Kent State University will join 37 other cities around the globe as a World IA Day site on Feb. 21, 2015. The User Experience Design program in the School of Library and Information Science will serve as host of the FREE local event, inviting students, alumni and other interested individuals to participate.
The all-day conference celebrates information architecture (IA) as a critical element in connecting people with the information they need to do their jobs or live their lives. The theme of this year's worldwide event is "Architecting Happiness." For more information about World IA Day and the sponsoring organization, the Information Architecture Institute, visit http://2015.worldiaday.org/.
See below for details on registration, lodging, directions, and the after-conference event for Kent State UXD alumni and other conference participants.
Register Now
Registration to attend at the Kent location is now open at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-ia-day-kent-tickets-13321098765
Continental breakfast, lunch and parking are included with your registration.
What You'll Learn
The Kent event will feature eight sessions and a keynote address by Shari Thurow, founder and SEO director, Omni Marketing Interactive, on "The Architecture of Search Behaviors."
Search is an integral part of information architecture (IA). Yet many web professionals believe that search engine usage is a failure of site navigation and the underlying architecture. In reality, a website’s information architecture can actually support searcher behavior and make content easier to find via browsing, querying, and asking … even on the World Wide Web.
In this session, search expert Thurow will go over searcher behaviors that all websites should accommodate – from fishing expeditions to known-item searching. She'll also include quick tips and techniques on properly optimizing digital documents for a positive searcher experience. Thurow has been designing and promoting websites since 1995, and she is outsourced to many firms worldwide. As a pioneer in the area of search-engine friendly web design, she has a 100 percent success rate for getting client sites ranked at the top of search engines.
She is the author of Search Engine Visibility, which has been translated into French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Russian. Her book, When Search Meets Web Usability, recently translated into Chinese, teaches how to bridge the gap between a search-engine query and the right web page.
Thurow has served on the Board of Directors for the Information Architecture Institute (IAI) and the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA). She is currently on the Editorial Advisory Board for the ASLIB Journal of Information Management (AJIM). Her areas of expertise include search-engine optimization (SEO), website usability, web design and development and information architecture. Clients include the National Cancer Institute, WebMD, AOL, Huffington Post, ABC News, Microsoft, and Yahoo.
The schedule for the day is located on the registration site.
When and Where
The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Kent Student Center, 1175 Risman Drive, Kent, Ohio. Park in the Kent Student Center lot on East Summit Street. (Bring your ticket in to the conference to have it validated.) For maps and directions, visit the Kent State website.
What to Do Later: Reunion!
On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 21, Kent State UXD (including IU and IA) alumni, students and other conference participants are invited to a reunion reception at a new downtown Kent restaurant. (Location details to come.) Connect with former classmates, network and make some new friends. Register for this reception when you register for the conference.
Where You Can Stay
Two area hotels have agreed to hold a block of rooms at a special rate on Feb. 20 and 21 for World IA Day participants:
Holiday Inn Express 1215 Sanctuary View Dr., Kent, OH 44240 At I-76 and Rt. 43 Room rate = $89 + tax Refer to code WID when making reservations:
- Call the hotel directly at (330) 673-9200
- Make a reservation online at www.hiexpress.com/kentoh.
- Call the central reservation system at (800) HOLIDAY.
Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center 215 South Depeyster Street, Kent, OH 44240 Downtown Kent Rate = $109 + tax Refer to code KSUUXD when making a reservation: Call the hotel directly at 330-346-0100. Make a reservation online at www.KentStateHotel.com. Dozens of other hotels serve this area, but no special rates or accommodations have been made at these locations.
What Else You Can Do
The conference venue is just a short walk to shops and restaurants in the newly renovated downtown Kent, Ohio -- featuring restaurants, shops, live music, art galleries and more. On the Kent Campus, you can enjoy a mile-long sculpture walk across a park-like 855-acre campus (weather permitting, of course!); stroll back through time at the May 4 Visitors Center; or indulge your senses at the world-renowned Kent State University Fashion Museum. Kent is a short drive from Akron (11 miles), Cleveland (33 miles), Youngstown (40 miles), Canton (28 miles) and Pittsburgh (102 miles). Check out museums, restaurants, shopping and historic sites in the Northeast Ohio region.
