amUX Goodbye
Dear friends,
We’ve made the difficult decision to bring amUX to a close after eight awesome years. Our August meetup was our final one.
While this is a bittersweet moment, our hearts are full. Many of you have contributed your presence, energy, knowledge, and skills to amUX. As organizers and community participants ourselves, we’ve been humbled by the unsung splendor of the Atlanta design community.
To make a long story short: we’re making this decision as co-organizers—Vijeta, Michael, and Cliff—who are also longtime colleagues and friends, and we recognize that trying to adapt amUX to a post-COVID world is simply beyond our capacity right now.
amUX was literally conceptualized to be a more inclusive community than most design meetups at the time. By being intentional with how our community met, we collectively created a more inviting place for Atlanta-based design professionals to get plugged in and grow.
Putting on physical, in-person events right now is difficult to navigate when the goal is inclusion and accessibility. We’d rather lead by example and “fail” in that regard than create unsafe environments.
As we considered moving fully online, we recognized that there were other communities doing this well already—like IXDA Atlanta—and many of them make inclusion and accessibility a priority as well.
(In groups where that’s not a priority, you can help drive that change. 😉)
Combined with big life changes, this all added up to bringing amUX to a close.
Below is a word of goodbye from co-organizers Vijeta Belandor and Michael Diffenderfer, respectively.
Although my time as co-organizer at amUX was short, it was nothing short of a unique and fulfilling experience to work towards bringing design talks to the Atlanta community.
While I would love to help out with amUX forever, I’ve decided to take up a new career opportunity in New York. As exciting as this new chapter is to me, it’s equally sad to say goodbye to amUX.
Thank you ATL community for your drive and enthusiasm to show up every month at 9AM to fuel your minds about all things design – you’re truly inspiring! And of course to Cliff and Michael, who’ve been wonderful human beings to learn so much from.
Please feel free to reach out to me/stay connected on LinkedIn for any help in the future.
Vijeta
(LinkedIn)
Being able to help organize amUX, meet new people, and draw meaningful connections between us all has been one of the greatest joys of my career. Thank you so much to everyone who has been involved over the years for feeding that joy, and helping me learn and grow in so many ways.
I wish I could do this forever, but life has a way of changing your plans.
While I’ll always be invested in the growth of inclusive design communities in Atlanta, I’ll be shifting my attention from amUX to focus on my family and making sure that youth are raised with the ideals and openness that we as a group hold dear. I wish you all the best, and if I can ever help you personally, please reach out.
Michael
(LinkedIn)
I personally echo their sentiments and thank both of them for their passion and hard work in making amUX a reality. I also thank you deeply for being a part of this community and for being brave enough to share yourself with the world.
We’ll certainly see you around. 💛