Interested in user experience in all of its forms? Enjoy reading? Want to combine the two in a social setting with other smart, like-minded people, and maybe drink a beer?

Join us for Portland's third UX Book Club meeting on Tuesday August 18. For this session, we're reading "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman: http://bit.ly/1aEa7D

Feel free to bring snacks or drinks (alcohol is a-okay), for yourself or to share. We'll be meeting at Tyesha's house--the address will be posted closer to the date.

Please RSVP here: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/3070658

Beaverton, OR - June 9, 2010 – This year 100% of proceeds will be donated from the Third Annual McKenzie Books Sidewalk Sale. The used book sale will be held June 23, 24 and 25 from 10 am – 6 pm. DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit charity that accepts donations to fund classroom supplies for teachers and their students locally and nationally, will benefit from the sale of more than 4,000 popular used books. The book selection will span all categories at prices of $0.50 for paperbacks and $1.00 for hardcover books. There will be something for everyone including children’s books, technical, professional, computer, mystery, romance, health, mind & body, home & garden, science fiction, and many more. Credit cards will be accepted.

About McKenzie Books, Inc. McKenzie Books is a Beaverton-based online bookstore with a selection of over 65,000 quality new and used books in their Beaverton warehouse. A locally owned business since 2001, McKenzie Books has bought and sold over a million used books online in just the past two years. Although the bookstore is internet-based and serves customers worldwide, McKenzie Books also invites local customers to order online and pick up at the business address. They also welcome visitors to use their lobby computer kiosk to search their virtual bookshelves. The lobby is open for business from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and is located on the southwest corner of 153rd and S.W. Millikan Way in Beaverton; two blocks from the Beaverton Creek MAX station.

About DonorsChoose.org Today’s public schools often lack resources for students to thrive. “Citizen philanthropists” can choose and fund specific project requests from teachers, and even receive thank you cards directly from the classrooms. Charles Best, a former Bronx public high school teacher, started DonorsChoose in 2000 so that individuals could connect directly with classrooms in need. Projects range from as little as $49 to several thousand depending on the supplies requested by the teacher. Approximately 75% of projects costing less than $400 get fully funded. 100% of the funds go towards purchasing the supplies and delivering them directly to classrooms. DonorsChoose has raised over $51 million dollars helping more than 3 million students in the process.

Contact:

Jim Smith [email protected] 15370 SW Millikan Way Beaverton, OR 97006 Ph: 503-488-5439

I'll be giving a short lecture about bear testicles and then signing copies of my new book.

Come and join us to discuss our book for June 2012: Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World http://www.amazon.com/Situations-Matter-Understanding-Context-Transforms/dp/1594488185/

Hold onto your hats, because we're reading Mike Monteiro's Design Is A Job (http://www.abookapart.com/products/design-is-a-job), a short, easy to read, essential guide for any designer, especially those who are, or thinking about, contracting.

Come along and join us to discuss the excellent Just Enough Research by Mule Design's Erika Hall. Erika, will be joining us via video at 6:30PM to answer any questions you have.

Just Enough Research is a short, really useful book on getting research done in your job. It's just the thing to read if you're looking to get started with research, or you know you need to do research but don't have much support to get it done. Visit our Google Group for a book discount code.

We're being hosted by the fine folks at Puppet Labs at their offices in The Pearl.

If you don't manage to finish the book on time, please still feel free to attend!

Join us to discuss George Lakoff's classic Metaphors We Live By.

This is a book that changed people's understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects.

Sound interesting? Then come along and talk! Also: there will be beer :)

If you haven't managed to finish the book before the event, please feel free to come along and join the discussion.

Come along and talk to Sam Ladner, the author of the super-useful and well-received new book, Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector.

Sam's book is aimed at two groups of people:

1. Social scientists who want to adapt their academic skills to the private sector, either to find a full-time job or to practice as an independent researcher; and
2. Designers and researchers already working in the private sector who may not have formal training in ethnography.

Sam is based in Seattle but is coming to Portland to talk to us. Don't miss this opportunity to talk about the research skills that are so critical in creating successful products.

Note: if you haven't finished the book, please still come along and join the conversation

We're following on from July's excellent discussion on Sam Ladner's Practical Ethnography: A Guide to Doing Ethnography in the Private Sector with a classic from sociologist Erving Goffman.

"Interaction Ritual - Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior" is one of several classic books by Goffman, and one that is studied by UX researchers. The book is a collection of six essays: "On Face-work", "Embarrassment and Social Organization", "The Nature of Deference and Demeanor", "Alienation from Interaction", "Mental Symptoms and Public Order", and "Where the Action Is". If you want to brush up on your understanding of people, this is one of the books for you.

If you haven't finished the book, but still want to come along and talk, the please do—we'd love to see you.

Didn't make it to part I? That is ok - come along anyway! At our September meetup, we started our open-source accessibility planning guide, using Gitbooks. We defined the goal of the book as a concise guide for decision-makers in companies making software applications. We roughed out chapters and each took one (see book for details on page one of each chapter).

