Over the past few years, there has been much experimentation with the annual conference: with the structure, the organization, the length, etc. All this experimentation is for the benefit of our conference attendees, members and non-members alike. The conference chairs and committee are always looking to improve the conference experience without passing additional cost along in the registration fees.
In 2013 we’re experimenting yet again…this time with the conference model itself. While details are not finalized yet, we’re looking to hold two major UXPA conferences in 2013. To do this, we’re partnering with successful regional events: User Friendly in China and User Focus in Washington, DC. We’re looking at an early summer conference in Washington, D.C. and a November conference in Shanghai, China.
Christina York, 2013 conference chair, and I will post more details as they become available. We also want to hear your ideas and feedback, so please help us shape UXPA conferences for 2013 and beyond by sharing your thoughts here.
We hope to see you at at least one UXPA event next year!
Thanks Amy for the note. I would love to hear feedback about how the experimentation is going from the perspectives of the Board/UPA leaders as well as from attendees. From my perspective, I think that experiments like the Ignite talks have been both fun and interesting but there are trade-offs like the extreme amount of work to get the Ignite videos on line. This forum seems like a good one to discuss past experiments and suggest future ones. Thanks, Chauncey
I am excited the hear about the chance to change the conference model – to do more than simple re-branding. I think the idea of an annual conference should be questioned, which it sounds like you are doing.
To really serve members well, I think there should be a network of regional events, where the programs are coordinated so there are some common elements across them all but also unique elements added by each region. The worldwide locations and dates need to be planned carefully for all of this to work. Not as distributed/grass roots as WUD, but carefully planned to make it easy for the most members to attend a high quality conference by only travelling a short distance.
You need LOTS of good local organizers, which may mean investing more in local chapters. Some are pulling off regional conferences already, but they need more help and other regions need assistance to pull off a regional event.
As for your the suggestion above, I am interested in how it related to World Usability Day – if that is changing its date or scope or what. The “conference” experience and the “local” events needs to be in sync, even if they are handled by different parts of the UXPA leadership.
While I agree with much of what Keith has said, I think it would be a shame to lose the international conferences in lieu of more regional conferences. I think the key is an effective mix of both, not one or the other. For me, one of the big benefits of the international conference is getting to meet up with friends and colleagues in the field from around the world and being exposed to different experiences/perspectives to those in my local UX community, through both the formal conference activities and the informal discussions throughout the week. The international conferences also have the scale that enables speakers, facilities and activities that are not always possible in smaller-scale regional events.
That said, I think the local/regional events are equally crucial and must serve to equip, encourage and inspire local practitioners. And I think this can be done best when there is some form of cohesiveness with the international events.
Great that new things are getting tried though: It’s the only way to find out what works and what doesn’t! Thanks for the update Amy and I look forward to hearing news when it comes!
Steve
I think Steve summed up my sentiments. The conferences of the last two years have been so good (Thanks Amy, Christina, and Laura) that it’s had to feel like different might be better. So that would be my request — really focus on what people love about the annual international conference to ensure that those bits don’t get lost in changing it up.
I’ve been attending the Boston UPA annual conference for 7 years now, and it’s always great, but the international conference is different — the topics are different, the longer format allows for lots of networking and informal interaction, and we get to enjoy the company of our friends and peers from around the globe — I’m not sure how that will play out with two venues.
I assume that some people will choose to submit to and attend one or the other, which feels like I’ll be less likely to see the people I’m hoping to see. What if you, Susan, and Steve all end up going to China instead of DC? Those of us in DC will miss you … and then it makes other conferences seem more attractive for their location, because if I can’t see the people I want to spend time with, then it becomes more about venue. So that’s my concern in a nutshell … who am I going to miss out on because they are going to another international UPA conference?
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jen
I think both Keith and Steve are right. I know I certainly get a tremendous amount from the international participants – and I would consider going to a different regional conference than my own to get that perspective, though going to ALL of the regional events would, obviously, be impossible.
Like Keith, I’m hoping we can energize the local chapters and provide the right mix of support and tools to them so they can really capitalize on what’s happening locally when putting on regional events. That will definitely require more energized local involvement – LOTS more as Keith points out.
And I hope we can use this forum to noodle on things that work well and things we want to change or even eliminate as Chauncey said. I didn’t do an Ignite talk, but the level of preparation and precision required was evident to me in the audience. I marveled at how people had been able to do this. It’s great to have an “insider” view on it.
I’m really excited as we are exploring new ways to serve our profession, and to empower all UXPA members to participate at whatever level they can. Keep the ideas coming!
–Susan
I wish we could do something to address the carbon emissions from all of these flights to a conference. Carbon offsetting is pretty bogus – it is a little better if you take into account radiative forcing and multiple the effect by at least 2. But flying lots of people around the world has a very very negative effect on the planet. Is there any way people in our field could come up with a decent virtual conference before it is too late?
This is a good disccussion. I have very much enjoyed the international conferences and think that the last two have been the collegial ever. I like the experiments that have gone on and perhaps a report (data-driven if possible) on how the experiments went. For example, how popular were the ignite talks? I have no problem combining a regional conference with the international conference but would want to see the best of both if there is a hybrid. The best of both would mean resource sharing (say the regional group gets 10% or 20% of profits for support plus there is an allocation that a certain percentage of speakers will be drawn from the local member list. The Boston UPA conference, led by a great team, has pulled in 500-600 for several years and there are a few other regional conferences now pulling in large crowds so perhaps there is one hybrid conference and then support for other regional conferences at relatively low rates to allow more of our members to participate. Maybe we could have a scholarship fund to seen the best speakers (both new and old) to a regional site.. We might consider remote speakers given that the technology is improving. Perhaps the first day of the conference would be the local presentations followed by 3 days of international speakers. I think that a claims analysis would be a good method for looking at different types of hybrid conferences. Chauncey