Call for Speakers
Deadline is May 5
Agents of Change
Taxonomies are not just a static end-product, they are organic and evolving, always growing and adapting to meet new challenges and create new opportunities. Change is a key element in everything we do – change management within organizations, change processes for keeping taxonomies current and useful, and change to adapt to or drive new tools and technologies such as AI. Change and innovation is happening faster and at a larger scale than ever before, requiring robust governance to balance the needs of multiple consuming systems, evolving language, and increasing automation.
As enterprises embrace advanced technologies like knowledge graphs and AI, change management – in all senses of the word – becomes a key part of taxonomy management. Join us to tell a story about how your taxonomy (or taxonomist) is an agent of change.
Taxonomy Boot Camp showcases taxonomies as key components of knowledge and data management systems that help solve real world problems. We’re looking for speakers who can share their experience in creating successful taxonomy solutions and advise on both hard and soft skills to help our attendees accelerate their learning and success.
About Taxonomy Boot Camp
The Taxonomy Boot Camp program is designed to provide something for everyone, from taxonomy newbies to seasoned experts (and everyone in between). Beginner sessions provide those new to the field with the nuts and bolts they need to get up-to-speed and give more experienced practitioners insight into how others have evolved their approaches. Also hear case studies, practical sessions on taxonomy tools and methods, and cutting-edge developments in the field.
Taxonomy Boot Camp is the only conference dedicated to exploring the successes, challenges, methodologies and products for taxonomies. Share your experiences, knowledge and work with taxonomies, ontologies, folksonomies, tagging mechanisms and other techniques for organizing information at this one-of-a-kind boutique learning and networking event.
Suggested Topics
Topics for Taxonomy Boot Camp include but are not limited to:
- Taxonomy/ontology modeling and development best practices
- Taxonomy governance, adoption and ROI
- Techniques for maintaining taxonomies (analytics, testing, etc.)
- Information architecture and user experience (navigation, content publishing, etc.)
- Metadata modeling and management (role of taxonomy)
- Text analytics and auto-classification
- Taxonomy management/development software selection and use
- User research and usability
- Search and taxonomy
- Implementation of taxonomies and metadata in specific content management applications (including DAM, CMS, etc.)
- Taxonomy in AI and machine learning
- Big data, master data, and business intelligence
- Linked data, semantic technology
- Managing multi-lingual vocabularies
Presentation Formats
Taxonomy Boot Camp will have the following formats:
- Short lectures (20 minutes) – big ideas in compact form
- Full lectures (45 minutes) – complex idea with many examples, practical methods
- Panel (45 minutes, 3-5 speakers) – moderated discussion or interlinked short presentations and Q&A
Advice for Presenters
We’re always on the lookout for new, fresh presenters – so don’t hesitate to submit! Here are some helpful tips on how to get your presentation picked.
Be specific
Don’t try to cover all things taxonomy in the space of 45 minutes (let alone 20!!), it’s too much. Writing up a submission is one thing, delivering it is another. Broad topics often come across as rushed and confused. Try to whittle your concept down to a small, tight idea and then submit that.
Give examples
We’re hot for case studies and visual examples of taxonomies in action. Be sure to mention what real-world examples you’ll be bringing to bear in your presentation.
Know your audience
Sharing insights about taxonomy is not about how clever you are, it’s about how clever you make your audience feel. Taxonomy Boot Camp caters to both novice and intermediate information management professionals, so make sure you tell us which group you’re targeting and match the tone and level of information.
How to Submit a Proposal to Speak
To participate in Taxonomy Boot Camp 2024 as a possible speaker, or to suggest a speaker, please post your submission no later than May 5, 2024.
Submissions must include a proposed title and description of the session, speakers’ and co-presenters’ names and full contact information, and a few sentences of biographical information that relates the speaker to the topic. All submissions will be reviewed and notification regarding acceptance will be made by July.
Submit your proposal to speak today!
Conference Organizer
Taxonomy Boot Camp 2024 is organized and produced by Information Today, Inc., a diversified digital media and print publisher and conference and events organizer and producer. Our mission is to deliver world-class content in a variety of formats and serve our audiences with the information they need to make informed and critical decisions for their organizations.
Conference Program Director
Stephanie Lemieux, Dovecot Studio
Stephanie is the president of Dovecot Studio, a boutique firm specializing in information architecture, where she helps a wide variety of clients such as Nickelodeon and the United Nations find happiness and good user experience through taxonomy. Stephanie has been working in the information management industry for nearly a decade, helping create strategies and content structures to support faceted search, digital asset management and website navigation, to name a few. Prior to focusing her energies on Dovecot, she was a senior consultant and taxonomy practice lead with Earley & Associates. Most recently, Stephanie was Director of Search & Content at the Yellow Pages. Stephanie has a Masters degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from McGill University with a specialization in knowledge management.
