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Celebrating Information Architecture in LOCATION since 2012
2026 location: Middle Tennessee State University John Bragg Media and Entertainment Building 1735 Blue Raider Drive Murfreesboro, TN 37132 * The gates are open and parking is free * World IA Day brings together information architects, UX designers, content strategists, developers, product managers, librarians, and digital professionals to explore the latest thoughts and practices in information architecture.
Nashville's WIAD event at MTSU is the only event in the American South this year, drawing a regional audience of tech professionals and information enthusiasts.
Tickets include coffee, lunch, and snacks in addition to programming from 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM.
Registration is now open! Help us out with the headcount for food and logistics by reserving your spot now.
World IA Day is coming to Middle Tennessee! Join us on March 7, 2026, for an in-person gathering that brings together the Middle Tennessee State University community and the Nashville professional community. This year, we are exploring how information architecture shapes the experiences we create through the theme of "Designing for Meaning." Check out our programs and speakers.
2026: World IA Day returns to Middle Tennessee!
2013: First World IA Day in Nashville
→
General inquiries and to volunteer: nashville@worldiaday.org
World IA Day Nashville is part of the global World Information Architecture Day celebration. →
Explore the history of World IA Day Nashville since FirstWIAD. Browse past speakers, topics, and community highlights from our WIAD events.
Information for sponsors interested in supporting WIAD Nashville
SPONSORSHIP TIERS
Logo on website + event programs
$250
Speakers at WIAD Nashville come from varied disciplines, from Middle Tennessee and beyond. We thank all of our speakers for volunteering their time to make our 2026 community event a great one!
Every community depends on a shared system of symbols to make meaning together, and the invisible structure that holds that system in place is information architecture. On World Information Architecture Day at Middle Tennessee State University, Dan will share research findings around a key feature of this infrastructure: question-asking. The talk is called "What Even Is A Question," and if you stay to the end, you'll never ask one the same way again.
From IA to AI, our panelists from across a span of generations have seen the evolution of IA from its roots, through many industry-defining moments, to the now emerging age of AI. Moderator Eve Eden will lead our guest speakers through history and seek out their testimonies of how impactful moments changed their understanding, the way they work, and the larger IA world.
We're honored to have Billy Hollis bring his designer/developer perspective, formed from decades of hands-on work in complex software applications. He has spoken at over 150 national and international technical conferences including Live360! and Microsoft events. Look forward to gaining an insight into how he teaches teams to do design thinking and "break free" from existing molds.
Scheduled*: Jason Becker - "When you get it right, don't expect the fanfare"
Dylan Bernetich - "Design Doesn’t Speak for Itself: Communicating Design Decisions Clearly"
William Miller - "IA as Ethics: How we live well together"
*Attendees can sign up on the day of the conference to do an impromptu lightning talk.
From the moment a customer walks in and checks in at the front desk, the ease of connecting their digital experience with the physical experience they receive sets the tone for their whole stay. As Chief Product Officer of hotel management tech at Intelity, Beza knows the difference that good IA design can make and by the end of this group breakout session, you'll know too.
Chad Hester will lead a group breakout session on learning the role of accessibility (A11y) standards in IA. His expertise, akin to a calling, comes from over 10 years of experience focused on building for accessibility in both internal and external platforms at companies he's worked with. He is currently the VP of North America at BarrierBreak whose vision is "Advancing the digital landscape to enable the experience for people with disabilities."
As a seasoned product designer for global enterprises, Susan is here to show us that information architecture is fundamentally about understanding and designing for different user mental models. Through a hands-on interactive workshop, participants will work in small groups to organize healthcare data for three distinct user types (nurses, doctors, hospital administrators), then translate those groupings into a simple navigation or content structure. The activity demonstrates how the same content should be prioritized and structured differently based on each user’s tasks and mental models. Beware of defaulting to familiar organizational structure, alphabetical lists, or surface-level visual differentiation.
Above, plus social mentions and logo on digital signage
$700
Above, plus intro for rep/feature
$1,000
$2,000+
Above, plus exclusive branding + keynote mention
The only sponsor at this tier
Logo is placed more prominently than others
Labeled as “Presenting Sponsor”
Logo appears alone at the top of sponsor materials
Contact us at nashville@worldiaday.org to become a sponsor.
