Speaking


I love speaking about information architecture, sensemaking and the general messiness of being human. I have been invited to speak at more than 75 events in the last ten years. Below are some of my most proud speaking moments. If you are interested in having me speak at your event or for your organization, get in touch.

Under(standing) the Influence: Placemaking and Sensemaking in IA Work

Under(standing) the Influence: Placemaking and Sensemaking in IA Work

In the spring of 2022 I had the pleasure of delivering a brand new talk with one of my best friends and closest mentors, Dan Klyn. In addition to the video which is on Youtube, you can also find the deck and bibliography at http://iamania.com/

The profile of a person with a heart and hands

Make More Sense

Sensemaking is a critical skill set in roles where you seek to serve others. This talk offers a framework of six sensemaking skills anyone could strengthen.

Gemstone

Sensemaking Lessons

Three lessons from the dark complexity caverns of capitalism, from an IA making sense of messes in the private sector.

A hand drawn podcast microphone

Podcasts

A selection of my favorite podcast interviews and conversations over the years.

Illustration of the globe.

A World Made of Information

It’s the job of Information Architects to manage the onslaught of content and data amassing daily. To do this work responsibly we have to know what to expect. This talk offers advice as we look to our future.

Illustration of a speech bubble with an exclamation point.

Language Your Most Important and Least Valued Asset

Language is one of the most common used materials when collaborating with other people. This talk is about the language challenges that organizations face and ways to work with language as a material to combat the expected drama.

hand drawn group of people

Collaborative IA

Dealing with people isn’t always easy, however, to create something that serves people, we have to work with people. This talk introduces tools and techniques for practicing information architecture with other people collaboratively.

Hand drawn Clock set to 3 oclock

Time as Material

The way we use our time says alot about who we are. This talk looks at time as a critical material in the pursuit of our goals

Illustration of a human brain.

Understanding Information Architecture

We all have to deal with our messes, whether we like it or not. This talk offers information architecture as a tool set to rely on when facing messes made of information, content and data (which most are!)

A hand drawn magnifying glass and sheet of paper with bullets

Search is the front door to UX

If the internet is a place and Search has become the way in. UX and Search Pros need to work together to make it the internet the best place. This talk connects the lessons of UX with the promise of SEO and SEM.

A hand drawn arrow pointing to the center of a swirl

Making Sense of Place

Everything that we work on will affect a larger ecosystem. This talk introduces a hierarchical taxonomy for understanding the concept of place for the purposes of placemaking.

Lessons from an Ontology Nerd

Lessons from an Ontology Nerd

Meaning can get complicated at the intersection of humans and technology. This talk is a simple introduction to ‘ontology’ – a fundamental concept in the pursuit of meaning.

Hand drawn graduation cap

How I teach IA to design students

Information architecture tends to be a primary tool for many design students, yet many don’t know the term IA. In this talk I explore the challenge and opportunity of teaching IA to design students.

Illustration of a brain leading to different diagrams.

Information Architecture for Products

Your product has to make sense to others. Information architecture is all about ensuring things make sense. This talk relates the basic concepts of information architecture practice to the work of product management and product design.

Three and drawn gears

Build Systems, Not Stuff

Systems thinking is the key to understanding many complex problem spaces. In this talk I will break down the system of UX to look for the ways in which we can be thinking more holistically.

Illustration of three boxes labeled A, B, and C

Understanding Information Architecture

Below are links to the materials from the workshop I just taught at General Assembly called “Understanding Information Architecture” The Deck The Workbook (print at 8.5 x 11 Portrait) Also here were my favorite 3 questions: Q: How do you deal with drastic lack of consensus between stakeholders after interviewing them about what they want?…

Information Architecture Basics Workshop

Information Architecture Basics Workshop

We all have to deal with our messes, whether we like it or not. This talk offers information architecture as a tool set to rely on when facing messes made of information, content and data (which most are!)

Have an audience?


I am currently booking speaking engagements. I generally get asked to talk about information architecture, community building, writing, sensemaking or diagrams.