Chapter 1 Designing from the Bottom Up

“Call me Ishmael,” she didn’t say. But wouldn’t it be a great opening if she had?

In fact it, was “Ashman” she was going by now and would really prefer that her old name weren’t plastered all over the schedule. As the digital team for an information architecture conference, who were we to deny our featured speaker such a simple request?

Behind the scenes, conferences are chaos. Herding attendees between sessions and break times. Making sure the keynote speaker resurfaces after last night’s opening reception. Answering yet again that yes, there will be ­gluten-free cupcakes. It may look razzle-dazzle on the front end, but backstage you’re flailing like Kermit, just trying to hold all the crazy together. ...

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