In 2021, I was the lead organizer for the San José iteration of World Information Architecture Day, 2021 (WIAD). WIAD is a one-day annual conference held across the world, with presentations focused on how information is structured and understood. It allows for the exchange of best practices, approaches, and methods used by informationists across the world, along with networking opportunities to develop relationships in the Information Science field.
As this conference took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was held online via Zoom. The goals of the San José iteration were to: 1) increase awareness of innovative activities and initiatives taking place at the SJSU King Library and 2) provide an opportunity for the library, and its community members, to gain insight on new approaches towards user-centered design. The first goal was achieved through extensive marketing efforts by myself, my supporting co-organizers, and presenters, which led to 251 unique virtual attendees across the six sessions of the conference. The second goal was achieved by organizing the conference to include speakers from the SJSU King Library, the SJSU School of Information, the SJSU Beethoven Center, Stanford Library, Code for San José, and California State University Dominguez Hills. By having multiple speakers from across SJSU, neighboring universities, the local community, and another CSU campus, the conference provided an opportunity for organizers, presenters, and attendees to learn about the varied user-centered approaches being used to design information systems.
In 2025, I once again served as the lead organizer for the San José iteration of World Information Architecture Day, 2025. However, for this iteration I collaborated with the User Experience Student Group at SJSU. Students in the group are largely affiliated with the SJSU School of Information (which also co-sponsored the event), yet students from any discipline are welcome to join. The group’s leadership team served as volunteers for the conference, and worked alongside myself to invite speakers, manage logistics, and coordinate the day’s schedule. Speakers for the 2025 iteration included industry professionals, librarians, and instructional designers. The conference was offered in a hybrid format, and attracted over 150 unique attendees across both modalities.
Michael J Aguilar 