I hear this a lot, "why start a new IxDA group in [my town]? there is already [this org]."
Most large cities already have some sort of UX group. What that phrase doesn't take into account is that one of the primary reasons for a face-to-face group to exist is to bring the virtual into the real. That is to say, that there is a global virtual community called IxDA. Many of these people are probably in Toronto (in this case). They feel a connection to that virtual community but want to bring the feeling of that experience to a more real environment. The fact that there is an existing group no matter how similar or separate exists, can never address this big reason for creating a new local group. Now, that doesn't mean that new groups and existing groups can't figure out ways to cohabitate, coordinate, cooperate, consolidate, etc. etc. Cities like Portland, LA and Silicon Valley (ok, a region not a city) have done variations on this themselves. Now, I'm completely and utterly biased here, but I do want to say that there is something different about IxDA for me. I'm in other communities and value them, but IxDA is just different. It's combination of speaking from the perspective of Design while focusing on the discipline and practice instead of on the practitioner, and dealing specifically with that aspect of the discipline known as interaction has created a special community that has not been repeated elsewhere virtually, or from what I can tell locally. I have tremendous respect for good organizations on the ground in all the cities of the world, but after now 4 solid years of existence, I feel confident that every city that wants one should and could have its own local face-to-face organization and that does not mean that it intrinsically is competing. It is just doing what is the next natural step. Being real and true to itself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://gamma.ixda.org/discuss?post=21743 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://gamma.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://gamma.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://gamma.ixda.org/help
