Insight#SEGDConf
It's early June, and once again time for the annual SEGD gathering and gabfest. In other words THE conference, our big event of the year. It used to be called the "national" conference, but that doesn't make sense any more. Last June it was in Canada, and these days, SEGD is more international than ever. In any case, it's a great opportunity to network, tell our stories, be inspired, snag some new ideas, and just catch up.
The 2011 conference was in Montreal, the city where I was born. I helped organize and run that one, and my dear friend, Sylvia Harris, was one of the final speakers on the program. As it happens, it was her last public performance, and yes, it truly was a performance, as she shared her experience and opinions about why it is real, living, breathing people for whom we actually design. This summer Montreal is in turmoil, with its raucous, unhappy students disrupting everyday life, so it's a good thing that we have moved on to New York City for our annual gathering.
As many of us know, it can be hard enough organizing anything in New York City. This year SEGD is shaking things up, so the conference is actually in two cities. Well, actually, two boroughs, Brooklyn and Manhattan. (Though in the late nineteenth century, Brooklyn was a separate city and would still be the 3rd largest in America if it was considered separately!)
Conference chair Jill Ayers has done an amazing job putting the program together alongside the SEGD staff. Jill is smart, and the depth and breadth of the program reflects that. She has rallied a crew of New Yorkers, some of them my colleagues at Two Twelve, to help organize parts of the three-day gathering – tours, parties, speed dating, design improv, and so on. The formal program begins at the Brooklyn Marriott, with one of the great characters of New York City, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and ends in Times Square with one of the big thinkers from IDEO, Fred Dust.
On Thursday, June 7th, I will be leading a tour of the Downtown Brooklyn wayfinding system Two Twelve designed. If I don't see you on the tour, I'll be at the reception, in the hall, sitting next to you, or somewhere thereabouts for the next three days. I hope you will enjoy the conference – I'm sure I will.
