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The Left Bank Annex, Portland Oregon

101 N Weidler
PORTLAND, Oregon 97227, US (map)

Future events happening here

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Past events that happened here

  • Saturday
    Feb 21 2015
    World Information Architecture Day 2015 SOLD OUT, but watchwiadpdx.com for livestream

    WORLD IA DAY - ARCHITECTING HAPPINESS THROUGH DESIGN THINKING - FREE!

    Our world is increasingly made of information, yet so much of that information is not as clear or accessible as it could be to those it is intended for. Every organization out there seems to say that they want to make their users happy, but who is really delivering on those promises? Who is really architecting for happiness?

    On February 21, 2015 we want to ask the world to help us uncover answers to questions we believe to be critical to the future of what Information Architecture is and how we practice it:

    Can information affect happiness? How can we best architect structures for information that promote happiness? What work are organizations doing to bridge the gaps we face as we transition from a primarily analog to a primarily digital way of life? What does Information Architecture actually mean?

    Agenda:

    9:00 - 10:00 Spencer Williams, Architect and City Planner, Futurewise

    Social Architecture and City System Design: Integrated, Iterative And Intuitive Placemaking

    In this talk, we'll examine why current city systems have the designs they do and what kind of information is required to plan for people. Information Architecture and Architecture itself are synonymous. What makes being in a building, a city, a community, or a body so rewarding is how that information is communicated and the response gleaned from those experiencing it. This talk covers information-as-architecture, cities that are more than a collection of just these objects (sidewalks, intersections, etc) and what we can learn about this planning process that can be applied to nearly any industry.


    10:00 - 11:00 Thubten Comerford, Co-Founder of Pitchlandia, Founder & CEO of WePost Media

    Optimal Sequencing - Human Interaction Design

    Designing success in life and business through the strategic sequencing of interpersonal communication.


    11:00 - 12:00 Jose Caballer Chief Education Officer, The Skool + Director of Digital Strategy, Blind and Chris Do Co-Founder, The Skool + CEO and Creative Director, Blind

    Designing Powerful Facilitated Work Sessions

    Brainstorming doesn't work. This talk is focused on how to design powerful, effective work sessions, which result in high-fidelity team interaction and create happiness for all involved. The most important takeaway will be how the design of the agenda extends beyond the work session, which will reveal techniques you can use right away. For example; shifting from follow-up design tasks to design experiments can be seen as a happier way of producing more innovative solutions. We will explain the best ways to document and track your ideas to help them become reality by engendering ownership from each team member and instill confidence across all stakeholders.


    1:00-2:00 Sara Stowe, PHR; Talent Acquisition Manager, Smarsh

    Culture Fit: More Than A Feeling

    A bad hire is costly—financially as well as the impact on happiness and morale within the team. When we look back to understand what went wrong, it’s unlikely that the person wasn’t qualified or had the necessary skill set. More often, it turns out that they weren’t a “fit.” How can you really predict if someone is going to fit in and be successful? Does success at one company mean success at yours? Interview teams struggle to properly assess fit, and often rely on their “gut feeling.” Intuition is hard-wired for our survival, yes, but we’re also fallible human beings who have history, culture, experience, context which creates bias and, in hiring, makes the talent pool even more shallow. Understanding and articulating your company’s culture is at the crux of developing an approach to identify culture fit and the potential for success. It is the foundation of a structured approach to assessing talent, employer brand, engagement, talent development and performance feedback. Sara will walk you through her experience at Smarsh as they embarked on developing a program to assess fit, where “not-a-fit” trumps experience every time.