Our first milestone will be a chapter draft from each of us by the November meetup, when we will work on it more. Gitbooks enables anyone to write and design lovely books with as much public collaboration as they wish.

The Pacific Northwest is home to a Tardis-Full of Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, a fact celebrated every quarter with the Pacific Northwest Reading Series. These free quarterly events provide the Northwest Science Fiction and Fantasy community a chance to gather, network and enjoy readings from local and visiting authors in Portland and Seattle.

This November's reading features Kate Elliot, Jason Hough, and Rhiannon Held.

Each event features three authors who read from their latest work, interpreting and explaining their concepts and vision. In addition, space is provided for networking and conversation.

The Pacific Northwest is home to a Tardis-Full of Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, a fact celebrated every quarter with the Pacific Northwest Reading Series. These free quarterly events provide the Northwest Science Fiction and Fantasy community a chance to gather, network and enjoy readings from local and visiting authors in Portland and Seattle.

Each event features three authors who read from their latest work, interpreting and explaining their concepts and vision. In addition, space is provided for networking and conversation. Booksellers will be on hand with fresh copies of the authors’ books for you to buy and get autographed.

This May: authors Mishell Baker, Sonia Lyris and Camille Griep.

Thomas Dunne Books presents a Science Fiction and Fantasy double feature! Join debut novelists Curtis C. Chen and Claire Humphrey as they read from their respective works. See below for details!

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A high-octane science-fiction spy thriller that puts a new spin on the outer space adventure, Curtis C. Chen’s WAYPOINT KANGAROO kicks off a blockbuster series full of adrenaline and intrigue. Meet Kangaroo, a superpowered secret agent who’s about to face his toughest mission yet: Vacation.

“Sci-fi fans will love this fun, high-tech adventure.” - Kirkus Reviews

Info: http://www.waypointkangaroo.com/

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In her extraordinary debut, SPELLS OF BLOOD AND KIN, Claire Humphrey deftly weaves her paranormal world with vivid emotional depth and gritty violence. Bringing together themes of death, addiction, and grief, Humphrey takes readers on a human journey that goes beyond fantasy.

“exciting and furiously paced” - Publishers Weekly

Info: http://us.macmillan.com/spellsofbloodandkin/clairehumphrey

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MORE #DAWNOFAUTHORS EVENTS: https://www.facebook.com/curtis.c.chen/events

The Pacific Northwest is home to a Tardis-Full of Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, a fact celebrated every quarter with the Pacific Northwest Reading Series. These free quarterly events provide the Northwest Science Fiction and Fantasy community a chance to gather, network and enjoy readings from local and visiting authors in Portland and Seattle.

Each event features three authors who read from their latest work, interpreting and explaining their concepts and vision. In addition, space is provided for networking and conversation. Booksellers will be on hand with fresh copies of the authors’ books for you to buy and get autographed.

This November, come meet authors Rhiannon Held, Todd Lockwood, and Laura Ann Gilman.

Agile Estimating and Planning deserves a second discussion. Planning and estimating projects and their costs is here to stay in our business lives, often viewed as a necessary chore. Mike Cohn's book articulates the common mistakes that come along with creating a "project plan" - and provides practices and tools to better assess and solve business problems by iteratively planning, sizing, communicating, and executing - built on agile principles. We invite you to pick a chapter in the book that is especially interesting to you to read, and provide your insights to the group.

This time we dive into the people side of Agile. Best practices are necessary and valuable, and will build your foundation for success. But what if your team's agile journey to greatness is stagnating?

Let's read Gil Broza's The Human Side of Agile and talk about how we can foster our teams to excellence. Join us to discuss concrete takeaways to tackle these kinds of "soft" problems that can be so hard to overcome. We hope to see you there and hear your insights about this book!

Steve Buss will share how innovation works by inspiration from Steven Johnson's book "Where Good Ideas Come from: The Natural History of Innovation"

Learn and share your passion in a supportive community. Free Knowledge Mission is an ethos of sharing, creativity, and inspiration.

Our Meetup provides an opportunity to "Show and Tell" followed by a feedback and Q&A. You'll have the opportunity to share with our channels such as Meetup, GitHub, YouTube, and Facebook to connect with more passionate people.

The second half of our session we'll collaborate on new topics. The winner wins an award for the most interesting topic and the opportunity to share in an upcoming session.

Join us online for desktop or mobile at https://appear.in/knowledgemavens

Join us at TVF&R Station 67 in Beaverton every Saturday at 11 AM for Music/Art and 1 PM for Science/Tech.

Chad Dickerson (Former CEO of Etsy) says: "If you only have one book on product management, this is the one."

He is talking about the book 'INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love' by Marty Cagan. This book, now as a second edition, provides stories and information on how companies release a technology product that does not simply deliver a solution - but something customer love and rave about.

