Call for Speakers | 2011 IDSA International Conference and Education Symposium

2011 IDSA International Conference Theme | COMMUNITY

“The order of the day in the future is a community that’s organized to respond to whatever comes its way. The only people who know how to do this are entrepreneurs and creative people.”
– Mayor Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans

Catastrophe, whether natural or manmade, creates opportunity. Five years after Katrina stormed the Louisiana coast, and three years after the credit crisis tore a hole through the global economy, industrial design, like the city of New Orleans, finds itself ready to contemplate its future again. But as in New Orleans, where the conversation has progressed from mere recovery to envisioning a better city, industrial design finds itself contemplating what can be not merely what was.  For both the city and the profession one factor seems to invigorate all possibilities: the power of community.

Whether local or global, professional or amateur, online or physical—community and the dynamics it favors are increasingly at work in design and the marketplace it inhabits; changing the nature of what and how we design as it simultaneously reorients consumer behavior.

Over the four days of IDSA's International Conference (Sept. 14-17, 2011) we’ll explore the importance of community across multiple layers of design, exploring emerging social issues, the decentralizing influence of online resources in manufacturing and distribution, the interplay between local and global participants and many others.

Join us for a conference that is guaranteed to make you think—not just about the profession, but also about the world in which you practice.

CALL FOR SPEAKERS

The IDSA International Conference is coming to New Orleans, LA from Sept. 14 to17! This year's theme, Community: You, Me, We, promises to make you think—not just about the profession, but also about the world in which you practice it.

IDSA is currently organizing a number of educational presentations and activities during the conference, including globally recognized keynote speakers, engaging panel discussions, workshops, immersive experiences and a diverse set of tours designed to celebrate New Orleans’ culture.

To get a full view of the profession and its future, we need to hear from the design community at large. For that reason we’re putting out a call for speakers along three central themes:

Attitudes and Behaviors: How societal factors such as 24/7 connectivity, social media and sustainability are changing the consumer; what they want, need and ultimately what it means to consume. We will be looking for presentations that explore shifting consumer behaviors.

Methods and Means: The effects of community on how we think, work and execute in design. We are seeking presentations and talks that explore the new tools, venues and models with which design is conceived, developed, executed and ultimately distributed.

Community as Context: How the needs of the individual, groups and the environment are impacting the design brief. In this category presentations examining social entrepreneurship, community initiated solutions, service design and in-the-field consumer research will be debated and explored.

Selected speakers will be asked to deliver a 30-60 minute presentation on a subject relevant to this year’s conference theme and grounded in their own experience and expertise. Topics should be sure to address one of the sub-themes listed above.

Online Submission Form

Important Deadline and Information:
Submission deadline is May 2, 2011.

For questions about the submission process or the conference in general, please email community@idsa.org.