Articles and Blog Posts
How Soup Nourishes Barcelona's Tradition of Welcoming Immigrants
posted to Smithsonianmag.com on June 29, 2018
In the town plaza of Nou Barris, a festival feast mixes the flavorings of the world’s cuisines with the Catalan philosophy on public life.
In Persia's Dynastic Portraiture, Bejeweled Thrones and Lavish Decor Message Authority
posted to Smithsonianmag.com on March 15, 2018
Paintings and 19th-century photographs offer a rare window into the lives of the royal Qajar family and how they used portraits as political public relations.
Mark Bradford’s Paintings Scratch at the Surface of a Conflicted America
posted to Smithsonianmag.com on November 28, 2017
Inspired by found objects and early American paintings, the Los Angeles-based painter’s new solo show continues his art and practice of sparking discussion about democracy and dissent.
How U.S. and German Art Experts Are Teaming Up to Solve Nazi-Era Mysteries
posted to Smithsonianmag.com on September 22, 2017
A few years ago, some 21st-century digital housekeeping helped Karen Daly solve one of the 20th-century puzzles around a 17th-century painting.
Creating Savvy Surveys for Better Member Feedback
posted to Snack O'Clock on July 17, 2017
Convention-planning includes the convention post-mortem on what went right, and wrong, at the big annual meeting. As a conference attendee, I’d love to be able to answer these questions about why we even go in the first place.
Designing for Users with Autism
posted to Snack O'Clock on May 10, 2017
Websites and mobile apps can be challenging for people living with autism spectrum disorder. Here’s what we should we know about autistic users and how we can design websites and apps to give them the best user experience.
User Experience in the Face of Trauma
posted to Snack O'Clock on February 21, 2017
Does your organization need to implement trauma-informed UX? It can help users during or after a traumatic experience, during a relapse, and in other circumstances.
3 Must-Haves for Creating Content That Counts
posted to Snack O'Clock on November 29, 2016
Content is so crucial to connecting people to your organization. We have 3 recommendations for how to answer the all-important question from members: “What’s in it for me?”
World Usability Day 2016 is All About Sustainability
posted to Snack O'Clock on November 10, 2016
The intersection of sustainability and user experience is where you’ll find the theme for 2016’s World Usability Day: Sustainable, or green, UX. Effective green UX should make eco-friendly behavior easier and more affordable to incorporate into your life. So how do we unite UX principles with sustainable ideals?
Radio Head Hunters: Finding and Training Journalism's Next Generation
posted to MediaShift on March 29, 2016
How can and should newsrooms strategically find, train, hire, and retain talent that looks and sounds like America? The Next Generation Radio program has helped build and reinforce the pipeline of young journalists into public radio, from member stations and national networks to podcasting outlets with a public-radio pedigree.
A Spring Music Break at South by Southwest
posted to NPR.org on April 15, 2005
In March 2005, more than 10,000 music fans and music-industry creatures landed in Austin, thrilling to the prospect of checking out roughly 1,300 bands at 50-plus SXSW venues over five hectic days. My goals: to hear some of the most talked-about emerging musicians, and gather ideas for stories. What follows is a day-by-day blow-by-blow of how it went.