IA Cocktail Hour in Canberra, 7 September 2006

I've already mentioned that I'm doing "Sexier, smarter and faster IA through Topic Maps" at the IA Retreat 2006 in Sydney at the end of September. I've been asked to entertain (read: present something) at the next Canberra cocktail hour, and I'll do a different version of the one I intend for the IA Retreat. So, they won't be the same, only similar. Heh, I even use the same sales pitch for both of them ;

Topic Maps - part tool, part state of mind; it could simply change the way you work with information architecture. This session will be both highly philosophical and down-right practical at the same time; how to grab our ideas and put them down in a practical format we can use and reuse, both as a mental exercise and as a technical delivery.

Topic Maps offer a framework (it is an ISO standard for data modelling and has an XML-based exchange format to boot) in which we can express ideas, concepts, structures, items and navigation; we'll find data and metadata in a sexy symbiosis to present and reuse our ideas smarter through all stages of development, adapt to complex changes faster, and making the whole process a lot more enjoyable. It is especially well suited to highly complex challenges where your domain can't all fit in your head and your Excel spreadsheets are having trouble keeping up. Don't deliver an assortment of documents and graphs ready to be mislead, misunderstood or misrepresented; give them a topic map they can pop right into their solution.

Time/date: 17:00-18:30, Thursday 07 September

Venue: The Boardroom, SMS Management and Technology, Ground Floor, 8 Brindabella Circuit, Canberra Airport

Parking: Please be aware that there is free parking available for the first hour only at the front of 8 Brindabella Circuit. After that (until well after we are finished) you must pay for parking in one of the nearby lots or risk a ticket.

Hope to see you there.