Last weekend I had a Skype catch-up session with my good friend Dan Szuc. Dan runs the usability consultancy Apogee HK, and his team is producing the first ever UX Hong Kong on February 18, 2011.
Apogee HK started at the end of 1999, and by 2003 Dan realized that there was a need for a user-centered design event in China — which as we all know is experiencing a period of rapid growth. UPA China was founded in 2004, with Dan as its president, and that same year they organized the User Friendly conference in Beijing.
By 2007-2008, the term “user experience” started circulating throughout the practitioners in China, and Dan and his team started pondering an event for attendees to dig deeper into these topics. After having attended UX London, UX Australia, and UX Lisbon, Apogee HK decided to produce UX Hong Kong on their home turf.
The inaugural UX HK will take place just after the Chinese New Year at the Innocentre, part of Hong Kong’s Science & Technology Parks. They offer incubation for startups (Philips Design is located there), and have been the venue of Apogee’s UX workshops for last 2 years.
UX Hong Kong is association-independent and will feature 5 speakers with a focus on topics relevant to the local market: experience strategy by Steve Baty and Janna DeVylder; design research with Steve Portigal; mobile with Rachel Hinman; and the essential UX toolkit with Gerry Gaffney.
Each session will run for 30 minutes followed by roundtable discussions. The second half of the day is a deep dive into one of the morning topics, chosen by attendees when they register. A local jazz band will be playing in the morning and during meals.
On the second (optional) day, attendees get the chance to explore Hong Kong together, eating traditional dim sum (yum!), taking a ferry to the outlying islands, and walking, relaxing, chatting, and socializing with the speakers.
So far, people have registered to attend from Japan, Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, UK, Australia, and Russia. There are a target of 100 attendees, with the belief that “small is beautiful” and a goal to create an intimate, fun, non-conference-like setting.
I wanted to tell you all about this incredible opportunity to be a part of what will no doubt be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can’t make it there due to poor timing, but I hope one of you can — and will let me live vicariously through you.
Please be sure to share this with anyone you know who lives near Hong Kong and might have an interest in attending!
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Thank you again and lovely speaking.
rgds,
Dan