Review the book description to see if this is something you want to dive into, and join fellow product and development agile readers for a discussion. Oh, and for the listeners of the modern "reading" age, this book is available in audio.

Need more inspiration? Jeff Patton says of the book: "When I was a product leader, I experienced a fair bit of accidental successes and puzzling failures. Marty's writing has helped me understand how product managers and product organizations really should work. I wish I'd had this book years ago."

Visit our Meetup link to RSVP to the gathering. Thanks!

Join us for a beer (or beverage of your choice) and a snack at the Rogue Eastside Pub to discuss Patrick Lencioni's book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team". If you work with teams and team success, this book may be an interesting addition to your library.

Lencioni tells the story of a troubled Silicon Valley firm and the new CEO faced with uniting and guiding a team of leaders with the aim of making the company a success. Through this business fable, Lencioni highlights the common dysfunctions that he claims can cripple any team: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. He offers ways to assess a team and provides actionable steps on how to overcome each of the 5 dysfunctions.

Food for thought:

• This book tells the tale of a CEO refashioning the dynamic of an executive committee. Do fables apply to everyone?
• Is Lencioni right? Does he name the most important dysfunctions that challenge the teams you work with?
• What can we learn from this representative tale about development teams? Where can we add our own wisdom to Lencioni's model?

We look forward to learning what Agile mindsets bring to the table! Tip: It's worth reading some online book reviews for critical perspectives.

Please visit our Meetup link to RSVP:

https://www.meetup.com/AgilePDX-User-Group-Portland-Metro/events/253824910/

SFWA Portland Reading Series Science Fiction and Fantasy Readings by Authors The Pacific Northwest is home to a Tardis-Full of Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, a fact celebrated every quarter with the Pacific Northwest Reading Series. These free quarterly events provide the Northwest Science Fiction and Fantasy community a chance to gather, network and enjoy readings from local and visiting authors in Portland and Seattle.

Each event features three authors who read from their latest work, interpreting and explaining their concepts and vision. In addition, space is provided for networking and conversation. Booksellers will be on hand with fresh copies of the authors’ books for you to buy and get autographed.

Sandra Odell: Sandra has appeared in Jim Baen’s Universe, Ideomancer, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, the anthologies Fear of the Dark and Triangulation: Last Contact, and as podcasts on The Drabblecast, Pseudopod, and Tales to Terrify. She is a graduate of Clarion West 2010, and associate member of the SFWA. She is currently working on a YA Steampunk novel set in the Hawaiian islands.

Mary Robinette Kowal: Hugo Award-winner Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of: The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers and the Lady Astronaut duology. Her stories appear in Uncanny, Cosmos, and Asimov’s.

Jason Kirk: Jason Kirk is an award-winning poet and editor, and the composer of "The Mirror of Simple Souls," an opera collaboration with librettist and poet Anne Carson.

RSVP: https://www.meetup.com/AgilePDX-User-Group-Portland-Metro/events/256215771/

Join us for a beer (or beverage of your choice) and a snack at the Rogue Eastside Pub to discuss "Flat Army" by Dan Pontefract. He says he has the strategy to solve the challenges of unhappy and uncommitted employees, and it's based on empowerment:

"Your people are your most valuable asset, and if you want them to excel (and your profits to soar), you'll need to abandon your traditional command-and-control management style and adopt a collaborative, open leadership approach―one that engages and empowers your people. While this isn't a particularly new idea, many leaders, while they may pay lip service to it, don't really understand what it means. And most of those who do get it lack the skills for putting it into practice. In Flat Army you'll find powerful leadership models and tools that help you challenge yourself and overcome your personal obstacles to change, while pushing the boundaries of organizational change to create a culture of collaboration."

Let's discuss the pros and cons of his approached and compare it to our real-world experiences and experiments.

We look forward to your creative insights!

Tip: It's worth reading some online book reviews for critical perspectives.

We're finishing out 2019 having collectively presented roughly 85 human-centered events. Let's celebrate with a Human-centered Community Gathering!

Join Portland’s human-centered groups who are passionate about HCD principles and how they can change the way we work and live.

You’ll have an opportunity to: Meet and share insights with folks across the many fields that intersect in HCD in Portland

Shape this community by giving feedback on a few ideas we have been working on for 2020 on how to bring the human-centered communities closer together.

Some of the groups that will be there include:

• OpenIDEO - Portland Chapter
• PDX Design Research Group
• Portland Accessibility and User Experience Meetup
• Portland Community Design Thinkers
• Service Design PDX
• UX Book Club

Other Good Stuff

We'll be setting up until 5:30 or so. Doors open around 5:45.

The entrance on 7th Ave is ADA-compliant. If you have any accommodation requests, please email [email protected] in advance of the event to discuss.

We support introverts, extroverts, and everyone in-between at this event. Don’t be shy, or do - either way, join the fun and help shape our community!

This event is sponsored by Studio VO, Concrete, and WeWork Labs Portland. Thanks, y'all!

Want to know more about the human-centered disciplines in Portland? You're in the right place.