Now that we are all back to the daily grind, and we non-locals have had long flights/drives back home, it’s time to start thinking about next year’s conference. With the IDSA-Idol® conference theme, there is some potential for real debate and excellent content. I have a feeling, though, that there are some mixed feelings about elements of this year’s conference. I hope that the conversation will spur IDSA patrons to contribute constructive criticism to improve next year’s event. In the spirit of criticism and aspiration, I’d like to start the conversation.
Let’s start with the theme. I had a chance to talk to a few random people at the conference about DIY, and they weren’t too sure about having such a narrow conference theme. I suspect that a lot of designers couldn’t directly relate to the theme. As a result, attendees were surprisingly appreciative of the presentations by non-designers. It was a refreshing perspective that you don’t get from all of the designer eye-candy.
Speaking of eye-candy, I was a little taken that even though the theme was DIY, there was not a focus on process. I suppose I can only speak for myself, but I think that several presentations (e.g. Michael Czysz) could have benefited from more emphasis on the development process. The thought processes and development imagery could have helped the audience really relate to the speakers’ presentation.
The real biggie here, though, is the concept of DIY. I don’t think there was ever a time that all of the speakers, or audience for that matter, had a consensus on the definition. That might be a positive aspect, in that we were able to see what it meant to each of them, but it was hard to put all of the content on a level playing field. I did, however, find myself able to identify with certain aspects of DIY that I might not have if DIY was given a finite dimension.
Next year, I hope to hear some engaging (and relevant) speakers that will really inspire us post-conference. It wouldn’t hurt to have some better seating either.