    2:00-3:00 Rain Dove, Androgynous Supermodel and Public Figure, Major Model

    Identity Design: Breaking The Binary Gender Code

    Genderqueer Supermodel Rain Dove will help audiences become more aware of identity design through a look at binary gender identity ('he' and 'she'), its origins and why this form of social design is no longer relevant. This person will discuss implementation of a new system of gender identity, which exposes the advantages of designing one's own identity and thus engagement with the world around them


    3:00-4:00 Ken Rubin,VP Culinary Training, Rouxbe Online Cooking School

    Not Enough Cooks In The Kitchen: Curating Food Culture with Technology & Design

    How does technology and information design around food impact how we cook and eat? In a world marked by an increasing sense of culinary culture amnesia, cooking is a lost art and many have a fragmented and distant relationship to food. So, the world needs more cooks - people who craft their world through a lens of food, cooking and eating. Cooking is not only a potent symbol of empowerment, it is among the most human of all acts that stands at the center of an opportunity for widespread social impact. An increase in cooking has innumerable positive outcomes for individuals, communities and our planet. As an example, cooking literacy is at the core of how we will solve our public health and chronic illness crisis. In designing learning technologies and educational experiences to build confidence in the kitchen, I am on a mission to (re)produce food culture through active participation and engagement with others.


    4:00-5:00 Joshua Burkhow, Global Ops. Performance Management & Analytics, Nike

    We Need All The Help We Can Get: Analytics For Happy People

    One form of happiness is having the confidence to make fact-based decisions, but when there's so much data thrown at us, how can we make sense of it, regardless of our professional industries? Believe it or not, there is a shortage of Information Professionals and so we'll share what kind of valuable work these people do, how you can employ the best practices, even if you're a solopreneur and how best to organize data research. We'll leave you with key techniques that can be enacted before leaving this conference.


    5:00-6:00 Cynthia Owens, Senior Consultant, XPlane

    What the F*CK is IA?: Learn About IA Through Visual Thinking

    After a day of sessions, we will discuss some key visual thinking concepts and develop a PDX-specific answer to that compelling question. Learn how visual thinking will help make the practice of developing IA delightful.


    6:00-7:00 Charles Adler-KEYNOTE Designer, Co-Founder, Kickstarter

    Designing for the Unknown

    The design of any system is an experiment. The design thinking and execution behind Kickstarter was no different. Yet everything has been done before, so how do we cross the chasm of these two extremes? Using Kickstarter as an example, we'll look into experimentation across multiple facets of the platform, applied models from blogging, web video and audio while also pressing the envelope with regard to collective fundraising, community, and transparency. Charles will share stories from the company's genesis, design decisions met along the way, shaping Kickstarter into what it is today - the largest funding platform for creative projects.


    ABOUT WORLD IA DAY

    World Information Architecture Day is a free one-day conference hosted annually by the Information Architecture Institute and held simultaneously in selected cities all over the world. Each year, a new theme is selected, new cities are added, and our community continues to grow as more people from all across the world join this truly global celebration of Information Architecture.

    http://www.2015.worldiaday.org/

    ABOUT IAI

    The Information Architecture Institute is a non-profit organization empowering local communities to shape the global practice of information architecture by providing places to share and opportunities to learn.

    http://iainstitute.org/

    FAQs

    You can reach the organizers at [email protected] or [email protected] The conference, food and drink are all free and open to the public, but you must register! The afterparty is from 7-9 at our sponsor, FINE's HQ (wearefine.com), located at 1140 SW 11th, suite 200, Portland, OR 97205. This is a fair distance from the venue, and we will have transportations options available The raffle will take place at the afterparty, it's also a free event Yes, I need vounteers. Please email if you'd like to get involved! [email protected] All of the information shared at WIAD will be streamed live, uploaded to youtube, flickr and slideshare and available for free afterwards. *Doors at 8:30

    Website
  • Wednesday
    Feb 11 2015
    Agile Open Northwest 2015
    through
    The Left Bank Annex, Portland Oregon

    Agile Open Northwest, a non-profit alliance of agile practitioners in the US Pacific Northwest region, presents our ninth annual Open Space conference exploring agile practices, techniques, realities, and visions!

    Our new theme for the Open Space this year is “Agile Vision”:

    What does Agile let us see with fresh eyes? Where do you see Agile taking your shop? What do we see as the future of Agile? What role do you see for “QA” and estimates and projects? Do you see Agile scaling beyond company boundaries to the entire value chain? Do you see Agile scaling beyond the software industry?

    Website