The speakers scheduled so far range from the impressive to the irrelevant including (in a particular order:):

Dale Dougherty of MAKE Magazine, dorkbot PDX, Derek Elley of Ponoko, Bob Marchant of Modo, John Hoke of Nike, John Jay of Wieden + Kennedy, Muki Hansteen Izora of Intel, Rajib Adhikary of Dell and Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge.

Now what is important here is that the IDSA is realizing that DIY design is becoming a significant player in industrial design from to pure amateur tinkering through to students, semi-pro hobbyists and 'professional' designers doing bespoke design work with readily available tools such as open source software and Shapeways.

The implications of this shift for the design professions are potentially massive. The DIY resurgence is making consumers question the need for mass production, and by extension, the need for designers.

Ok, I doubt that professional industrial designers everywhere are in fear that a 'Global Design Crisis' (GDC) is about to see them begging on the street (although the GFC may).  The proliferation of desktop publishing did not take well paid work away from graphic designers, it simply meant that Average Joe could make their own fliers for their football club bingo night and not have to pester a 'friend of a friend' who is a graphic designer to do it for free (please do read linked example.)  So too, the massive popularity of Youtube has not forced Steven Spielberg to sell Neverland (or wherever he lives) but it may just get the makers of a wildly popular viral clip a chance at writing advertising copy for the big end of town.

DIY design is a fertile space where innovative designs can be made tested and reiterated very quickly without the interference of management, marketing departments, safety regulations and maybe even patents.  Where bespoke design means the distance between what people want and what they get is much closer than with a mass produced object.  It will be interesting to see what evolves from the conference, speakers and debates,

Follow the conference blog to stay up to date on what is happening in the lead-up to the conference and they have even been so thoughtful to draft a co-creator letter to your manager to help design professionals find their way there... If you get there please share your experience... Now to fill out that letter.....