Interaction ’09: Why I’m Excited
Interaction ’09 is rapidly approaching, and as good as the conference was last year, it’s promising to be even better. I’m quite excited; let me count the ways.
- Dan Saffer isn’t chairing the conference. This is not a slight on Dan’s efforts last year—he did a fantastic job—but means that Dan can actually present. I’m looking forward to the workshop that he and Bill DeRouchey are running: Designing for Touch Screens and Interactive Gestures.
- I’ve recently taken up the mantle of leading the Pittsburgh chapter of the IxDA. Actually, I’ve been a co-leader since we founded it, but I was definitely the “co”. Michele Marut did all the heavy lifting. She recently moved to New York, and while Onny Chatterjee has graciously agreed to co-lead, I’ve stepped up my participation to fill Michele’s shoes. That lengthy explanation is to illustrate why I’m especially interested in the Local Leaders Workshop.
- Jared Spool presented at the conference last year, but I attended Dan Brown’s presentation instead, and I never made a point of introducing myself to him. Since that time, I’ve become quite a fan of Jared’s Spoolcast, and this year he is leading a round table discussion.
- As I’ve mentioned several times before, I contributed to Luke Wroblewski’s book, Filling in the Blanks, but I’ve never had the opportunity to meet him in person. Luke is also presenting at this year’s conference.
- Between sessions, I’ll be able to visit the new Tangible Interaction Café where I’ll have my first experience with a Microsoft Surface and other emerging devices.
- I’ll have the chance to chat face-to-face with a bunch of people that I only converse with through the IxDA discussion list the rest of the year.
- I’ve never been to Vancouver, but I’ve heard it’s a beautiful city.
I could go on. Suffice it to say that this is the premiere conference for Interaction Designers. If you count yourself one, this is your tribe. Come and join us.
