Decision making in times of uncertainty

Yet another meeting of the planning team means yet another round of ideating about how to invert expectations of conference design and how to do it in tough economic times.(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/education/08college.html?scp=6&sq=arizona%20state%20unveristy&st=cse)

So we have determined the dates: Thursday March 5 through Sunday March 8. Kick off evening event on Thursday night followed by two action packed days of learning and interacting and then Sunday will be more of an optional add-on for anyone who wants to stick around and see some sites, hike, bike, play, etc.

The entire event will be held in downtown Phoenix at multiple venues that are all within in a healthy walking distance. We are looking into getting bike rentals made easily available, too. There is also the new Phoenix Lightrail that will provide some quick transport if needed or desired.

In addition the event will coincide with the monthly First Friday art walk downtown so guests will have the opportunity to taste some creative local flavor ( http://www.artlinkphoenix.com/alp/ )

Venues under consideration include the Phoenix Art Museum, the sweet new Phoenix Children’s Musuem, the Arizona Science Center and other downtown gems.

The format will include a few key presentations by invited speakers with ample breathing room for conversation and interaction, plus multiple panels and interactive workshops. We have a few tricks up our sleeves for entertainment and are working on getting interested parties to help out with that.

The name and theme are perpelexing us right now so identity will be officially decided in coming days. from here to there may not be where we are headed…

Designing underway…

So we are knee (or perhaps neck or eyeball) deep in the process of planning this event- a design research symposium, conference, gathering, mecca, whatever you want to call it- to be hosted by us, some gracious design research MSD and PhD students of the College of Design at Arizona State Univeristy.

Like good little researchers we have been doing some serious hanging out with our target market (i.e. design researchers both seasoned and aspiring) and have gone through mutliple rounds of participatory cocreation exercises to envision the purpose, format, and content of this event. We have generated data, analyzed it, discussed it, identifieid gaps in our knowledge, gone and gotten more data, analyzed that and then put it all together in a giant soup we like to call “what we want to learn and how we want to learn it”

We know this much so far: The event will take place in dowtown Phoenix at various locations (hopefully to include the new Children’s Museum of Phoenix, the Phoenix Art Musuem, PURL (the Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory, and some ASU dowtown campus locations plus other possible sweet spots). We will start on Thursday night, March 5 with a kick off event (fingers crossed for kids museum) followed by two full days of interactive learning and conversating and creating and laughing and playing and sharing and meeting and dancing and other important stuff related to expaning awareness about design research and displacing paradigms about what a “conference” experience should look, taste, and feel like. Friday night we will be perfectly located for the monthly First Friday art walk downtown. Friday and Saturday will be filled with meaningful opportunities to listen and share- with few headline speakers and many chances for workshops and meeting new people in surprising contexts. Sunday morning will likely be an optional add on with local field trips or something equally fun and phoenix-relevant.

We expect to secure lodging rates that span the spectrum from couchsurfer to luxury land. We are hoping to draw people with a range of interests and backgrounds and experience.

If you have any ideas or request please do let us know!

We are finalizing a vision statement for the event and expect to put out a call for proposals soon.