Going to try and write an ongoing post for the trends panel. The panelists this year are Scott DeLoach (SD), Alan Houser (AH), Kevin Siegel (KS), Bogo Vatovec (BV), and Joe Welinske (JW).
3:10pm, the topic: Tools & Technology
3:12pm, AH: XML-based authoring will remain a niche-based technology. XML tools aren't as robust, standards are complex and move more slowly. Authoring tool vendors add XML as a "check off" item.
3:14PM, KS: Bullish on Adobe TechComm suite. Adobe will develop it for the Mac. Frame used to exist for the Mac, shouldn't be hard to bring it back. Mac preferred for high-end Flash work. Lot of engineering work for Captivate, RoboHelp, because they never existed on Mac before.
3:16pm, BV: UA technologies will bridge the gap betwrrn readers and creators and support user=generated content. Single-sourcing a shot in the wrong direction.
3:18pm, SB: Within 7 years. applications, files, and almost everything else will be web based. Local apps will exists, but will be rarely used. PCs will miniaturize.
3:26pm, the topic: User Assistance
3:27pm, SD: All software UA will be embedded or web-based. UA search tools will include wikis, discussion groups FAQ centers, knowledgebases, and live chat with tech support.
3:28pm, KS: Unsociable help systems won't be invited to the party. Help will have more demonstrations and simulations.
3:30pm, BV: "Introverted" technical writers who don't want to go out and help users won't be writing help, and will instead be moderating support forums. Company-supported experts will provide a link between users and engineers.
3:32pm, AH: Rich Internet application technology will fill the void in help delivery engines. Vista help, if publicly released, does not provide a general-purppose help delivery solution. RIA engines, such as Adobe AIR, will lead to platform-independent help delivery engines.
3:43pm, the topic: IT Industry
3:43pm, SB: Within 10 years, web will not be free. Ads will be blocked with paid subscriptions. Access devices and access will be free or inexpensive.
3:45pm, KS: Smaller training companies could meet their demise. Aggressive software vendors man training companies will find it more difficult to keep up. More training will go online/virtual.
3:48pm, AH: Quality of machine translation will increase dramatically in 5 years, will match the quality of human translation within 10 years.
3:51, BG: Computers as we know them will disappear. We will have all-in-one devices, specialized, devices, and embedded computers. Specialized devices will become even more specialized.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Techie Wednesday
Not only is Wednesday the third jam-packed day in a row, today turns out to be tremendously techie. This morning, Dave Gash on the separation of content and style. He claimed that there'd not be much code, but, well, let's just say that it's Dave. Worse, it was at 8:30am.
Now, right after lunch, my first exposer to XSLT. Wow. Yow. My brain is beginning to hurt. I think "declarative processing" is Dave's new catchphrase.
Good thing I found the nearby Ben Jerry's and was able to load up on sugar and chocolate to keep me going.
Now, right after lunch, my first exposer to XSLT. Wow. Yow. My brain is beginning to hurt. I think "declarative processing" is Dave's new catchphrase.
Good thing I found the nearby Ben Jerry's and was able to load up on sugar and chocolate to keep me going.
No code? Ha!
Dave Gash started out his early morning session by claiming that his session won't be abot code. A Dave Gash session without code is like an Australasian Cultural Evening outing without alcohol.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Later than last night, not as late as Sunday night
Well, got the last run of this year's newsletter started about 9:30, which means it'll be about midnight when I finish. I'm guessing that I might have to replace up to 3 toner cartridges before the run is done.
In a way, it's my own fault. For the first time ever, I caught a piece of what is affectionately known as the Australasian Cultural Evening. I've never gone before because (a) I've had the newsletter to put out, and (b) I don't drink.
But this year, I found myself suddenly with a nearly full newsletter as the last afternoon session finished. I'd dropped in my session notes, gotten pretty much caught up on tomorrow's events, got in notices of things that folks would have to know about, and just had space for a little more main-article writing and another photo.
