FAQs about being an organizer and the Call for Locations
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We have included a short article written by Abby Covert. We find her language to be helpful when explaining Information Architecture to people with varying levels of familiarity with the discipline.
Each local World IA Day event may be hosted by a group of one or more individuals. By being a local organizer, you are representing your local community by leading a team and planning the local annual event.
Local organizers are in charge of all the details for the local celebration, including, but not limited to:
Securing a venue for the event. It could be a conference hall, an educational institution, or a coffee shop.
Curating presentations or other content that promote an understanding of information architecture, preferably in the context of our selected global theme.
Funding the celebration. We encourage events of all sizes, shapes, and forms. From small informal gatherings to large conference-style events, it is up to you to determine what makes a successful event in your community.
Leading a local team (including social media management, community outreach, a photographer and videographer among others).
Marketing the celebration to your community.
Maintaining open communication and a participatory spirit with the global board and other local organizers.
It depends on the size of your celebration and how you structure your team. Some locations with larger celebrations spend on average about 40 hours per month. Other locations might hold smaller gatherings which take 5 hours per month for 4 months to plan and implement.
The commitment runs from July to March. In most cases, we offer local organizers the opportunity to renew their commitment each year.
We are a community of like-minded professionals and enthusiasts who share the common goal of teaching, learning, and shaping the future of Information Architecture. We do this out of passion and not for financial gain. If this sounds like you, we encourage you to apply.
You may be the lead organizer for your WIAD event, but we highly recommend that you recruit a co-organizer and or a dynamic team of decision-makers to help you. World IA Day is a community event where building communities, empowering leaders, and growing together have been our driving principles since the beginning. Having a co-organizer or team will strengthen your application.
Not necessarily. Each location has to reapply annually and we value the relationships we have built along the way. If more than one individual applies for the same location, we encourage collaboration but reserve the right to select organizers based on their contributions to the community at large.
Each location should have a unique organizer. We do not permit one person to run multiple celebrations.
Yes. Events of any size are welcome. You may want to check last year's locations to see if there was a event nearby.
We encourage members of the community who have a shared interest in bringing World IA Day to their location to work together collaboratively. The general rule of thumb is to ask yourself whether another event in your local community would cause competition for resources and attendees.
We review applications to host events on a rolling basis and usually respond within 14 days of receiving your application.
We encourage our celebrations to remain free and open to anyone that can attend. However, because of the global nature of World IA Day, we understand there may be different needs within each community. If you are asking for a reasonable fee from attendees to help cover the expense of their celebration, that is fine.
We will ask that you inform the global board of how much you intend to charge for your event. Admission must always be affordable to all and the funds should go towards operating costs.
The idea of World IA Day is to be sustainable, which is a different goal than to be profitable. If your event takes in more money than it costs to put on, the expectation is that "overage" goes back to the World IA Day development funds to help support next year's events:
5% of your proceeds are applied to WIAD global
the rest is saved for your location next year
World IA Day is supported by a dedicated team of volunteers. We are here for you and have structured our global board to help support locations around the world.
Each location receives:
resources (e.g. brand assets, slides templates, sample marketing materials, a location page on our website, a location email address, etc.)
guidelines and learnings from other locations
access to organizer channels on the World IA Day Discord
access to organizer mailing list for that year of WIAD events
Yes. Committed sponsors, venues, and speakers will strengthen your application. However, our expectation is that if you are reaching out to people before applying, you are clear in explaining that you do not officially represent World IA Day and are applying to host an event in your location.
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: The theme serves as a common thread that connects all of our locations and should be integrated into the content of your event.
The process for selecting the global theme is two-part:
Past organizers are asked to propose new themes for the upcoming year
The WIAA Global Board then review the theme proposals and, if needed, cast a vote.
Regardless, the global theme is announced by the end of August (at the latest).
We allow transfers of location representation. You have the option to nominate someone else to take over your role (by email or written communication).
More help, the merrier! Just let us know their name and email and we'll help with the following:
Add their name to the event page as a co-organizer on the website
Add their email to the organizer mailing list
And if they're on Discord, we'll make sure that they have the organizer role added to their profile on the World IA Day Discord.
Things happen. We understand. If you're unable to continue and are unable to find a replacement, let us know as soon as possible so that we can start the off-boarding process.
Status on Discord changes from organizer to alumni - You will still retain access to organizer channels in the Discord community.
You will be unsubscribed from the organizer mailing list.
Your event will be removed from the list of participating locations on the WIAD website.