May 20
One key recurring theme I got out of the 99U Conference in New York City was people. In short, you need to put them at the center; listen to them and make them feel good.
Indeed, we acknowledge our shared humanity by creating an empathetic experience. So, making something better is an act of compassion.
Last week I was at the 99U Conference in New York City, which is about making ideas happen. Here, I reflect on my favorite philosophy, distilled by 99u speaker and brilliant maker Jane ni Dhulchaointigh: People are awesome. How can you help them be more awesome? That idea, or leap, can be applied in so many ways, including to event design. What if we embodied it as a core belief?
Last week I was at the 99U Conference in New York City, which is about making ideas happen. We all know that conferences often fail to bring it, which then brings out the cynic in me or worse, a serious case of the existential angsts. So while optimistic, I wondered what would be delivered. Would I feel amongst my people? Would I come away feeling clear about what steps I wanted to take next? Would I have a good time?
We just learned that our library was one of eight libraries to win a $10,000 John Cotton Dana Award. We are thrilled! Thanks American Library Association and EBSCO!
“A waste of my time”
It comes to something when the most I learned from a 3 day conference was what Henry Rollins looks like nowadays. Rollins is not alone in getting angry every day. I spent pretty much the whole of ACRL 2013 sitting through presentation after presentation with absolutely nothing new to offer; thinking about the hundreds of dollars it was costing to be here and the time I was wasting.
When David and I launched Maths and Arts a few months ago, we asked our friend and colleague Sarah Faye Cohen what library-y blogs she likes. She named Walking Paper by Aaron Schmidt as one of them. Then she said, “Karen, you’re going to like that one because he’s all about design.” She was right! Thanks, Sarah!
See, before coming to the library I was working in art and design, which I also loved. Design thinking + creative process + memorable user experience + beauty = where it’s at.
So I emailed Aaron and asked if I could interview him about his view of the library world through a design lens. He was game! Here is our exchange:
Hire a talented designer. Design is a big deal! Like, a really, really big deal. Because how you communicate says more than what you communicate. And the design is the how.