At the start, the first stop on the pub crawl--oops, ACE--was to be a nearby place with good pub grub. Because Sue, my editor, was going out with them for the first hour, so I thought I'd go along and grab a bite myself.
But the ACE plans changed, and the first stop became a place not a few blocks away, and so I changed my plans to take in either the highly praised burger at the hotel bar or check out the chicken salad sandwich at Oliver's next door.
But when I came down to the lobby at about 7 to head into the bar, I found Dave Gash there, who was waiting for the ACE group. Thing was, they had already left. Dave confirmed where, and I decided go go along anyway.
The walk was farther than I feared, but it turned out to be an enjoyable time. I got a big juicy burger, downed 3 glasses of lemonade, and headed out the door back to the hotel.
Only to take a wrong turn out the pub door. I eventually made it back, but took a definitely roundabout route. I literally was puttng the final words in the last article when Sue knocked on the door.
Fortunately, the content was in good condition, the editing didn't take too long, and the printing got underway. Now,it's just a waiting game, and when the game's over, I can hit the sack, to get as ready as I can for one, last day.
In a way, it's my own fault. For the first time ever, I caught a piece of what is affectionately known as the Australasian Cultural Evening. I've never gone before because (a) I've had the newsletter to put out, and (b) I don't drink.
But this year, I found myself suddenly with a nearly full newsletter as the last afternoon session finished. I'd dropped in my session notes, gotten pretty much caught up on tomorrow's events, got in notices of things that folks would have to know about, and just had space for a little more main-article writing and another photo.
At the start, the first stop on the pub crawl--oops, ACE--was to be a nearby place with good pub grub. Because Sue, my editor, was going out with them for the first hour, so I thought I'd go along and grab a bite myself.
But the ACE plans changed, and the first stop became a place not a few blocks away, and so I changed my plans to take in either the highly praised burger at the hotel bar or check out the chicken salad sandwich at Oliver's next door.
But when I came down to the lobby at about 7 to head into the bar, I found Dave Gash there, who was waiting for the ACE group. Thing was, they had already left. Dave confirmed where, and I decided go go along anyway.
The walk was farther than I feared, but it turned out to be an enjoyable time. I got a big juicy burger, downed 3 glasses of lemonade, and headed out the door back to the hotel.
Only to take a wrong turn out the pub door. I eventually made it back, but took a definitely roundabout route. I literally was puttng the final words in the last article when Sue knocked on the door.
Fortunately, the content was in good condition, the editing didn't take too long, and the printing got underway. Now,it's just a waiting game, and when the game's over, I can hit the sack, to get as ready as I can for one, last day.
Sue, Don, and Char
I think this is a pretty good photo of Sue (Heim) and Don (Lammers) and Char (James-Tanny), don't you?
I think I hate Word 2007
I'm sitting in Paul Mueller's session on how to automate Word. He's using Word 2003, a design that hs essentially endured the ages. Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom (as many of you probably know), revamped the UI of Office applications for the 2007 release, getting rid of menus and adding something they call a ribbon.
Paul's talking abut using field codes for numbering, long a much, much better alternative to Word's autonumbering feature. Used to be, you'd go to the Insert menu and select Field Code.
Now?
Well first, there's no menu.
So I open the help system. Takes me a bit: I finally figure out it's by clicking on the very small question mark icon tucked in the upper-right corner. I search for "insert field code." Here are the search results, in order:
Field codes: UserName field
Field codes: Date field
Field codes: UserInitials field
Field codes: ListItem field
Field codes: FileName field
Field codes: Title field
Field codes: Sections field
Field codes: Advance field
Field codes: MacroButton field
Field codes: DocProperty field
Field codes: Template field
Field codes: Quote field
Field codes: SectionPages field
Field codes: CreateDate field
Field codes: Comments field
Field codes: FileSize field
Field codes: Embed field
Field codes" NoteRaf field
Field codes: Symbol field
Insert and format field codes in Word
Wow! the 20th item in the search results, two pages down, the only title with all of the search terms in the title.
