Finding The Right Strategy For Your Design Career (UX Fireside Chat)

Meetup time! Come hang out with your friends for a night of ALL THE UX LEARNS!

I’m excited to announce a very special gathering with our newest Learn UX Meetup friends: This Place in Fremont!

**WHAT we’re doing**
Much like the technologies we use and the industries we inhabit, what we do in UX is ever-changing. So, how do you prepare yourself to become a leader in a field that’s always in need of something new? Join us as we have an in-depth, engaging discussion on evolving your portfolio and pursuing the career you want. From motion to content and beyond, this ‘UX fireside chat’ will be an open dialogue that will provide an insider’s view on what you need to succeed in your first job and beyond.

**WHO will be there**
Our very experienced, gracious speakers from This Place:

Introduction:
Ben Aldred CDO + Co-founder of This Place

Speakers:
Sue Kim – Creative Director & CX Strategist
Andrew Reaume – Senior Motion Designer
Steve Taylor – Senior Communications Designer

**WHY this gathering**
I’d like to bring attention to two very important pieces of this gathering: the format, and the variety of expertise This Place is providing us with.

Format:
In short, to provide different perspectives on crafting a portfolio, gaining experience, and determining the right career path for your goals.

This Learn UX gathering will be a very unique format that I’ve been wanting to try for a while. It’s more of a ‘fireside chat’ rather than a panel as it’s meant to maximize dynamic engagement from you, the members, with the experts on stage.

There will be a simple set of questions to start off the discussion, but otherwise it just becomes a more free-form discussion where you, our members, will have plenty of opportunities to address your questions and concerns.

We will still have a pure Q&A section in the end, but think of this as a fluid, dynamic talk where you, our members, have the power to steer the conversation with our experts

Variety of Expertise:
This Place – heh…see what I did there? :) – was kind enough to provide a range of their experts so we can cover a wide variety fo UX realms such as Creative Director, CX Strategy, Design, UX Writing, and Communications Design. We wanted to make this an event that even the most seasoned, experienced UX veteran can learn side-by-side with up-and-coming Juniors in the field.

We thought this was a good mix of backgrounds and concentrations (design, content, motion) to provide different perspectives on crafting a portfolio, gaining experience, and determining the right career path for your goals.

**WHEN this is going down**
Thursday, October 3
6:15 to 6:40 – Come on in! Get settled in and make some new friends!
6:40 to 6:45 – Introductions
6:45 to 7:20 – UX Fireside Chat
7:20 to 7:50 – Q&A
7:50 to 8:30 – more time to mingle, eat, drink, and chat!
8:31 to 8:35 – Leo is going to (kindly) start yelling at everyone to get out.

This is a unique format that I hope will create a very fluid and engaging conversation between the presenters and the audience, so make sure you come to this one!

A big, big thank you to This Place for generously donating us their time and space!

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again!

***NOTE: I’m still looking for a food and drink sponsor for this event. I always give my sponsors time to speak as well as include them in promotional material. If you’re interested, let’s chat!***