxesandarrows.com

Sponsoring Companies:
http://www.fatdux.com
http://eightshapes.com
http://www.cimlife.com
http://www.nform.ca
http://www.nform.ca/tradingcards
http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.crowdvine.com

Keeping in touch with the Community:
http://www.slideshare.net/tag/iasummit2008
http://twitter.com/IASummit2008/with_friends
http://www.flickr.com/groups/iasummit2008/pool

Washington, DC IAs:
http://www.dc-ia.com