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2003 IA Summit - Trip Reports
Stacy
Surla shares her thoughts on the IA Summit. Comment to ssurla@aspensys.com.
Information Overload: A Love Story
Thom Haller, Info.Design
| The performance
art monologue is a form that, strange to say, is gaining
a growing presence in the mainstream. I haven't seen performance
art as such in any other conferences lately, so Thom Haller's
program does break new ground for me. But storytelling
(or narrative) as part of business knowledge management
is definitely becoming more Corporate
Culture. IBM's David
Snowdon for example, talks about narrative at conferences
all the time (even though he hasn't done any performance
art per se, so far as I know). So if we can look forward
to more along the lines of Laurie Anderson, Spaulding Gray, Thom Haller, and Poetry Slam in
the conference setting, then I say, hurrah! |
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In this 90 minute work-in-progress, Thom Haller tells the
story of his own journey as representative "blobhead," the
Information Everyman within us all. Finding his appropriate
place in the world is not an easy matter, because his skills
and interests are just plain eccentric (which hits a note
for most of us). Thom also has to avoid certain somewhat attractive
pitfalls - being sought after and hired as a wage worker,
and winding up in a cubicle, for instance, which isn't the
locus of bliss for everyone.
Thom Haller's story is particularly interesting to me in
that he finds a place for his right-brain self in a kind of
left-brain field, where he ostensibly shouldn't fit. And he's
not afraid to say so. This should also hit a note for some
of us - most of us - heck, maybe everyone.
This "journey through labels, categories, and thought" therefore
should have a lot to say to folks who haven't even heard of
Information Architecture. Thom is working on developing the
piece and plans perform it at all kinds of venues. I plan
to be there on opening night.
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Thom Haller Tells His Love Story