Makesensemess
An annual celebration of sensemaking
Every year the Sensemakers Club gathers people who care deeply about understanding messy problems and helping others see clearly.
Makesensemess is our annual online event where sensemakers share stories, insights, and practical wisdom about navigating complexity in real work and real life.
This is not a conference about polished answers.
It’s a gathering about the process of figuring things out together.
Expect thoughtful talks, brave stories, and meaningful conversation with people who care about making sense of the world. It’s been touted as being “the nerdiest party of the year” since 2021.
What happens at Makesensemess?
Makesensemess brings together a community of practitioners working across information, content, data, design, research, leadership, and education.
During the event you can expect:
- Inspiring, honest talks from invited speakers and community members
- Stories from Brave Sensemakers sharing real experiences
- Conversations about navigating messy situations led by peers
- Opportunities to connect live with other thoughtful practitioners
Why Makesensemess?
Sensemaking work is often invisible.
People who help others find clarity are usually working behind the scenes. We are often the ones untangling complexity, connecting ideas, and helping teams move forward.
Makesensemess is a moment each year to bring that work into the open and celebrate the people doing it.
It is also a chance for the community to pause and reflect on an important truth:
Change takes time. Clarity takes care. And sensemaking is something we do better together.
We use this event to give back.
Each speaker that is invited to share at Makesensemess chooses a charitable organization or cause they want to support through their story. We donate to each organization in lieu of paying speakers for their contribution. It has been noted as a favorite part of our speaking experience. This is the growing list of organizations we are proud to have had past speakers of Makesensemess support with their storytelling over the last five years.
Who attends Makesensemess?
Makesensemess is designed for people who regularly face complexity and ambiguity in their work.
Attendees often include:
- Information architects
- Designers and researchers
- Content Designers
- Knowledge management professionals
- Data and governance practitioners
- Product and organizational leaders
- Educators and facilitators
- Curious thinkers who enjoy understanding complex systems
If your work involves helping people understand complicated things, you’ll feel at home here.
2026 THEME:
Placemaking in Sensemaking
Providing a sense of place is a primary objective of any good system or environment. But what does it actually take for a sense of place to feel authentic and true for those it is intended to serve?
It is the combination of sensemaking and placemaking that makes a place feel of value to potential inhabitants.
Where sensemaking influences interpretation, placemaking influences relationships. Sensemaking is the empathizing and modeling, placemaking is the arranging and realizing.
This year our Makesensemess celebration will highlight placemaking as sensemaking’s as-old-and-as-wise sibling.
2026 AGENDA
Friday October 30th
1 to 4 PM ET
Below is an overview of the schedule and what to expect on the day. We announce our full program in late September.
1:00 PM ET
Welcome to the Sensemakers Club
Unlike remote conferences, Makesensemess got it's reputation as the nerdiest party of the year because it is a live event you are actually attending, not just being broadcast to. To set everyone up for safe and successful communication, we will start the event by covering our rules of observing both the rule and spirit of our code of conduct.
1:10 PM ET
Dan Klyn
In placemaking, belonging is both the predicate and the subject.
What does it look like to commit to a life-long goal to make more ways for more people to belong in information architecture practice? Dan Klyn has taught information architecture at the University of Michigan more times than there are flavors of Baskin Robbins. He has changed how he teaches that course every time he has taught it because he sees each instance as a new experiment in his living laboratory of placemaking and sensemaking.
1:40 PM ET
Abby Covert
Placemaking & Sensibility
What does it mean to create meaning in a world where we need to warn our children of others' ability to do just that? In 2025 Abby used her annual remarks to highlight the danger of outsourcing your own sensemaking. In this year's talk she plans to cover the skills that are needed to make places under a new set of sensibilities.
2:00- 3:00 PM ET
The 2026 Brave Sensemakers
Every year we invite the community to submit their stories based on our annual theme. This year we received an awesome set of applications, and chose the following four speakers to share their story:
- Sarah Simpers will share a (hella relatable) story of making sense of an IA before she had all the perfect data to support it, and then how the team iterated along the way.
- Maggie Lynn will talk about making a map and then realizing they hadn’t created a place from which their users could orient themselves.
- Gabriela Sánchez will share her unique experience changing a neglected community program into an ecosystem designed to create meaningful relationships.
- Dr. Damon Carucci will share insights from his recent dissertation on Information Care Work.
3:00 PM ET
Joe Elmendorf
Placemaking for remote collaboration
Joe has been beating his head against the whiteboard about what hybrid workplaces mean for the future of sensemaking and collaboration. His residence at the Sensemakers club has been focused on developing his audience's awareness of the power of shitty maps. We invited him to share what he has learned during his time exploring this inherently low-fi tool in the increasingly high-fi world.
3:30- 4:00 PM ET
The MINGLE!
If you saved the energy, stay with us for the annual mingle where you will be assigned to break-out groups to socialize and process with other attendees.
Get your ticket!
If you are ready to commit to the nerdiest party of the year, grab a ticket from the options below. We aim to provide a variety of ticket levels to keep the event accessible. If you can afford more, consider this a chance to support our efforts.
Members who join in October get a FREE TICKET to Makesensemess automatically.
Student or Un(der)employed
This ticket level is a reduced price for those facing hardship. It is the same access as the full price ticket, with access to the LIVE event, as well as the video afterwards.
$25
Buy a TicketFull Price
The standard ticket to attend Makesensemess. It includes both live access and access to the video recording after.
$40
Buy a TicketIs Makesensemess recorded?
Yes! If you can’t attend live — or life simply gets messy — don’t worry. We record the event and make the recording available to all ticket holders.
Many people also enjoy revisiting talks from previous years. If you’re in the mood to nerd out, you can explore our growing archive of past Makesensemess events on demand.
2021
Before The Sensemakers Club officially launched, the very first Makesensemess celebrated the 7th anniversary of How to Make Sense of Any Mess.
The theme was “7.” Abby shared seven reflections on sensemaking and the journey that book had taken since its publication. She invited a few folks to join her on stage, and labeled them The Brave Sensemakers. The name stuck, and an annual tradition was born.
The video from this original event is still available for FREE on Abby’s personal website.
2022
The theme was “Diagrams help when we feel stuck.”
Sensemakers from different backgrounds shared stories about diagrams that helped them move through difficult moments in work and life. The event also featured a delightfully nerdy world premiere: Stephen Anderson presented what may be the world’s first video book foreword for Stuck? Diagrams Help.
Buy the Recording2023
The theme was “Reality is subjective.”
Looking back, this event feels almost like a time capsule. Many of the tensions explored that year have since become even more visible in the world around us. Dave Gray opened the event with a thoughtful keynote about his lifelong interest in cataloging visual frameworks — and how subjective that pursuit can be.
Buy the Recording2024
The theme was “Change takes time.”
Speakers shared brave stories about long, difficult journeys of change — moments when progress required patience, persistence, and the occasional pause to catch one’s breath. Erin Malone also spoke about her work tracing the influence of women in the fields connected to interaction design.
Buy the Recording2025
The theme was “It’s hard to shine light on the messes we face.”
This year featured some of the most vulnerable talks the event has hosted. Sara Wachter-Boettcher delivered a powerful keynote on sensemaking through the storm, while Abby reflected on the risks of outsourcing our sensemaking to others.
Buy the Recording