Meet Sam Ashlee: Accessibility Director of World IA Day & UX Researcher and Accessibility SME at Honeywell Connected Enterprise
Board Spotlight
We’re very excited to introduce some of the people, organizations, and companies behind World IA Day. Today, we’re introducing a repeat event organizer at World IA Day and now Accessibility Director of World IA Day. Sam Ashlee was the co-chair for World IA Day 2019 and 2020 in Atlanta (under the name Sam VanHorn). Sam is based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Tell us about your journey to World IA Day
I was lucky enough to learn about WIAD in Atlanta, GA, USA in 2018 and began eagerly awaiting WIAD 2019. I was earning my PhD at the time and trying to figure out how to meet the right people and make the right connections in the technology world, particularly within IA and UX. I absolutely loved my first World IA Day experience! I was really inspired by the keynote speaker, Andrew Hinton, and totally captivated by all of the lightning talks. Importantly, I felt like I could see myself up there as one of those cool presenters — I felt like I’d finally found my people!
As soon as WIAD-Atlanta ended, I walked directly up to the people I knew were involved in organizing it and asked how I could be a part of this for the next year. To my total shock, they told me they were looking to pass on organizing duties to a new pair of people and asked if I wanted to be the next co-chair…the rest is pretty much history! I co-chaired WIAD-Atlanta in 2019 and 2020 with Brandon Tidwell. And just to come full circle, Andrew Hinton is now my manager! (And yes, he’s as awesome as you think).
I just love World IA Day. Co-chairing WIAD Atlanta was a privilege and World IA Day continues to cultivate amazing environments with really special people. In my opinion, the community is just something that’s invigorating and inspiring, and — most importantly — accessible. WIAD is a community that’s inclusive of students, scholars, professionals, entrepreneurs, experts, veterans, and so on. No matter who you are, you can likely find a fit at World IA Day and have real conversations with people who care deeply about similar things that you do.
Why and in what ways are you involved with World IA Day?
I met some of the smartest people I know through World IA Day who I continue to learn from. Without the relationships and knowledge I gained through World IA Day, I really believe I would not be as professionally fulfilled as I feel! I continue to stay involved in World IA Day because I consider it to be almost an ethical obligation — it afforded me so many opportunities, so I’d like to give back. I also stay involved in World IA Day because, at least in Atlanta, it’s always been such an accessible community. We strive to be compliant with accessibility guidelines, but beyond that, the community really seems to place importance on being inclusive and approachable. It’s so cool to be in a space like World IA Day because you can be in a room with someone who is just learning what IA is, yet you can turn around and see people who have written multiple books on the subject!
Find Sam online
- World IA Day: https://www.worldiaday.org/people/sam-ashlee
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-ashlee
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamsamvh/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/uxwithsam
