[Sigia-l] Why Are You an IA?

[Gail Leija]

I have received many great stories from people and I am in the process of
writing each of you an email to thank you individually for taking the time
to respond.  It's taking me a while, so I just wanted to send out a general
Thanks! and let you all know that I would still love to hear from you - on
or off the list.  Also, please let me know if you are interested in a
summary of the responses and I will be happy to share that with you once I
have compiled it.

Thanks again
/Gail

On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 1:16 PM, Gail Leija <gail at gl-ue.com> wrote:

> (Apologies for cross-posting)
>
> In the process of preparing a talk that I am giving this month about
> information architects, I began reflecting on how I became an IA.  In the
> mid-nineties, I was working as an art director at a digital agency and one
> day my creative director saw that I had put up a big flowchart (many
> letter-size sheets taped together) that mapped out the content relationships
> for a particularly confusing project.  He asked me about it and I probably
> said something like "I'm just trying to figure out what goes where."  He
> said "We should do this on all our projects."  So we developed an IA
> practice I became one of its first IAs.
>
> Since then, whenever I meet a fellow IA we inevitably engage in what my
> friend Paula Thornton describes as "the story exchange." IAs are nothing if
> not curious (and a bit skeptical) - especially about each other - so we like
> to know what people did before they were IAs, what led them to it and why,
> how long they have been doing it, and for/with whom.  I've met IAs with
> backgrounds in psychology, philosophy, history, music, journalism and
> education, as well as former designers, developers, technical writers and
> project managers.
>
> So -
> When did you decide to be an IA?
> Why?
> What were you before you became an IA?
> If you used to be an IA, what are you now?
>
> I'd love to hear from you – on or off the list – and (with permission)
> include some of your stories in my presentation.  Also, if you're in Toronto
> on November 17, please come to Refresh 03 at the Art Bar in the Gladstone
> Hotel at 7pm and share your story in person.
>
> Looking forward to hearing from/about you.
> Thanks!
> /Gail
> gail at gl-ue.com
>
>
>