Thank you so much for contributing to the development of our local and regional information architecture community!
Whose idea was this anyway?
World IA Day Nashville 2026. Welcome back!
This event is a collaboration between Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and the Nashville professional community, including the Nashville UX and Nashville Product Meetup groups. World IA Day Co-Founder Dan Klyn headlines a dynamic lineup of speakers, roundtable discussions, and interactive panels focused on solving real-world challenges through meaningful information design.
Saturday, March 7, 2026
8:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Middle Tennessee State University John Bragg Media and Entertainment Building 1735 Blue Raider Drive Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Sheri Flournoy-Selph
Organizer, Marketing Support
Department of Art and Design Middle Tennessee State University
Holly Strickland
Organizer
Department of Art and Design Middle Tennessee State University
Sam Zaza
Organizer
Todd O'Neill
Director / Organizer / Host
Associate Professor Interactive Media Middle Tennessee State University
Pauline Lu
Organizer, Speaker Wrangler, Marketing & Sponsor Support
Visual Designer K-12 Educator Co-lead, Women In Product Nashville
Mike Gallers
Organizer, Program & Sponsor Support
Senior Staff UX Designer Co-organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Mary Sherrill
Organizer, Program & Marketing Support
UX Content Designer Co-organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Eve Eden
Organizer / Moderator
Founder, Agency Eve UX Consultant Co-organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Jeff Burger
Organizer, Sponsor Support
UI & UX Designer Co-Organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Eric Jackson
Organizer
Multi-disciplinary Designer Assistant Professor Media Design Middle Tennessee State University
Chris Clancy
Organizer, Marketing Support
Content Strategist and Writer Co-founder, Clancy Partners, LLC
Caitlyn Brown
Organizer
Product Manager
Chad Hester
The 2026 theme, “Designing for Meaning,” challenges us to create more intentional and human-centered experiences. We're interested in exploring not only modern digital Information Architecture but also going back through generations to our roots in analog and physical design.
Presented by Dan Klyn, professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and co-founder of World Information Architecture Day.
World IA Day Nashville 2013. Explore past content.
Event ended
Spend a day in lively discussion and learning around information architecture, the online world’s most crucial discipline. Nashville, TN has been chosen as one of 15 cities from around the globe as a 2013 center for World IA Day. Practitioners from many fields will share their ideas, best practices, and real-world implementations. A Day for IA’s format is a mix of presentations, break-out sessions, and informal networking.
A Day for IA is created by academics, practitioners, technologists and business leaders motivated to improve information architecture practice, to create community conversation, and promote growth of the field.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Jean & Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University 419 21st Ave South Nashville, TN 37240
Parking
You may be able to find parking on the street nearby and plenty of paid parking is available in the Wesley Place Garage across 21st Avenue from the Vanderbilt University Library.
A Day for IA is a free event, thanks to the generosity of the Information Architecture Institute, Vanderbilt University, and .
Registration is free!
Confirmed speakers/panelists include:
Tyrale Bloomfield, User Experience Designer, , Inc.
Jay Cowan, Research Information Systems Engineer, Vanderbilt University Office of Research Informatics.
Justin Davis, Founder & CEO, , an interactive product design consultancy.
8:30 – 9:00
Check-in, coffee & networking
9:00 – 9:15
9:15 – 10:15
Pratim Sengupta, Rogers Hall & Doug Schmidt (Vanderbilt University)
10:30 – 11:15
J. Tod Fetherling (Stratasan), Laurie Novak (Center for Research & Information in Safety Systems, Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
11:30 – 12:15
Nicholas Holland and Jared Scheel (Populr.me)
12:15 – 1:15
1:15 – 2:00
Shari Thurow (Omni Marketing Interactive)
2:15 – 3:00 (breakout session)
Bart Renner (Palindrome Interactive Brand Narratives), Justin Davis (Madera Labs), Karen Wieckert (UX practitioner across industries, institutions, & innovations)
2:15 – 3:00 (breakout session)
Jay Cowan, Research Information Systems Engineer, Office of Research Informatics, Vanderbilt University
3:15 – 4:00
Mark Ott (Rounding Well), Tyrale Bloomfield & Josh Goodwin (Healthcare Management Systems), Tom Noser (Healthstream)
4:00 – 5:00
Come to WIAD Nashville 2026 on March 7th!