Is there something wrong with Word's sedarch algorithm? From this limited evidence, I'd say so.
But wait, as they say on the late-night informaercials, there's more! Here's how to insert a field code (note, you don't start with an Insert menu):
On the Insert tab (OK, that's not so bad), in the Text group (huh?), click Quick Parts (huh???), and then click Field.
"Quick Parts"????? Where in bloody blazes did someone come up with that term? How is that anything approaching intuitive?
The irony is that the dialog box that comes up is essentially unganged from past versions.
The Quick Part button is actually a menu that has the following commands:
Document Property > (leads to s submenu, and is unavailable)
Field
--------------------------
Building Block Organizer...
Get More on Office Online...
Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery... (unavailable)
Again: huh?
Paul's talking abut using field codes for numbering, long a much, much better alternative to Word's autonumbering feature. Used to be, you'd go to the Insert menu and select Field Code.
Now?
Well first, there's no menu.
So I open the help system. Takes me a bit: I finally figure out it's by clicking on the very small question mark icon tucked in the upper-right corner. I search for "insert field code." Here are the search results, in order:
Field codes: UserName field
Field codes: Date field
Field codes: UserInitials field
Field codes: ListItem field
Field codes: FileName field
Field codes: Title field
Field codes: Sections field
Field codes: Advance field
Field codes: MacroButton field
Field codes: DocProperty field
Field codes: Template field
Field codes: Quote field
Field codes: SectionPages field
Field codes: CreateDate field
Field codes: Comments field
Field codes: FileSize field
Field codes: Embed field
Field codes" NoteRaf field
Field codes: Symbol field
Insert and format field codes in Word
Wow! the 20th item in the search results, two pages down, the only title with all of the search terms in the title.
Is there something wrong with Word's sedarch algorithm? From this limited evidence, I'd say so.
But wait, as they say on the late-night informaercials, there's more! Here's how to insert a field code (note, you don't start with an Insert menu):
On the Insert tab (OK, that's not so bad), in the Text group (huh?), click Quick Parts (huh???), and then click Field.
"Quick Parts"????? Where in bloody blazes did someone come up with that term? How is that anything approaching intuitive?
The irony is that the dialog box that comes up is essentially unganged from past versions.
The Quick Part button is actually a menu that has the following commands:
Document Property > (leads to s submenu, and is unavailable)
Field
--------------------------
Building Block Organizer...
Get More on Office Online...
Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery... (unavailable)
Again: huh?
Blogging about blogging
I've hit the second moment of confernece synchronicity, this one the morning of the second day.
The first was yesterday, when Cheri was talking about different ways of providing user assistance, and an example she used was a video she found that showed how to reset an iPod, a method described as being used more by younger generations, rather than textual content. And when I go to write my next blog post, there's a link on the home page to a YouTube "channel" dedicated to how to use Blogger.
This morning, I'm sitting in on a session about the usefulness of blogging, especially to reach user assistance goals, and here I am writing a blog entry.
The first was yesterday, when Cheri was talking about different ways of providing user assistance, and an example she used was a video she found that showed how to reset an iPod, a method described as being used more by younger generations, rather than textual content. And when I go to write my next blog post, there's a link on the home page to a YouTube "channel" dedicated to how to use Blogger.
This morning, I'm sitting in on a session about the usefulness of blogging, especially to reach user assistance goals, and here I am writing a blog entry.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Yay! Done early!
It's almost 8:30pm and Sue is making one last fine-tooth-comb pass of tomorrow's newsletter, much earlier than I got done last night, thankfully. I can hope that the printing process will go quicker, but I don't want to get too optimistic. Still, I could be done by 11.
Some really interesting sessions today. The code that Dave Gash presented was very technical, but also very cool. And the session on personas and the usefulness of creating conversations with them, by Dave and Jean Farkas, was tremendously intriguing and interesting.
It seems, however, that a number of folks were less than enamoured withthe opening keynote speaker. While the topic of linguistics can be interesting, some saw the speaker as less so. I saw one comment alluding to hearing snores from the back of the room.
