Being new to AIGA it took a while to really figure out that “graphic design” really only means “print design”. It’s something I hope to change in the future by getting very involved with AIGA. While I’m not looking to turn AIGA in to SXSW I would like to see a broader definition of design. I do feel AIGA is lacking in coverage of the web they are starting to get the idea.
The conference website does look really nice but it’s not very well thought out. Information is hard to find and just not organised in to enough categories with descriptive titles. While the current tab you are in does highlight there is no breadcrumb trail to learn any more. With out even a site map to really get a sense of the organization it can become slightly disorienting. The url is also not permanent, which Kottke has also pointed out, which is still a problem with conferences across the world. As more and more info are put on conference websites permanent urls will be even more important.
I know that Kottke agreed to blog the event and I know there is an official blog but it took some deduction to figure out that Kottke is the official blog. As far as I can tell there is no link on the main website to any blog or even a description that the conference has anything to do with blogging. If you look hard enough you will find a link to Flickr and where the podcasts will be hosted. I know that most people have not gotten home yet but as of now there are only 300 some pictures for a 2,500 person conference. As for the podcasts, I can guarantee that over 95% of the people have no idea that there will be podcasts of any kind. Not to mention that there is no explanation of what a podcast is which this print design conference needs. Kottke also links to the proper del.icio.us tag and a total of 8 are listed all posted by the same person.
Some one in AIGA wants the web to be a larger part and I hope to help them in that endeavor but there is a lot to do to not only do it right but educate others on what is even being done. Even though AIGA lags behind you can almost feel that they are aware of it and are trying to catchup. Frustrating as it might be it just makes you want to help them get there.