archive.Joe Lamantia.com

Focused dialog between senior practitioners who come together to share experiences, insights, practices, knowledge, and thinking in a face to face forum is one of the critical mechanisms for the healthy evolution and growth of any professional field. Despite the proliferation of venues for advancing the collective knowledge of Information Architects (more than three or four years ago, certainly), the Information Architecture community lacks a forum that mixes teaching, discussion, and exploration of previous experiences amongst a small and focused group of accomplished Information Architects who are together in the same room.
I’m thinking of something like the Master Classes common in music, painting, and some of the other fine arts. An Information Architecture master class would occupy some of the space between the short-form conference session of an hour’s duration, the half-day or one-day workshop on a broad topic (like building a CMS), and the general UX get-togethers of networking, showcasing, or other varieties that we have now.
The benefits and value of a forum like this over a scattershot conference agenda or a one-way workshop presentation structure are substantial when judged against limited training opportunities and budgets. A gathering of senior practitioners with a defined focus, moving beyond the summary or introductory aspects of a topic, offering substantial examples of relevant knowledge and experience, and providing time to cover a subject in depth with discussion would surely attract interest, participation, and likely even payment.
Now for the call to action: It’s time to bring about Master Classes for Information Architecture. Who’s game to work on this?

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