I don't think I've ever heard it as loud as it was today at lunch. So many people were in that room, seemingly all talking at once, that the noise level suddenly seemed to jump from hubbub to roar. And everywhere I looked between sessions, people were interacting.
Tomorrow comes the long day. Early start, aggressive schedule, little or no time to pre-plan writing or photography for Wednesday's newsletter. I'm going to be doing a lot of multitasking during sessions...
Some really interesting sessions today. The code that Dave Gash presented was very technical, but also very cool. And the session on personas and the usefulness of creating conversations with them, by Dave and Jean Farkas, was tremendously intriguing and interesting.
It seems, however, that a number of folks were less than enamoured withthe opening keynote speaker. While the topic of linguistics can be interesting, some saw the speaker as less so. I saw one comment alluding to hearing snores from the back of the room.
I don't think I've ever heard it as loud as it was today at lunch. So many people were in that room, seemingly all talking at once, that the noise level suddenly seemed to jump from hubbub to roar. And everywhere I looked between sessions, people were interacting.
Tomorrow comes the long day. Early start, aggressive schedule, little or no time to pre-plan writing or photography for Wednesday's newsletter. I'm going to be doing a lot of multitasking during sessions...
What might have been...
The MadCap folks came up with a redesigned logo. As I understand it, in the iterative process of design, this was a design that almost made the final cut.
Bad break
OK, maybe "bad" is too strong. And maybe it's because I was so looking forward, after such a short night, in getting some good amounts of suger and--especially--chocolate. So what did I, and others, find?
Well, plently of fluids. Soda and juice and water. But for solid food? Well, "solid" might be a misnomer. There were baskets of small bags of sheddar popcorn and of Cracker Jack. That's it.
And here's the irony. The break was sponsored by Char and HAT-Matrix.com, and Char could not eat any of the snacks, as they had too much sodium.
Well, plently of fluids. Soda and juice and water. But for solid food? Well, "solid" might be a misnomer. There were baskets of small bags of sheddar popcorn and of Cracker Jack. That's it.
And here's the irony. The break was sponsored by Char and HAT-Matrix.com, and Char could not eat any of the snacks, as they had too much sodium.
Teddy bear, BIG teddy bear
I'm not sure if this is a vendor giveaway, a simple--but large!--attraction to get people over to the booth, or just good company.
The Internets failed me this morning
Got into the opening session room, fired up my computer (thank goodness I brought an extra-long extension cord), and got connected. Perfect.
15 minutes later, after wandering around to take some photos, the connection isn't working. Strong router signal, but no connection to the pipes. After several frustrating minutes of troubleshooting, went to bug Sharon. Bless her, she knew, and the hotel was on it. I wasn't too optimistic, but by the time Cheri's session started, it was working again.
Yay!
15 minutes later, after wandering around to take some photos, the connection isn't working. Strong router signal, but no connection to the pipes. After several frustrating minutes of troubleshooting, went to bug Sharon. Bless her, she knew, and the hotel was on it. I wasn't too optimistic, but by the time Cheri's session started, it was working again.
Yay!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Late night to start out
Wow, this first night ended up a lot later than I had planned, in part due to MadCap's event, which ran a lot longer than I expected. It was a good thing, of course--I got important information for the newsletter--but it meant that I had to ask Char to take Sue's place as editor. Char didn't get here until 10:30, and the editing process took a good 45 minutes, well spent, of course.
The printing process for 300 copies shoudl take about an hour, probably a little more as I anticipate having to change a toner cartridge or two tonight. Which means a post-midnight bedtime, a too-early wake-up call, and a busy day where I will be spending too much time yawning and too much drinking of caffeinated beverages (which I will need) that contain suger (which I definitely do not need).
The printing process for 300 copies shoudl take about an hour, probably a little more as I anticipate having to change a toner cartridge or two tonight. Which means a post-midnight bedtime, a too-early wake-up call, and a busy day where I will be spending too much time yawning and too much drinking of caffeinated beverages (which I will need) that contain suger (which I definitely do not need).
