April has been a really rough month. I managed to injury myself running and therefore was unable to walk or do much exercise. Throughout the 3 weeks of recovery I put on a couple more pounds. But, for the past week I’ve been able to run and walk the dog normally. The result is getting back on track with my weight loss and back in shape for Broad Street.
Dinko in Namche, again
Got another quick email from Dinko. He’s back in Namche, which means he’s on his way back to Kathmandu. He’s having a fabulous time despite the little stomach illness and altitude sickness between 12,000 and 18,000 feet. He did manage to go to the Everest Basecamp and can’t wait to come back and share the pictures and stories with everyone…only not toooo fast.
He raved about being able to take 3 showers during the past 2 weeks, of which one was out in the open only wrapped in a tarp. Too bad we won’t have a picture of that – HA. And lastly, he announced that he most certainly looks like a Yeti now that he hasn’t been able to shave since he left Philadelphia.
For all those interested, he will be back this Friday. I can’t wait ;)
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
My good friend, Adrienne, has challenged herself to participate in the 3-Day Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and to raise $1800 as part of Team Monika. Team Monika is group of incredible women walking in the memory of Monika Dunkel, my friend Johanna’s mother, who died of breast cancer in 1989. This year is particularly significant because the walk with be in Boston, where Monika passed away 19 years ago.
Nearly everyone I’ve met knows someone who has been affected by breast cancer in their family. My grandmother was a breast cancer survivor. It is so important to continue research, outreach and education about this disease so that one day breast cancer may be a rare occurrence. You can help, but sparing some of your pocket change to support the cause.
Dinko in Namche
I managed to get an email from Dinko today. He was in Namche Bazaar in Nepal. It’s the last town before Everest and he found Internet access. It was very slow and very expensive so his email was short, but such a surprise to get. He’s having a fabulous time and is really enjoying the trek and the company. I will likely not hear from him again until he returns to Kathmandu in 10-12 days.
IA Summit
I will be off to the fantabulous 2008 IA Summit in Miami tomorrow! This is *the* yearly event for information architects. I’m soooo excited to see everyone and participate in some much needed and inspiring discussion about the world of information architecture, user experience, interaction design and usability.
My highly anticipated sessions include:
- IAs, language and lego – an introduction to semantic analysis with Matthew Hodgson
- Peer coaching: support for UX managers with Margaret Hanley
- The business of experience: the experience impact framework with Jess McMullin
- The long wow with Brandon Schauer
- Testing for advertising effectiveness with Margaret Hanley
- Making the leap from practitioner to manager: confidence building strategy and common pitfalls with Samantha Bailey (my mentor)
- Storytelling – a compelling design tool with Dorelle Rabinowitz
- Becoming and IA/UX coach: Proving success one champion at a time with Yvonne Shek
- Designing with patterns in the real world: Lessons from Yahoo and Comcast with Christian Crumlish and Austin Govella (my co-worker)
- Linkosophy (Closing Plenary) with Andrew Hinton
Can’t wait!
