Call for Speakers
Deadline is May 23
TBC @ 20: Evolving Taxonomy for a Complex World
Twenty years ago, taxonomy was a quiet craft—essential, but often overlooked. Taxonomists worked behind the scenes, advocating for the long-term value of organizing information in ways that made it more findable, usable, and meaningful. Convincing organizations to invest in structured vocabularies was often a struggle, with limited understanding of the power of taxonomies and even more limited budgets.
As the digital world exploded, the need for structure became undeniable, and the skills of taxonomists moved from niche to necessity. In 2005, the first workshop to discuss taxonomies was held under the name of Taxonomy Boot Camp, gathering people together for the first time to explore and talk about the best practices of the craft.
Today, taxonomy is a cornerstone of digital strategy, powering everything from enterprise search and ecommerce to knowledge graphs and content personalization. As we look to the future, we face challenges, particularly in the evolving landscape of AI. But if the past 20 years have shown us anything, it's that taxonomists are uniquely equipped to adapt, evolve, and bring clarity to complexity. Our discipline has not only survived, it has thrived. And its best years are still ahead.
Come celebrate 20 years with us and help us define the future!
About Taxonomy Boot Camp
The Taxonomy Boot Camp program is designed to provide something for everyone, from taxonomy newbies to seasoned experts (and everyone in between). Beginner sessions provide those new to the field with the nuts and bolts they need to get up-to-speed and give more experienced practitioners insight into how others have evolved their approaches. Also hear case studies, practical sessions on taxonomy tools and methods, and cutting-edge developments in the field.
Taxonomy Boot Camp is the only conference dedicated to exploring the successes, challenges, methodologies and products for taxonomies. Share your experiences, knowledge and work with taxonomies, ontologies, folksonomies, tagging mechanisms and other techniques for organizing information at this one-of-a-kind boutique learning and networking event.
Suggested Topics
Topics for Taxonomy Boot Camp include but are not limited to:
- Taxonomy/ontology modeling and development best practices
- Taxonomy governance, adoption and ROI
- Techniques for maintaining taxonomies (analytics, testing, etc.)
- Information architecture and user experience (navigation, content publishing, etc.)
- Metadata modeling and management (role of taxonomy)
- Text analytics and auto-classification
- Taxonomy management/development software selection and use
- User research and usability
- Search and taxonomy
- Implementation of taxonomies and metadata in specific content management applications (including DAM, CMS, etc.)
- Taxonomy in AI and machine learning
- Big data, master data, and business intelligence
- Linked data, semantic technology
- Managing multi-lingual vocabularies
Presentation Formats
Taxonomy Boot Camp will have the following formats:
- Short lectures (20 minutes) – big ideas in compact form
- Full lectures (45 minutes) – complex idea with many examples, practical methods
- Panel (45 minutes, 3-5 speakers) – moderated discussion or interlinked short presentations and Q&A
Advice for Presenters
We’re always on the lookout for new, fresh presenters – so don’t hesitate to submit! Here are some helpful tips on how to get your presentation picked.
Be specific
Don’t try to cover all things taxonomy in the space of 45 minutes (let alone 20!!), it’s too much. Writing up a submission is one thing, delivering it is another. Broad topics often come across as rushed and confused. Try to whittle your concept down to a small, tight idea and then submit that.
Give examples
We’re hot for case studies and visual examples of taxonomies in action. Be sure to mention what real-world examples you’ll be bringing to bear in your presentation.
Know your audience
Sharing insights about taxonomy is not about how clever you are, it’s about how clever you make your audience feel. Taxonomy Boot Camp caters to both novice and intermediate information management professionals, so make sure you tell us which group you’re targeting and match the tone and level of information.
How to Submit a Proposal to Speak
To participate in Taxonomy Boot Camp 2025 as a possible speaker, or to suggest a speaker, please post your submission no later than May 23, 2025.
Submissions must include a proposed title and description of the session, speakers’ and co-presenters’ names and full contact information, and a few sentences of biographical information that relates the speaker to the topic. All submissions will be reviewed and notification regarding acceptance will be made by July.
Conference Organizer
Taxonomy Boot Camp 2025 is organized and produced by Information Today, Inc., a diversified digital media and print publisher and conference and events organizer and producer. Our mission is to deliver world-class content in a variety of formats and serve our audiences with the information they need to make informed and critical decisions for their organizations.
Conference Program Director
Stephanie Lemieux, Dovecot Studio
Stephanie is the president of Dovecot Studio, a boutique firm specializing in information architecture, where she helps a wide variety of clients such as Nickelodeon and the United Nations find happiness and good user experience through taxonomy. Stephanie has been working in the information management industry for nearly a decade, helping create strategies and content structures to support faceted search, digital asset management and website navigation, to name a few. Prior to focusing her energies on Dovecot, she was a senior consultant and taxonomy practice lead with Earley & Associates. Most recently, Stephanie was Director of Search & Content at the Yellow Pages. Stephanie has a Masters degree in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from McGill University with a specialization in knowledge management.
