It’s a big weekend for Savannah with events happening all over town. The two on my radar are IxDA’s Interaction 10 Conference and the play ‘Choices: A Romeo and Juliet Story’ performed by the talented kids of AWOL. Tonight, the Paragon crew will be trying to squeeze as much fun into one evening as possible.

Interaction 10

You might not be aware of this, but a few hundred of the smartest interaction designers in the world have converged on the creative coast this week for a packed schedule of presentations, challenges, workshops and fun activities thanks to IxDA’s third annual conference.

IxDA (Interaction Design Association) is an international “un-organization” (membership is free) focused on the practice of interaction design.

I love the manifesto:
We believe that the human condition is increasingly challenged by poor experiences. IxDA intends to improve the human condition by advancing the discipline of Interaction Design. To do this, we foster a community of people that choose to come together to support this intention. IxDA relies on individual initiative, contribution, sharing and self-organization as the primary means for us to achieve our goals.

And coming together to do this is exactly what’s on the agenda this weekend. Interaction 10 promises to be an exciting event designed to “connect, educate, and inspire” the interaction design community.

The line-up of speakers is quite impressive and include: Paola Antonelli (MoMA), Kevin Cheng (Twitter), Ben Fullerton (IDEO), Guillermo Torres (Adobe), Steve Baty (Meld), Christian Crumlish (Yahoo!), Jamin Hegeman (Nokia)….and on and on. You ought to eyeball the list yourself!

I’m planning to interact (ahem…horrible pun abuse) with some of these folks this weekend and I can’t wait!

Choices: A Romeo and Juliet Story

Scorsese did his modern-day interpretation of the Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet, and this weekend at the Lucas Theater, AWOL delivers a hip hop interpretation that does more than entertain the audience; it’s changing the lives of the more than 100 youth involved, and even better, empowering them to educate their peers on the consequences of the choices they make in life.

The adaptation which was written by AWOL’s Theater Program Director, Lakesha Green, updates the language of the original play and interjects hip hop, R&B and dance, while staying true to the themes that remain as relevant today as they were in the 16th century. And in a few months, at the Savannah Urban Arts Festival, AWOL will deliver yet another remix of this play, this time in spanish and incorporating spanish music and dance…SALSA!!!!

Oh and by the way, AWOL recently announced that 50% of the proceeds of tonight’s showing will go toward the relief efforts in Haiti. What an awesome gesture of generosity by a non-profit that no doubt could have used that money themselves. KUDOS to AWOL. They continue to inspire us with all the good they do.

Come join us at the show tonight, at 7pm at the Lucas Theater. If you can’t make it tonight, you’ve got another opportunity tomorrow night as well. Tickets are available at SCAD’s box office.