Registration is $30 and includes morning coffee, lunch, and giveaways all day.
Thanks to generous sponsorship and support, tickets are now $10!
Join us to learn more about information architecture and connect with great people!
Funds raised from registration will be used to pay for the cost of operation including lunch, signage, etc. Any funds over cost will be used to pay for next year's cost of operation. All organizers are volunteers.
WIAD Nashville 2026 program
Josh Goodwin, User Experience Designer, Healthcare Management Systems, Inc.
Rogers P. Hall, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Teaching & Learning, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University.
Nicholas Holland, Founder, President & CEO of centresource, web interactive agency. Founder & CEO of Populr.me
Tom Noser, Associate Vice-President, Healthstream.
Laurie Lovett Novak, Asst. Professor of Biomedical Infomatics at the Center for Research & Information in Safety Systems, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Novak researches the implementation of large-scale clinical information systems.
Mark Ott, Rounding Well, patient relationship management
Bart Renner, Palindrome Interactive Brand Narratives
Janice Reese, owner, Network PDF, Inc.
Jared Scheel, Co-founder & CEO of Populr.me
Douglas Schmidt, Professor and Assoc. Chair of Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Vanderbilt University.
Pratim Sengupta, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Teaching & Learning, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University.
Shari Thurow, pioneer in search-engine friendly Web site design, founder and SEO Director of Omni Marketing Interactive, and author of Search Engine Visibility.
Laura Creekmore
Laurie Kalmanson
Steve Downey
Billy Hollis
The Science Behind User Experience Design
Billy has been developing software for over thirty years, and has acquired a worldwide reputation in software development and architecture. As a developer and consultant, he has developed systems for healthcare, energy, telecommunications, and human resources. As an author, he has written or co-written ten technology books and dozens of magazine articles. As a conference speaker, he has spoken to thousands of software developers at the largest industry events in the Microsoft space, including TechEd, DevConnections, and VSLive.
Sheri Flournoy-Selph
Organizer, Marketing Support
Department of Art and Design Middle Tennessee State University
Holly Strickland
Organizer
Department of Art and Design Middle Tennessee State University
Sam Zaza
Organizer
Dan Klyn
Keynote: What Even *Is* A Question?; AMA: Real-world Information Architecture
Dan Klyn teaches information architecture at the University of Michigan School of Information and co-founded The Understanding Group (TUG), designing information architectures for clients including Apple, Ford, Walmart, MIT, and The Kresge Foundation.
Custodian of the Richard Saul Wurman Archive, Klyn has been developing an authorized biography since 2010 and continues to collaborate with Wurman across a range of projects. Past president of the Information Architecture Institute and co-creator of World Information Architecture Day, his writings appear in Advances in Information Architecture (2021) and Reframing Information Architecture (2014). He lives with his family near Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Chad Hester
Where IA and Accessibility (A11y) Collide: Make or break the user experience
Chad Hester is the VP of North America, BarrierBreak. He has more than 20 years of development experience and 10 years focused primarily on accessibility. He combines his experience with leadership of people, processes and projects together to provide you with expertise in implementing strategies to be a more well rounded technical professional.
Beza Worku
Hospitality Experience from End to End
Beza is the Chief Product Officer at Intelity, an innovation leader driving bold ideas at the intersection of AI, fintech, health tech, and hospitality. Known for building standout products, scaling high-impact teams, and turning vision into real-world results.
Currently leading the charge in AI-powered platforms that elevate guest and staff experiences, combining machine learning, predictive intelligence, and automation to drive growth and efficiency.
A member of Women In Product Nashville Chapter, contributing as a speaker, workshop leader, and past organizer.
Named a Titan 100 Honoree in 2025.
