The Making of the IA Summit 2014

Between June 2013 and March 2014, I was honored to serve as part of the Chair Committee for the Information Architecture Summit. It happened to be the event’s fifteenth anniversary. This being the third time I worked on the event, I wanted to give it a little 15th birthday present.

What would a fifteen year old IA conference want more than some documentation of all this grassroots glory!?!?

I set out to find out what had happened the past 14 years. Then throughout the planning process, I created diagrams and information graphics that helped the team and our community understand the interior workings of the beloved community event. I have collected them all below along with some photos of them in action at Poster night.

Graph depicting time spent as an IA Summit Chair.
Yes, this graph is real. And yes, it was worth it. Note: this represents my time as well as an agreed to average from my co chairs.
InfoVis depicting how the 2014 program was curated.
I am quite proud of the process we used to cast the program. I still don’t know if our low acceptance rate is a help or a hinderance to our community, but it was fun to document and improve incrementally.
InfoVis depicting where IA Summit has taken place and who has been involved over the years.
Researching the history of the IA Summit proved to me that the task was worthy of accomplishing. There is so much love. So much tender care… and yes so much human drama wrapped up in this beautiful special event.
Gannt chart of the IA summit timeline.
The schedule was crucial to set early and push for above all other things. I have a reputation for being a bit of a task master, and this diagram kept me sane at many points when it felt impossible to herd all these cats. Gantt FTW 😉
Hierarchy of the tasks and roles needed to make IA summit happen every year.
A good ol hierarchy diagram of all the tasks and roles we need to make this event happen each year. Who doesn’t love that?!
"Om Nom Data" says Fred Beecher
“Om Nom Data” says Fred Beecher , “Oh remember Portland!?” says Lynn Boyden
Collaborative Jared is Collaborative
Collaborative Jared is Collaborative
IAS Turns 15: A Poster
Once I had all the pieces, I thought what better place to incite conversations than at poster night at the IA Summit.

Download the Poster (PDF)