Remembering to Think About It, Giving Back to It
Written by Russ on January 2, 2009 – 1:17 amI’ve been very fortunate of late–I was chosen by SXSW (South by Southwest) to present a Core Conversation on the topic of “Friendship is Dead” with David Armano (It was originally submitted as a panel with Bill DeRouchey, Matthew Milan and David Armano).
I’ve been very lucky in that I was also voted by the membership of the Information Architecture Institute to serve on their Board of Directors, of which I am the Director of Events and Marketing. Why I bring this up will make more sense in the next paragraph, I promise.
When I was chosen to speak at SXSW, one of the first things that came to mind was if there was a way that I could help support the IAI membership, so I asked Hugh Forrest if there was anything that could be worked out between the two organizations. It turns out that there was something that could be worked out, and SXSW has provided the IAI with 2 free passes to the Interactive portion of the conference in the form of a scholarship that you can win by answering some questions.
You can enter to win one of these scholarships by answering a few easy questions in essay format online at:
http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/education/sxsw_scholarship.php
This is a pretty serious opportunity! SXSW is pretty commonly known as one of “the” conferences to attend–and this will be my first one to attend, and I’m pretty excited about it! You don’t have to go to see me to win (although if you win, I’d enjoy meeting you while we’re in the same place!), but it would be great if you sought out some of the folks from the IAI that will be there:
- Journey to the Center of Design – Jared Spool
- From Freelance to Agency: Start Small, Stay Small – Whitney Hess, Jeffrey Zeldman
- Social Patterns and Antipatterns For the Win – Christian Crumlish
- Wireframes for the Wicked – Nick Finck & Donna Spencer
- Friendship is Dead – Russ Unger
(And if I’ve missed anyone, please let me know so I can add them!)
Okay, so that’s really cool stuff, and I’m really excited that the IAI is able to do this and that a couple of deserving people can go see something cool that they wouldn’t normally get to do. That’s awesome!
But…
The big point here is this: If you belong to an organization and you are fortunate enough to find yourself in the position to attend a conference, put on a conference or know someone at the conference, or any other event or occurrence, just take a moment to remember that/those organization(s) and see if there is a way that you can bring something back that could benefit other people who may not be as fortunate as you, me or anyone else lucky enough to attend.
The worst thing that can happen is that you can simply be told “No”. That’s not big deal–it’s something that was never yours to begin with.
But! If someone says yes, then there is opportunity! There is a chance you can help someone get more out of their membership–but more importantly, more out of their career. There is karma galore, and maybe that’s not your think, but goodwill has a pretty good way of finding its way back to people who are giving of it.
Some of the people I’ve come to know the best over the years and I’ve learned to count on, seek out for advice, rant and rave to or just shoot the breeze with via a late night IM or Skype session, I’ve found through the IAI and IxDA.
I don’t think that’s any small amount of coincidence.
And I’m working to find new ways to give more back–for all of us. Giving back on my own would be a bit selfish–I’d love to share that awesome feeling that I’ve gotten just from being able to put together a scholarship that people can take advantage of.
The really cool part? Just yesterday I got an email from someone else interested in this scholarship business–interested in helping us provide more scholarship opportunities. Other people are seeing the benefits for their events, as well as the communities that we’re all a part of!
That’s just a little bit more of the awesomeness that is snowballing out of risking a simple question.
So please, whenever you hear of an event, or an opportunity to help someone else out–even generally speaking, but especially for our various communities within User Experience–remember the organizations and the members who could benefit from any event–small, large, local or across the globe.
All of these organizations help provide community and opportunities to connect with other professionals, mentors, people with similar passions, people who can help you solve problems and even communities where you can find your place.
It’s easy to forget that, especially when you’re paying a membership fee and you may be inclined to think that someone else is paid to do that. In the case of the IAI, I can tell you with sincerity that we (board members, volunteers) are not paid. I’m pretty certain that the fine folks on the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) board of directors are not either. I’m not putting that out there because I feel that I deserve pay or any other sort of reward.
Far, far from it.
If anything, I feel as if I am the steward of a role for an organization that has given me so very much–from a great community of professionals that I often believe are so far out of my league in this industry to some of the same people who I’m fortunate enough to call “friend” and “mentor” or “advisor”. I have a global group of connections–there are few places that I could travel to without feeling as if there is someone nearby that I know and could meet with for coffee, dinner, or just a great conversation.
That, is fortunate. Oh–and if you’re in these organizations, you, too, are fortunate. This greater community of User Experience professionals are so very helpful, even when they’re wildly busy. They’re passionate about what they do, about the growth and maturation of the field, and they’re willing to lead by example and impart their knowledge and wisdom to anyone who is willing to ask for it.
That, is something I cherish and intend to do whatever I can to try and help foster and see that whatever stagnation may be happening comes to an end. We have so many tools available to us–any of us–that breaks down the distances between us. Tools that help us create communities that are tighter, closer-knit than ever before. I think 2009 will be a year of exploring and finding the tools that fit and bringing people closer together, helping them no longer be islands. I hope so. I’m going to do my best, which probably involves losing a bit of sleep, to see that it does happen–but it’s worth it, and it’s fun to tinker and have a group of people who are willing to do that with you.
Gosh! I think I just claimed that it’s fun to find failure with a group of like-minded folks.
Will you help find failures with me?
(Imagine how awesome the successes will be!)
Posted in Community, Conferences, Presentations, SXSW, User Experience | 3 Comments »
Russ,
I think it’s great. As the saying goes, “Ya don’t ask, ya don’t get.”
BTW, I’ll be at SxSW, doing my Journey to the Center of Design presentation.
Jared
Thanks! I updated the post with that–and that’s a great presentation to make sure people go and see!
Russ, I’ll also be at SXSW on Jeffrey Zeldman’s panel “From Freelance to Agency: Start Small, Stay Small” http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/1380