We were sad to see the announcement today that the IA Institute will be dissolved. We each have stories of how the institute either helped introduce us to information architecture in the first place or helped us to develop our expertise and grow.
But as the current co-chairs of the IA Conference, we wanted to reassure the community that the conference will continue. There will be no impact on plans for IAC20 in New Orleans and we’ll continue the work to clarify and strengthen the role of co-chairs, so that IAC can continue to be an event focused on the community of practice organized by volunteers from the community.
We’re passionate about delivering a conference that brings people together to understand, share, learn and have a good time. We’re committed to inviting new practitioners to attend, speak and share. We will continue the scholarship program for the conference – and we’re currently working on plans for how to do that.
We’re also committed to creating a welcoming and safe environment for all. Our Code of Conduct sets out our values and expectations. As co-chairs we are responsible for enforcing it. We have clarified that the event insurance covers us as volunteers if things do go wrong –`so we have the confidence that we can enforce and defend our values and expectations as a community. We will not be revisiting decisions of the past. But we hope that we’ve learned, reflected and begun to improve the processes and protections we have in place for everyone connected with the conference. We’ll continue that work during preparations for the conference in New Orleans.
Our call for submissions is currently open. The announcement by the institute means that things will change for how we all support and grow a diverse and creative community of practice. But we sincerely believe in the power of gathering together to speak, share and sing 😉 (there will be karaoke at IAC20 – amongst Games night, yoga, Jam night, first timers dinners, poster night, speaker support and studio, the career center, three days of sessions, two days of workshops…) it all makes us better designers and information architects.
The conference is supported by our event sponsor Kunverj and a band of volunteers. But it can only really continue, and only continue to grow if established voices share stages with emerging voices. Our community is dependent on generosity as much as it is on expertise – the conference sees these two come together. This is the year to submit a talk, poster, workshop or session. This is the year to sponsor the conference. This is the year to register early. Or volunteer to help. This is the year to make your contribution to IAC.
We will be extending the deadline for submissions beyond the current date of September 22nd to October 14th. We hope this gives more people the chance to submit ideas for ways to participate.
If you have ideas for how we could improve or ways you could support the conference we would love to talk. We’re looking for ideas, submissions and sponsors – so please reach out on Twitter or contact us using the form below.
