Sunday, 11:45am, Venetian
The growth of the IA/UX industry has seen the birth of numerous related professional organizations with many local chapters and groups supporting them all around the globe, but there is more work that needs to be done. Existing chapters and groups need support and guidance to ensure continued growth and there are still vast regions that are in need of their own chapters and groups. Regions with strong IA/UX groups help sustain the growth of the industry in that area, which is one of the reasons why even more IA/UX groups are needed.
During this session we’ll take a look at what professional organizations and local chapters/groups already exist and why you should get involved in one or start your own. Kyle and Nasir have experience starting, running, and organizing different industry groups and they’ll share the experiences they’ve had working with PhillyCHI, NHUPA, and NYC IxDA. They’ve learned through trial and error what meetings work well and what don’t. They know how to keep the momentum of a group going strong! You will learn from them:
- Good meeting ideas
- How to find venues, sponsors, and speakers
- How to promote your events
- Pitfalls to avoid in running your group
- How to deal with limited volunteer help
- How to start your own chapter or group
SPEAKERS’ BIOS
Kyle Soucy
Kyle Soucy is the founding principal of Usable Interface (www.usableinterface.com), an independent consulting company specializing in product usability and user-centered design. Her clients have ranged in industries from pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer to publishing powerhouses like McGraw-Hill. She has created intuitive interfaces for a variety of different products, everything from web sites to touch screen devices.
Kyle is the Founder and Past President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association (NH UPA), she has served as the Chair of PhillyCHI, the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI), and she is the local UXnet Ambassador for New Hampshire. She is very passionate about the continued growth of the usability and user experience design community.
Nasir Barday
Nasir Barday is a Senior User Experience Architect at FactSet Research Systems, Inc., a financial information software company. He has designed products for the investment banking and investment management communities. He develops research and design processes for multidisciplinary teams and educates employees worldwide about the practice of user experience design. He is engaged in various independent projects in interactive product design and future technologies that move experiences away from traditional screen-based interactions.
Nasir serves as a global director for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) and leads the digital media initiatives for the organization and its annual Interaction conference. He has served on the steering committee for the New York City IxDA since 2005, and he was the group’s local leader from 2006 to 2008. With a team of 12 other volunteers (and growing!), the group consistently organizes monthly events in venues around New York City. Nasir also leads a double-life as an audio engineer, producing live events and studio recordings for independent musicians around the world.