In Interaction Design Association’s annual conference recently concluded in Dublin. From co-chair Steve Baty as well as committee member Ben Arent, here are a few fun facts and a few points of note:

• 749 people sat down to witness the opening Keynote from Luke Williams
• Approximately 800 people were involved in the conference – full attendees, workshop-only, day passes, exhibitors and volunteers.
• Interaction|12 saw around 170 more people in attendance than Interaction|11; and 270 more than Interaction|10. It was twice the size of Interaction|09; and around 375 people larger than Interaction|08.
• More than 33 countries were represented a t Interaction|12, including every continent (except Antarctica)
• Approximately 650 people travelled to Ireland from overseas – about 4.5 times higher than the international contingent at any previous Interaction conference
• This was the first Interaction conference with live entertainment during lunch;
• This was the first Interaction conference held outside North America
• Despite the worst economic conditions seen in Europe or the US in 80 years, the conference was (marginally) profitable, delivering much-needed funding into IxDA to serve as seed funding for Interaction|13 and Interaction|14.
• Speakers were drawn from more than a dozen different countries
• The Interaction Awards were staged for the first time, and awarded during the course of the conference. This was truly a milestone event for the IxDA and the interaction design community. Jenn Bove and Raphael Grignani – and their organizing committee – did a fabulous job, and we have all benefited from their drive and insight.
• #ixd12 had 3,378 tweets over all time, and around 2,876 during the conference.  http://cl.ly/131h0G1k403E231q1F3m/o ;
• IxDAAwards, Docbaty, DaveIxD and Angel were the top tweeters. http://cl.ly/2y2D3B0l300b1a0k262G/o ;
• Interaction12 facebook page has an equal gender divide, but it’s still mostly males between 25 – 34.
• Our viral reach peaked during the conference.
• Brazil was the 4th most reached country on our facebook page.
• Our ‘Friends of Friends’ viral reach was viewed by over 162,000 people. http://cl.ly/0C2f0k2S3R050P0r2I00