Refresh Chicago

When I wrote my article about the AIGA and web designers I stumbled upon the refresh group. For some reason, in all my time as a designer, I had never heard of the group. Naturally my first thought was “I hope there is a Chicago chapter.” But for some reason we are without one. So here we are a couple of weeks later, and the idea is still sitting in the back of my head chewing away at me.

Today I decided that I would do some quick research. a couple of Google searches later and I have a couple of bits of information:

• There was a blog setup at http://www.refreshchicago.org that has since gone inactive
• There is an article on kickasswebdesign.com dated February 19th 2006 about the refresh Chicago group starting at the same time as the Delaware Valley chapter which appears to still be active.
• The WHOIS database shows the domain registered to a person by the name of (Carmelyne Thompson) which I have since emailed about the group.
• A trip through archives.org shows that way back in 2006 the owner of the domain was unable to get enough people together to really get the group going.

With all the cutting edge web work being done in Chicago, I find it really hard to believe that there is no interest in starting a local chapter?

Personally I do not really know what goes on during these events, however I do know that it seems in other areas presentations about web design are given every month. According to the refresh website:

Refresh is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of New Media endeavors in their areas. Promoting design, technology, usability, and standards.

For more information on refresh, I suggest checking out refreshingcities.org which has links to all the chapters, and the organization’s manifesto.

Is Anyone Interested?

So I am reaching out through this blog to see if there are any other Chicago designers who would be interested in starting up a chapter here?

I am trying to judge whether there is enough interest to make this thing really take a life of its own. if you think you may be interested, please let me know in the comments below. Additionally, if you are a member of another refresh group and can better inform me about what your chapter does, I would love to hear your comments as well.