* Upcoming Events *
July Meeting
Topic: "Getting the Tool Right … Or Getting the Right Tool? Tool Choice and Tool Switching in Complex Software"
Speaker: Will Schroeder, The MathWorks
Location: Iron Mountain Digital, Southborough MA
Date: Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
World Usability
Day Volunteers Warm Each Other With Fantastic Food and Stories from the Day
On Saturday, January 20th, 30 people braved the bitter cold winds to join the Boston UPA board at Vinny T's in Lexington for the World Usability Day Recap and Celebration.
Our time at Vinny T's began with some valuable socializing and networking among members, and much cuddling of Asher Rice, the new son of Boston UPA's vice president, Susan. The board also presented Susan and Asher with a long overdue gift, which we hope he enjoys.
Asher with UPA Boston member, Kris Engdahl
Around 12:30 pm, just when stomachs were beginning to growl, we took our seats and the Vinny T's waiters started bringing out bread and the house salad. This was followed by a magnificent spread of fresh mozzarella caprese, pasta vegetale, chicken parmigiana, and chicken marsala. After the feast, Chris Hass, our president, began the recap by introducing Caryn Saitz, Executive Director of Marketing and Sponsorship for World Usability Day. Caryn told us about the success of World Usability Day across the globe, and talked about the future standardization of the day: World Usability Day will officially be held the second Thursday of November every year, putting World Usability Day 2007 at November 8th. Save the date!
Next, Chris led a slide show discussion for each of the World Usability Day activities. If the volunteers who organized the activity or worked that activity during the day were in attendance, Chris invited them to come to the front and talk to the group about they learned, what went well, and what didn't. The result was an interesting, interactive discussion that could have continued, if not for the fact that tiramisu and coffee had come and gone, and it was time for us to leave the Vinny T's space. Time sure does fly when you're talking about affinitizing socks!
UPA Boston members focusing on socks
Attendees of the World Usability Day Recap and Celebration walked away with a T-shirt for their volunteer efforts, but hopefully they also walked away with a great sense of accomplishment and excitement for 2007.