Oz-IA: a weekend of information architecture, 20-21 September 2008 in Sydney. I attended the first Oz-IA conference two years ago and loved it; missed last year’s event, so am looking forward to the 2008 gathering. You can get a A$110 discount on the registration fee.
2008 Higher Education Data Warehousing Conference, 23-24 September 2008 at the University of Wollongong. Information and discussions about the use of information and information systems at higher education institutions, for the purpose of management information and decision-making.
Indi Young: Mental Models masterclass, 19-20 November 2008 in Sydney. I first learned about Indi’s ‘mental model’ technique at a 2002 workshop with Indi and Jeffrey Veen, and have applied it successfully in various ways since then. Indi’s Mental Models book (Rosenfeld Media, 2008) is a beaut manual for information architects, usability advocates, business analysts and market researchers.
10th IA Summit, 20-22 March 2009 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Call for proposals opened September 2008, closes 31 October for pre-conference sessions, general sessions and business, strategy and management track; and 30 November for research papers and posters.
Educause Australasia, 3-6 May 2009 in Perth. Proposals for posters, seminars and workshops are due in September. This conference provides excellent professional development and networking for IT and library specialists in the higher education sector. It’s the only Educause conference held outside North America.
Bonus
The July 2008 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research has some valuable information for anyone planning to present a poster at a conference:
Tags: data warehousing, career development, educause, training, rosenfeld media, conference“Effect of Colour Coordination of Attire with Poster Presentation on Poster Popularity,” David A. Keegan and Susan L. Bannister, Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 169, no. 12, December 9, 2003, pp. 1291–2. The authors devised an unusual experimental protocol. Here is a partial description:
The study presenter began the presentation wearing the lavender-coloured blouse. Because of a delayed start to the poster session, we did not know how long the session would last or when the midpoint would occur. We therefore asked the presenter to change into the rust-coloured blouse after 22 minutes (when there were no visitors). After a subsequent 28 minutes she changed back into the lavender-coloured blouse (again when there were no visitors) for the remaining 17 minutes.
They report:
Our results suggests that colour coordination between the poster and the presenter’s attire may substantially increase the popularity of the poster and the likelihood that the research will be disseminated.