The IA Summit, an annual gathering of Information Architecture specialists, ended on a high note with Whitney Hess's closing plenary. Taking Whitney's advice before she gave it, the past 12 months I've gotten involved with several different communities, namely the awesome Drupal community. It was my first IA Summit so I guess that makes me a Newbie. There were things I would have done differently, both at this conference and others in the past:

Newbie Mistake #1: Not putting yourself out there

I've been to only a handful of local UX/web events, so I didn't know many people at the IA Summit. If you're horrifically shy like myself, putting yourself out there is a tough one, but you have to speak up at topic tables or in the hallways, otherwise, how will anyone know how cool and smart you are? One of my weak points is the effortless ability to introduce people to each other. Introducing people can bring about the most amazing conversations. There were so many people I wanted to meet including Cennydd Bowles and Nick Finck, and it would've been great to chat with Donna Spencer, Jeff Parks, Stephen Anderson and many others a bit more.

Newbie Mistake #2: Walking up to Peter Morville and asking "Are you Stefan?"

In an ideal world, you will have had copious amounts of time to learn who all the industry leaders are through the various channels (Twitter, Slideshare, YouTube, their blogs etc). You will also have hopefully learned that they're all wonderful friendly and approachable people. In reality, until you've seen someone in person, you're never totally sure what they look like. People don't always resemble their avatars in real life. ;)

Yes, I really did walk up to Peter and asked if he was Stefan. When he told me he was Peter, I knew exactly who he was. Peter is definitely friendly and approachable but I panicked and made a quick exit!

Newbie Mistake #3: Overdoing It

Many of us are old pros in some professional areas, but attending conferences might not be one of them. Whether you're a poor freelancer, in a junior position or simply work for a tightfisted organization, you will not necessarily have gained the wisdom of taking it slowly at a conference.

• Don't feel as if you have to attend every session. We were fortunate to have Boxes and Arrows podcasting! Besides, your brain can only handle so much overstimulation and input ....
• Get plenty of sleep. It's harder to be your brilliant and witty self when you're half dead.
• Take time to review your notes and make a plan to review slides later. Ask for slides if you miss a session. I've found presenters are glad that you're interested!
• Party but, you know, stay in control. Hangovers suck. Thankfully I saw no evidence of this at the IA Summit but I've seen it at plenty of other conferences!

And Now Some Random Sharing

I've had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with many cool and interesting people, including Michael Angeles (aka konigi), Fred Beecher, Mario Bourque, Andy Budd, Giles Colborne, Terry Constantino, Ian Fenn, Adelle Frank, Jackson Fox, Brenda Huettner, Adriana Machado, Marko Mrdjenovic, Søren Muus, Johanna Koll, Eric Reiss, Fatima Roels, Layne Sale, Joe Sokohl, John Whalen, Luke Wroblewski, Matt Zellmer and many, many more. And it was great seeing all the Boston and New Hampshire gang too.

Let me tell you, these IA people are smart! And they know how to have fun, too :) Friday night was sushi, karaoke and helping Richard Saul Wurman celebrate his 75th birthday. Then we threw frisbees that have "We heart RSW" around downtown Phoenix during the walk back to the hotel. For reals.

And Going on field trips is always fun. One of my highlights was horseback riding in the Arizona desert with Giles and Fatima.

My few photos of the IA Summit, are on Flickr, edited to protect the merry.

Special thanks to Valeska O'Leary and Alla Zollers for putting up with me, Valeska for being so encouraging, and Brenda Huettner for delivering me to my next stop via her area of historic Tucson.

P.S. Yes, I know my other posts are full of trackback spam. It's on the To Eradicate list.

Source: Flickr

Source: Flickr

Source: Flickr

Source: Flickr