Makesensemess is the nerdiest party of the year.
Every year, sensemakers gather all over the world to reflect on how hard, yet rewarding sensemaking work is.
In 2024 event members of our community were asked for stories of messes that took time to make sense of.
Time is a critical element in sensemaking.
- We need time to understand contexts, and the issues and opportunities that exist within them
- We need time to create a case for change that is resilient to reality
- We need time to get other folks onboard with the change we are working towards
- We need time to pivot or start over when things don’t go to plan
- We need time to recover whether or not things go to plan
Changes takes time.
We celebrated the length of time (and sheer persistence of sensemakers) that some messes take to make sense of.
But don’t get it twisted, neat and tidy case study results are NOT what our speakers delivered!
We aimed to showcase the journey, and what it takes to make sense of real messes over time — with all the bumps and (ego)bruises along the way.
Some stories we heard are set at work, while others were set in a less professional setting. Some tackled topics that are incredibly niche to their interests, while others were more common experiences many of us share.
When all these stories were told together we hope they speak to how critical time is to most sensemaking efforts.
We work hard to make sure each brave sensemaker who takes the virtual stage feels confident, and warmly welcomed. If you want to virtually cheer them on, I hope you will purchase the event replay.
Below is the growing list of organizations we are proud to have had past speakers of Makesensemess support with their storytelling.
2024 Agenda
ERIN MALONE
Making Sense of the History of Women in Interaction Design
The history of women’s impact on the field of interaction design and it’s adjacent, sister fields was largely undocumented and uncited until Erin Malone made it her personal priority to research and disseminate this intriguing look into how everything we know about working in “information” came to be.
In this keynote talk Erin will tell us her story of researching, writing, wrangling, rewriting, editing and releasing this amazing contribution to feminist history.
ABBY COVERT
The Challenges of Contemporary Sensemakers
This spring we invited over 100 sensemakers to our first of what is sure to be annual Sensemakers Salon. After reviewing the transcripts as well as reflecting on what was said over the last six months in our discussion groups, our chief sensemaker has outlined a set of challenges we face as sensemakers working on contemporary problems.
STORIES FROM
OUR BRAVE SENSEMAKERS
This year we asked for messes in which time was a critical element of sensemaking, and wow did this community deliver some amazing stories. We will be hearing from five brave sensemakers, who are a mix of first time speakers and those who have spoken publicly before. You will hear harrowing tales of what it takes to wrangle bibliometrics, how to sell a taxonomy to an organization built on lacksnomy and then what to do after you sold it, what to do if you ever get permission to govern content only to discover its managed in an Airtable, and how hard it is to make sense of modern dating culture.
Clair Rock
Language Changes Over Time
Our Sensemaker in Residence this year is Clair Rock. They will be joining us to share their journey into Making Sense of Language, and share some of the more mind blowing revelations about how hard words really are.
Watch Makesensemess 2024
Bummed you missed us this year? No worries, sensemaker. We offer video access after the event every year.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is this 'Makesensemess' thing?
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