• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

IAC: Information Architecture conference

IAC: Information Architecture conference

  • IAC23: New Orleans
    • Tickets & Registration Info
    • Conference Theme
    • Venue – InterContinental
    • Workshops
    • Conference Program
    • Speakers
    • COVID-19 Policy
    • Experience NOLA
    • IAC23 for Everyone
    • Sponsor IAC23
  • About
    • Code of Conduct
    • Vision & Values
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
    • Scholarships
    • Past conferences
    • IAC Advisory Board
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • IAC23 Volunteers
  • Log in
Home / Archives for 2021

#IAC21

News and announcements for the IA conference #IAC21 Anywhere in spring 2021

The Reluctant Information Architect: Claire Morville

Why did you get into Information Architecture?

I didn’t get a choice. I was born into IA. My first words were taxonomy and wireframe. My first pet was a polar bear. Okay, I’m joking, but as you’ve probably guessed, my dad is Peter Morville.

What you may not know is that I’ve spent most of my life avoiding information architecture. During my childhood, IA was that annoying, ever-present dinner topic that prevented me from talking about volleyball, friends, and the fun things in life. As a teenager, I refused to be interested in anything my dad did for work. I was the daughter who wanted to do anything but follow in her father’s footsteps. I needed to find my own path, so I went away to college to study computer science.

But that wasn’t the right fit, so when I stumbled upon an undergraduate major at the University of Maryland iSchool that integrated technology and design, I was thrilled. I called my dad to tell him about this new field I’d discovered. He said “Claire, that’s great, but you do realize this is that stuff you’ve ignored all your life? This is what I do.”

I was crushed. But, as much as I wanted to resist, I knew it was the right path. I love organizing, structuring, planning, and designing. So that’s how I became a reluctant IA.

How did you become a co-chair of the IA cConference?

In 2019, I volunteered with the DCUX Conference, where I met Vanessa Foss. We discussed low student engagement in professional conferences such as IAC, and I suggested she create the new position of student co-chair. I argued student engagement won’t happen without student leadership. One thing led to another, and here I am.

What do you do as a co-chair?

I’m grateful for my fellow co-chairs (Grace Lau, Teresa Nguyen, Cassini Nazir) because together with Kunverj and our amazing volunteers, we are responsible for planning and delivering the conference. It’s a huge amount of work.

One task that’s fun is choosing keynote speakers. I’m proud to have identified and invited Rebekah Bruesehoff to be our opening keynote. At first glance, she has little to do with IA. But, when you consider the consequences of classification, who is better to speak to its dangers than a transgender youth activist who’s also a Marvel superhero?

What’s been your funniest moment in IA, so far?

The co-chairs and curation team were reviewing workshops for the event, and the word “ontology” appeared several times. Everyone but me seemed to know what it meant, so I swallowed my pride and asked. Instead of an explanation, I was met with blank stares. After an eternity, someone said “I know what it means, but I can’t explain it.”

All of a sudden, everyone grabbed their “polar bear books.” They didn’t even have to leave their chairs. They all had it on the desk next to them. I couldn’t decide if I should laugh or cry. Sometimes it seems impossible to escape my dad even after moving hundreds of miles away to college. Of course, the moment became even funnier when we found the polar bear book doesn’t even define “ontology.”

What’s next for you?

Upon graduation in May, I hope to start my career at the intersection of user experience and crisis management. I’m currently working at the Crisis Technologies Innovation Lab at Indiana University where I have become aware of all sorts of opportunities to apply UX methods to improve disaster planning and emergency management. I may be a reluctant IA, but when it comes to using IA to help people survive and thrive, I’m all in.

Where can people find you?I’m on Twitter (@morvilleclaire) and LinkedIn and can’t wait to meet you at IAC!

IAC21’s Day 2 Keynote Speakers: Safiya U. Noble and Sarah T. Roberts

One of our IAC keynote speakers tells us that search engines are racist, the other that artificial intelligence can’t replace humans. Both help us recalibrate our shared responsibilities as professionals and practitioners. 

Safiya Umoja Noble’s  Algorithms of Oppression challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for ideas, identities, and activities. Technology—from policing software or  facial recognition to social media platforms of all stripes—not only singles out women and people of color, but also perpetuates harm to various communities and accelerates the spread of misinformation. 

