Among other things

I think that this is why...

It has become quite clear that we have entered an age where it is imperative to share and manage resources across broad constituencies requiring new models for organization, cooperation, and the evaluation of the systems that support it. The opportunity to discuss one such model today may give us insight into the complexities of tomorrow.

That was a short blurb I wrote for our WorldBlu conference last year. I still believe it.

Recently, Bruce Nussbaum hosted a discussion with Anne Burdick, chair of the Media Design Program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. The question; Is Design Too Important To Be Left Only To Designers? I am still having trouble deciding whether I find the discussion meaningful teaching point or vapid disregard for education. Nevetheless I bit and responded to his piece about the discussion on his blog; Nussbaum on Design.

You can read my response after the jump. Also take a look at a prior discussion on the topic that I co-hosted at CHI in 2007. The documentation from the panel can be found at, Who Killed Design?.

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I have been working with a group of students to develop a keyword catalog of the Design and Management thesis students. Here is a word cloud of the keywords collected thus far....



I am the faculty advisor for the student group behind the survey, which is called the Sustainable Design Review. It is a student group that promotes sustainable design practices through publishing articles about the work of Parsons students, design practitioners, and critical issues in sustainability and design.

I have been invited to present a paper at the American Anthropological Society's Annual Meeting in December, 2009. My colleague Tim Malefyt who is the director of cultural discoveries at BBDO Worldwide and a part-time faculty member at Design and Management authored the panel with Brian Moeran of the Copenhagen Business School. I am really excited to speak about my own work in this context. Read the abstract after the jump...

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I agreed to give an interview to a writer for Plinth and Chintz, a very interesting online magazine for the interior design industry. Its an honor for someone to ask your opinion of something because they think that you have expertise, its even more so when they want other people to read what you think. I'm not even going to try and act humble about this, it IS freaking cool that someone cares what I think!

SO what do you think about what I think?

http://www.plinthandchintz.com/mambo/content/view/774/25/

... and what will they think about me after?!

The Long Now Foundation has realized that our current approach to technology has a gaping hole that we can't fix with faster processors or more RAM. In fact, the more powerful our technology gets, the harder it will be to preserve.

YES! We will still be able to watch the hi-def director's cut of 10,000 BC in 10,000 years... and maybe preserve a little history for whatever comes after.

Clearly these folks read the story of the tortoise and the hare.

Last night I found myself waiting at the entrance to the Chrysler building for my wife when I realized that the yawning outdoor vestibule is an incredible perch from where you can literally hear New York think.

Because it was 6 PM and the Chrysler Building is situated in just outside the "okay-I'm-gonna-get-on-the-train-hangup" zone, I was able to get a front row seat to the New York Unconscious Show. I can't explain it; the experience is something you've got to have for yourself but there was one pearl that surfaced that I would like to share. -- A young lady on her mobile asked her would-be oracle "So... what comes after a-trillion?"

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This morning I attended the first course presentations that we are piloting within SDS (The School of Design Strategies at Parsons). For those of you who don't know SDS is home to the Foundation (FND), Design and Management (D&M), Environmental Studies (ES), and Integrated Design Curriculum (IDC) Programs.

For this event three IDC courses were selected but mark your calendars for March when we will be announcing an expanded program of presentations that will include presentations chosen from all of the SDS programs... and before registration!!

Read about each presentation and take a gander at the very excellent video produced by Lara Penin and Savi Lopez for the Next_F course after the jump.

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