2017 IA Summit: My Experience Attending, Speaking, and Volunteering

Vancouver Harbour. Picture taken in front of LIFT restaurant.

I’ve been attending the IA Summit since ’05 and it doesn’t just feel like a family reunion for me, it is one. I’m completely sleep deprived and just emotionally and physically depleted right now from the last 4 days in Vancouver, but I’m going to try and put into words what this year’s conference has meant to me. I’m on a plane heading home right now and I should be sleeping, but I just couldn’t rest until I wrote this. I may regret this post tomorrow, but for now, thanks for reading…

This year was very different for me because it’s the first time I ever stepped up to volunteer to help with the conference program (besides reviewing speaker proposals and coaching). Specifically, I volunteered as Mentoring Director and was tasked with conducting research with the community to decide what mentoring activities should be included in the program and executing those activities at the conference. After interviewing a lot of folks, I proposed the following which the co-chairs approved: a Resume/Portfolio Review Booth and two Group Mentoring sessions. It was a lot of work to figure out the logistics, organize, and recruit all the volunteers required (46 in total!) to pull off these activities.

The response so far to these new activities has been wonderful. The participants of the Review Booth truly appreciated the opportunity to speak to UX Directors/hiring managers and the reviewers seemed to find it rewarding as well. The Group Mentoring sessions also provided a great opportunity for attendees to connect and get advice from each other. There are certainly things I would change to improve the experience of these activities, if IAS chooses to include them again, but overall I was very happy with how everything went.

The IAS Review Booth was more like a lounge. We were lucky enough to have the entire Balmoral room to set up multiple “review booths” complete with hot chocolate and other beverages thanks to our sponsor TELUS digital.

The IAS Review Booth in action!

IAS Group Mentoring session #1.

IAS Group Mentoring session #2. I was pretty jazzed that Alan and Sue Cooper joined us at the Consulting table!

Unfortunately, I missed out on most of the sessions this year, but I wouldn’t change a thing. As an introvert who has attended this conference for 13 years, I tend to stick to the people I know. Running the Review Booth and Group Mentoring sessions forced me to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people. I needed this nudge and I’m very grateful for it.

Neither one of these activities would’ve been possible without the generosity of the people listed below…

Resume/Portfolio Reviewers (read bios): James Christie, Priyanka Kakar, Carol Smith, Amy Marquez, Patrick Neeman, Alberta Soranzo, Paul McAleer, Jess DuVerneay, Sylvie Daumal, Dan Ramsden, Timothy Whalin, Dylan Wilbanks, Wesley Owen, Jason Toth, Anthony Hempell, Bennett King, Dave Burke, Daniel Newman, Richard Dalton, Tim Shaw, Benjamin Bennett, Bob Royce, Gavin Renner, Justin Smith, Nathaniel Davis, Sven Laqua, Susan Mercer, Adam Fischler, Natalie Farand, Kim Mats Mats, Troy Parke, and Julie Strothman. Facilitation Volunteers: Rebecca Harper and Khati Paul

Group Mentors: Abby Covert, Priyanka Kakar, Sarah Rice, Carol Smith, Amy Silvers, Jesse James Garrett, Chris Chandler, Donna Spencer, Keith Instone, Matthew Grocki, Justin Davis, Allison Menjivar, Andrew Hinton, and Alesha Arp. Facilitation Volunteers: Lyle Kantrovich and Noreen Whysel.

I also had the honor of speaking this year, which was an even bigger personal highlight. Let me just tell you, I put a ton of hours and my entire heart into this talk. It was a lot of work and the feedback I received was just amazing. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m definitely not one to pat myself on the back, but I just feel so damn proud of how it all came together that I’m not going to be ashamed to share it. Well, maybe I am, but I’m putting it out there anyway. ;)

My #IAS17 session.

Slides from my talk.

Click the link below to watch the video of my talk. The audio is a bit poor between 6–12 mins, but it clears up afterwards. Enjoy!

Video of my talk: I’m sorry. I can’t. don’t hate me- the post-it breakup — kyle soucy

I can’t even describe how rewarding it is to be able to contribute and have a positive impact on a conference that I hold so near and dear to my heart. It feels awesome to give back to a community that has truly changed my life and I’m excited to do it all over again next year. Please, if you’re interested in volunteering, just do it! I can’t recommend it enough.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the #ias17 co-chairs, all the volunteers of the mentoring activities, everyone who was brave enough to ask for a review & attend group mentoring, and everyone who attended my talk. I can’t wait to see you all in Chicago at #ias18!

Oh, and I almost forgot to include one of the best moments of IAS every year… Karaoke!