[Sigia-l] Why Are You an IA: Follow-up

[Gail Leija]

Thanks again to all of you who sent me IA stories.  I included some
highlights in a presentation I gave in Toronto called "Will the Real
Information Architect Please Stand Up?"  (slides available here:
http://www.slideshare.net/gleija)

The audience loved them and I would have liked to include them all in full.
However, because you sent your stories directly to me, I will only publish
them online or add them to the deck with your permission.  Please let me
know if that's OK.

Below is a summary of the responses from the 24 stories emailed to me, plus
additional responses from informal conversations with other IAs.  This is in
no way scientific but I still think it's interesting and, hopefully, useful
to people who are contemplating becoming IAs, wish they knew more IAs or may
be hiring IAs.

Previous Roles:
Technical Writer or Editor
Advertising Copywriter
Documentation Specialist
Project Manger
Content Developer
Graphic Designer
Web Developer
Software Developer
Programmer
Instructional Designer
Translator
Teacher
Musician
Artist
Bookbinder

Industry Backgrounds:
Automotive
Publishing
Aerospace
Psychology
Law
Music
TV/Broadcast
Advertising
Audio-Visual Production
Document Management
Civil Service
Non-Profit
Sales
Software
Management

Educational Backgrounds (Majors, Degree Programs):
English Language/Literature
Non-Fiction Writing
Creative Writing
Psychology (Cognition)
Journalism
Radio/TV/Film
Advertising
Law
Fine Art
Landscape Architecture
Japanese
French

Countries:
Canada
US
UK
Netherlands
Denmark
Finland

Motivation/Why IA?
To help people use technology
To help people find information
It's part of who I am/How I function (They can't help it!)

Thanks again!
/Gail