On Campus Event

The Interdisciplinary Interaction Design Conference
Nov. 16, 2013
    The Interdisciplinary Interaction Design Conference (phew, it’s a long name to type out) was pretty much a conference where anyone, not just students, could learn the different types of work out there that there is for design students, computer science students, etc. It gave us perspective as to what to look for in the future, and also maybe how to handle it in a more positive light when things get a little sticky.
    There were four speakers at this conference; Justin Kunkle, Bobby Deraco, Joshua Buckwalter, and Millersville University’s very own Aaron Chu. They all have very different experiences in the work world and their input was all very helpful to hear.
    First was Justin Kunkle, the director of Strategy and Culture at his workplace. He pretty much works with people and how they interact with technology. He does those studies and research to help make websites and technology experiences for people more enjoyable. The one main thing that I wrote down in my notes that he said was “Never ask a client what they want. Watch them and see what they need” and making it easy for people to do the right thing when it comes to technology (he made sure that we understood that it wasn’t a moral thing.)
    Next was Bobby Deraco, whom like my father did not finish college. It’s people like this man that make me question the necessity of college for people like myself. He is a very successful man who gave us a list of things that he thought we should follow in order to be as successful as he is.
-Never stop Learning
-Data sells ideas
-If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur.
-It cost $200 to turn a bolt. (It’s all about pricing how valuable you knowledge and skill is.)
-Think Code
-Your mom’s the user. (clear all bias)
-Chaos is profitable.
    Of all the speakers, I thought he was the most inspiring because of his amount of experience and how far he got on his own.
    Joshua Buckwalter, I didn’t really have much to say about him purely because all he really did for his presentation was tell us how this one project wasn’t really going his way at all. It was pretty much just a huge venting fest for this guy.
    Lastly was Millersville’s Aaron Chu. This guy is seriously impressive. He knows so much about everything that comes along with being a graphic designer, architect, computer science student, etc. He stressed that you should always be learning something new along with researching things you don’t know. This kid definitely made the graphic design teachers proud. He talked about his work and all his knowledge, and while I didn’t really take notes about what he said exactly, he’s definitely something that we all want to be someday after college; Successful!
    I liked hearing different sides of the spectrum that is graphic design. It relieved me to hear that I don’t really have to be 100% amazing at coding or designing if I’m just really good at illustrating. It’s nice to know that it takes more than one person to get one graphic design job because we are all good at only specific things. I guess it just put my mind more at ease than it was.