William Miller
IA as Ethics: How we live well together
William Miller is a Principal Product Manager at Walgreens, working on healthcare data platforms and AI systems at national scale. With a background in bioethics and years of experience in hospice care, he’s curious about how information architecture quietly shapes meaning, can serve justice, or promote inclusion—often through the small, unglamorous, even contentious, decisions no one puts on a slide. William enjoys thinking with designers and technologists about how to make thoughtful, humane choices together, even when systems are complex, timelines are tight, the stakes are real, and business value matters.
Susan Culkin
Designing IA for Users; Generations Panel
Susan Culkin is a UX and Product Design specialist at Wilmington Trust who has spent her career proving that great user experience isn’t just good design — it’s good business. She has partnered with everyone from Fortune 500 giants like Apple, IBM and Roche Diagnostics to scrappy startups, helping bring products to market that people actually love.
Stratton Glaze
AMA: Real-world Information Architecture
Stratton has spent 20 years practicing Information Architecture. Based in Nashville, TN and trained in seminary before finding his way back to the craft, he brings a deep curiosity about how people make meaning out of complexity. At The Understanding Group, he works alongside a team of architects, strategists, and researchers who believe that clarity is a form of care. Together, they help organizations of all sizes understand the people and purposes behind complex digital systems, then build the structure that makes those systems make sense.
Eve Eden
Generations Panel Moderator
Eve Eden is a product designer leader, speaker, and co-host of the UX Murder Mystery podcast with more than fifteen years guiding enterprise teams at Paychex, NielsenIQ, and Basis Technologies.
She helps organizations untangle complexity, align product, design, and engineering, and build accessible systems that lead to clearer decisions and better business outcomes.
She is founder of EVE | UX Design Agency, where she partners with companies ready for design strategy at agencyeve.com.
Dylan Bernetich
Generations Panel
Dylan Bernetich is a tinkerer. His work focuses on how digital & physical systems guide and shape real-world outcomes. His experience includes researching and designing products across analytics platforms, video conferencing, and mapping tools, giving him a broad domain perspective. In rooms with competing voices, Dylan helps amplify the designer’s role, cutting through noise, aligning teams on what matters, and moving work forward through clear communication and collaboration. He’s currently focused on improving last-mile delivery through digital solutions that bridge physical products and is active in Nashville’s startup community.
Taylor Stevens
Generations Panel
Taylor Stevens is a recent graduate and emerging product designer interested in how creativity, psychology, and technology intersect to shape meaningful user experiences. With a background in UX and content design, their work explores how information architecture evolves as AI begins generating and organizing information in new ways. As part of the next generation entering the field, Taylor is especially interested in designing systems that remain clear, thoughtful, and human-centered.
Jason Becker
Generations Panel
With over two decades in technology leadership, currently serving as Virtual CIO/CISO, contributing to healthcare innovation by overseeing critical technology products and fostering continuous improvement. Core competencies include cybersecurity planning, cloud migration, DevOps transformation, and governance, with a focus on delivering secure, scalable, and innovative solutions.
Previous roles include AVP of IT at DentaQuest, VP, IT, at HCA Hospitals, and PwC alumni, addressing cybersecurity and collaboration challenges in healthcare and other industries, and leadership in governance, risk, and compliance at Reflection Point Solutions. Certified in CISSP, PMP, and AWS Cloud, and experience operational efficiency and align IT strategies with organizational goals.
Todd O'Neill
Director / Organizer / Host
Associate Professor Interactive Media Middle Tennessee State University
Pauline Lu
Organizer, Speaker Wrangler, Marketing & Sponsor Support
Visual Designer K-12 Educator Co-lead, Women In Product Nashville
Mike Gallers
Organizer, Program & Sponsor Support
Senior Staff UX Designer Co-organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Mary Sherrill
Organizer, Program & Marketing Support
UX Content Designer Co-organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Eve Eden
Organizer / Moderator
Founder, Agency Eve UX Consultant Co-organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Jeff Burger
Organizer, Sponsor Support
UI & UX Designer Co-Organizer, Nashville UX Meetup
Eric Jackson
Organizer
Multi-disciplinary Designer Assistant Professor Media Design Middle Tennessee State University
Chris Clancy
Organizer, Marketing Support
Content Strategist and Writer Co-founder, Clancy Partners, LLC
Caitlyn Brown
Organizer
Product Manager
Chad Hester
