I admit, things have been a little quiet for me on the blogging front. There have been a lot of changes happening in my world, and instead of boring you with the minutiae of the past few weeks I decided that I would write an update once the dust settled. So, with that, I hope this “update” fills in some of the blanks as to my comings and goings!
1. Officially an Atlanta resident: On Sunday August 15, my family pulled into the driveway of our new place in north Atlanta. We are loving the weather, the beautiful and diverse neighborhoods and of course the restaurants…the food—oh my gods the food! Our 5-year old daughter started kindergarten shortly after we arrived, and my husband is settling in with his new coworkers and new position at his company (it was his job that kickstarted the moving process for us). My home office is up and running, and I already have a few projects in the hopper. Anyone who doesn’t believe that success is geographic should talk to the Martins! It was a lot of work, but all in all, it’s been one positive advance after another since we arrived.
2. An active UX Design Community to join (finally): Atlanta has a lot to offer in terms of a strong design community. In the last city I lived, there simply weren’t enough of us designers (let alone UXers) to join forces. That is not the case here! CHI Atlanta, UX Book Club, IxDA, and Content Strategy meetup groups all have active members and events. And it turns out, I’ve met many of them virtually via Twitter or at conferences, which for an introvert like me helps to have the ice broken ahead of time! And speaking of conferences,in 2011 both the International UPA conference and An Event Apart will be here in Atlanta. Bonus, right?
3. Still riding the IDEA10 conference high: This year, I’ve been lucky enough to attend both the IA Summit and the IDEA 10 conferences. I love the IAI, and so besides mentoring for them I love to show my support by showing up at these events, networking, catching up with old friends and making new ones. The brains at these conferences make me so happy! Great people pulled off another great event, which consisted of a balance of 45 minute break-out sessions and speakers on the main stage. Unlike the IA summit, there are no session tracks, which means we attendees spend a lot of time together. There are upsides and downsides to both situations, but I must say I do love the balance that each brings to its “sister” conference.
4. Contract Negotiations: For the past few months, I have tried my hardest to not allude to the super-secret project I’ve had in the works. As I write this, it has been in contract negotiations for the past six weeks, and I hope and pray that perhaps, today ink will finally meet paper. Let’s just say that this project will be the culmination of eight years of thinking, studying, talking about, and of course practicing research methods. It will truly be a labor of love once we get it off the ground, and I can’t wait to share more info soon!
Watch this space for updates….until then, send some positive vibes my way as these heart palpitations are getting old.