Sarah T. Roberts reminds us of the illusion of volition. There are humans silenced under contract, dispersed across the globe, hired by the tech companies to moderate and remove offensive content generated by social media users. Her intensive ethnographic study, Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media, explores the people protecting us from the worst of the Internet. 

Join IAC21 in April 2021 for a fireside chat with Drs. Noble and Roberts and expand your worldview and perspective on information architecture and understanding of the -isms that we seek to break. 
Safiya and Sarah are among a host of other compassionate, courageous, brilliant, and inspirational speakers that we will feature at IAC21 in April 2021. Join the conversation and register today.

Meet Your IAC21 Co-Chairs

As we collectively emerge from 2020, we pause to introduce you to the team behind the planning and coordination for IAC21: 

  • Grace Lau
  • Teresa Nguyen
  • Claire Morville
  • Cassini Nazir 

We are honored to carry forward the rich legacy. IAC has endured for 22 years thanks to the effort and dedication of a smart and dedicated community. Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing a “Meet the Co-Chairs” series so you can get to know us better. 

No conference would happen if it were just made of chairs. We are thankful to the many volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make the conference possible. Thank you for your support: 

Matt Arnold, Alesha Arp, Mykle Brossette, Ken Caldwell, Anita Cheng, MaShana Davis, Vinish Garg, Michael Hardy, Jennifer Jefferson, Agnes Kiss, Sandra Lloyd, Bibiana Nunes, Chiara Ogan, Jeff Pass, Adam Polansky, Dan Ramsden, Nathan Rogers, Shana Shields, Amy Silvers, Kyle Soucy, Sup Suh, Stacy Surla, and Noreen Whysel. 

There’s still time to register for IAC21. We hope you can join! 

—IAC21 Chairs

Emerge renewed with Kathy Sierra, IAC21’s closing keynote speaker

Announcing our second keynote speaker for IAC21: Kathy Sierra

We are thrilled to announce programmer and game developer Kathy Sierra will deliver the closing keynote at the 2021 Information Architecture conference.

Kathy created the award-winning Head First book series that sold over one million copies. Published by O’Reilly Media, these instructional guides employ an unorthodox combination of visuals, puzzles, jokes, and an engaging conversational style to help people develop skills in programming, software engineering, and user experience design.

Kathy developed education games and software for the motion picture industry, and created the first interaction design courses for UCLA Entertainment Studies. For more than 15 years, Kathy has helped large companies, small startups, nonprofits, and educators rethink their approach to user experience, and build sustainable, genuine customer loyalty.

In 2007, after being subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment that included public disclosure of personal documents (aka doxxing) and death threats, Kathy made a high-profile exit from the technology industry.

Since then, Kathy has emerged as a hero for horses by pioneering better ways to rehabilitate and motivate horses and by cultivating an international community of people who love learning more gentle ways to teach horses with her ground-breaking online classes and conversations.

Through an illustrious career, Kathy has reinvented herself time and again, while nurturing a lifelong passion for teaching and learning. In all sorts of wonderful ways, Kathy is the personification of our conference theme of emergence.

Register today and join Kathy Sierra and a host of other compassionate, courageous, brilliant, and inspirational speakers in April for IAC21 

IAC21 Call for Posters

Screenshot of IAC20 poster night where attendees are displayed hovering over poster images
IAC20 poster night where attendees’ cursors are displayed hovering over poster images

The 2021 Information Architecture conference has an open call for poster presentations!

For IAC21, we’re planning a virtual poster exhibition. We pivoted Poster Night last year and we’ve refined the logistics this year around.

The Poster Night is scheduled for April 28 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm EDT online. Poster Night will be held in real-time in an online, interactive event platform using a visual whiteboard. Learn more about how we’re planning Poster Night.

Send in your poster concepts by February 10. Your submission should include a description for review and an idea for how your poster would add to the conference experience.

Submit proposal

Poster presenters will be notified by February 16, 2021.

For more information about posters, visit Present a Poster

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Sponsor IAC

We’re looking for organizations who share our commitment to building and sustaining programs that drive a more inclusive industry. Learn more on the Sponsor IAC23 page or contact us directly at info@theiaconference.com for more information.

The information architecture conference ©2022

Privacy Policy ⋅ Code of Conduct