CONTEXT
dmi: Design Leadership Conference
Sept 15-17, 2019 in Boston, MA
Student essay winner (conference fee sponsored by hp)
REFLECTION
After spending a year in Ghana, I was looking for an opportunity to reflect on the multitude of experiences before starting design school in the fall. Through a student essay competition sponsored by the Design Management Institute, I wrote a short essay on my year through the lens of design management, and was sponsored to attend the Design Leadership Conference in Boston.
I will grow as a designer through critical observation of the world around me and awareness of my role in it.
-Excerpt from dmi student essay competition entry July 10, 2020
During the conference, I was reinvigorated by the design community that I had been a part of the past few days- engaged with keynotes, breakout sessions, design professionals, and other students in design programs around the world. While I was originally not sure what I could contribute to the conversations around design management, I was able to offer my perspective on current design education. Many of the professionals that I had met are thought leaders, and continue to post regularly on LinkedIn. I know I will continue to engage in the design community, and will be looking forward to meeting the conference attendees again in the future!
Communities are built by group drawn together by shared interests, and conferences physically collocate many individuals representing their organizations into one space to spontaneously generate a community.
-Excerpt from dmi Reflection Sept 18, 2020
TAKEAWAY
Students should be actively looking for opportunities to go to conferences and understand industry trends before graduating.