Adaptive Path’s 2009 Events – So many options!

For the first time in Adaptive Path’s history, we’ve released our entire slate of in-person events for the year at the beginning of the year. (I say “in-person” because we’re still working on our virtual seminar lineup). I know it’s going to be a strange year for many folks, budget-wise, but we’re confident we have events that can satisfy various abilities of spend. And if you use the promotional code FOPM, you’ll get an extra 15% off!

I’m mostly involved in our conferences, MX 2009 and UX Week 2009. MX is targeted at managers of experience design teams, and I know I say it every year, but MX 2009 is shaping up to the best yet. I’m really excited about having David Butler, VP of Design at Coca-Cola, speak about how he’s helped the World’s Biggest Brand embrace design (he’s profiled in this BusinessWeek article).

UX Week is still many months away, but we’ve already announced some high-profile speakers – comics artist Scott McCloud, word maven Erin McKean, and ethnography trailblazer Genevieve Bell. Because we’re so far from it, registration for UX Week is currently very low — $1795, where full price will be $2995. (And with the 15% off from FOPM, that drops to $1525.75, nearly half off full price). Last year’s UX Week 2008 was amazing, and 2009 promises to top that.

Along with the conferences, we have our UX Intensive 4-day workshops returning (Berlin, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.), our new Good Design Faster 2-day workshop (how can you miss with a name like that), our pilot event for project managers, and a monthly selection of virtual seminars, including one I’m presenting in February titled 16 (Mostly) Difficult Steps to Becoming a Customer Experience-Driven Organization. Whew!

I hope you overcome your paradox of choice, and join us for the fun this year!

I chat with Scott McCloud

Some readers of peterme.com will know I’ve long had an obsession with Scott McCloud’s work. 15 years ago, I read Understanding Comics, and it was a bolt of lightning in my intellectual development. About 10 years ago, I had the fortune of meeting Scott, and maintaining a friendship with him.

(here’s a scary picture of the two of us in 1999. Scary because I look like a serial killer.
)

Since we’ve been hosting events at Adaptive Path, I’ve wanted to have Scott speak at them, but it never seemed to work out, either logistically or thematically. Well, that changes next year. For UX Week 2009, our theme involves “looking laterally,” and bringing in people who influence us from fields outside design, and Scott is on board.

To mark this, Scott and I recorded a telephone conversation where topics spanned influences, Edward Tufte, the rise of visual expression in every day life, crafting the Google Chrome comic, micropayments, and the basics UX designers should know about crafting comics. You can download the conversation as an MP3, or, soon, find it on Adaptive Path’s podcast stream (RSS, iTunes)

It’s worth noting that Adaptive Path is having a huge end-of-the-year promotion for all of its 2009 events. Sign up by December 31st, and use the promotional code FOPM (“Friends of Peter Merholz”) for huge savings.

Adaptive Path Events News – Online, in SF, and in Copenhagen

So many things happening with our events over at Adaptive Path. Use the promotional code FOPM when registering for any of these and receive 15% off.

On August 6th, Brandon will be presenting a live virtual seminar on “Showing the Value of UX.” It takes place 10:00am Pacific, 1pm Eastern, and 5pm GMT. This 75-minute online seminar provides aspiring UX professionals with the approaches for thinking and talking about the value of UX within your organization as well as specific tools and design activities that lead to and communicate business value.

From August 12-15, we’ve got UX Week 2008, which is going to rock the house down. We’ve got amazing keynotes, workshops, visits to museums, and a show floor dedicated to the future of user experience. There’s still some seats available, but I’ve been told we might have to cap registration soon.

And then 13-16 October (note the date format!) we’re offering UX Intensive Copenhagen, our hands-on four-day workshop on the core elements of user experience.

Fun!

Bold Shill – UX Week News

There’s a lot happening yon Adaptive Path way as we gear up for UX Week 2008.

We’ve just announced the actual super final completing of our program, including Jury Hahn, and the presentations we’ll get from the folks at the Exploratorium.

My colleague Leah Buley conducted a marvelous interview with Audrey Chen, lead IA on TheDailyShow.com. For anyone wondering what role an IA serves in our modern Web world, look no further.

And I’ve had the fortune of email-conversing with Michael B. Johnson, who runs the Moving Pictures Group at Pixar. There’s a lot to chew on, touching on everything from prototyping to hiring to management and morale.

You can register for any combination of days at UX Week, though I recommend coming for all 4. And use the promotional code FOPM and receive 15% off!