Snakes and mice
Char tells the most interesting stories at the dinner table. She;s talking ab out one of her pets, her snakes. The story revolves around the food: full grown, 4-inch-long mice that are specially bred for snake food, sold frozen on boxes of 50, and have to be boiled in bags to reach the correct temperature for the snakes to eat them.
Fun dinner conversation!
Fun dinner conversation!
MadCap, MadCap, and more MadCap
Almost reminiscent of before Blue Sky Software transformed itself to eHelp, got bought by Macromedia, then became part of the Adobe empire, MadCap Software has utterly descended on the conference. Currently, I'm in a MadCap event--sitting next to Char!--awaiting all sorts of new product information and announcements.
Dog and pony show, to be sure, but MadCap is in many ways The Little Engine That Could. This little company, born of the RoboHelp team released from Macromedia, is really becomeing a force in the help development community, seemingly in many of the ways Blue Sky Software once did.
It's ncie to see success stories, fo course, but there are two things to be wary of. On their part, they have to be careful of not p!ssing people off, something that's pretty much impossible as you grow, as you interact with more people, as you gain power and market share. It comes with the territiry. For me, I have to be careful not to show favoritism. Smaller vendors also deserve the attention. I have, in some sense, the power of the press, and I do need to be careful not to abuse that power. Good people, at companies large and small, work passionately on their products and believe in them fervently. I must not let them be ignored. I must not lose their message in the din of the big boys.
Dog and pony show, to be sure, but MadCap is in many ways The Little Engine That Could. This little company, born of the RoboHelp team released from Macromedia, is really becomeing a force in the help development community, seemingly in many of the ways Blue Sky Software once did.
It's ncie to see success stories, fo course, but there are two things to be wary of. On their part, they have to be careful of not p!ssing people off, something that's pretty much impossible as you grow, as you interact with more people, as you gain power and market share. It comes with the territiry. For me, I have to be careful not to show favoritism. Smaller vendors also deserve the attention. I have, in some sense, the power of the press, and I do need to be careful not to abuse that power. Good people, at companies large and small, work passionately on their products and believe in them fervently. I must not let them be ignored. I must not lose their message in the din of the big boys.
Sunday Supplemental Sessions
One of the advantages of doing the conference newsletter is that I get to sit on on the Sunday supplemental sessions, half-day seminars the dig deep into topics. One of the disadvantages of doing the conference newsletter is that I get to go to the Sunday supplemental sessions, but only little samples of each.
Still, it's a little bit of extra learning. I got to listen to a bit of Rob Houser talk a bit about how to write user assistance to improve user performance. He touched on a concept that got me excited last year: using conceptual information.
Than it was off to see Saul Carliner, who was giving tips about e-learning. I caught some ideas about what motivates performance and what does and doesn't matter in measuring performance.
Finally, I took in a bit of Tony Self, who was expounding on one of this year hot topics: DITA. This is an all-afternoon "introduction," and I came in while he was explaining the "rules" of XML, the foundation upon which DITA is built.
Still, it's a little bit of extra learning. I got to listen to a bit of Rob Houser talk a bit about how to write user assistance to improve user performance. He touched on a concept that got me excited last year: using conceptual information.
Than it was off to see Saul Carliner, who was giving tips about e-learning. I caught some ideas about what motivates performance and what does and doesn't matter in measuring performance.
Finally, I took in a bit of Tony Self, who was expounding on one of this year hot topics: DITA. This is an all-afternoon "introduction," and I came in while he was explaining the "rules" of XML, the foundation upon which DITA is built.
I'm here!
I'm sitting in one of the Sunday supplemental sessions, taking some notes for the newsletter. A bunch of stuff to catch up on, so here goes....
The drive from Eugene to Portland was rather easy, if later than planned. Apparently, the automated wakeup system at the Portland doens't know the difference between 8:30 (when I set it up for) and 8:15 (when the phone call arrived). I decided to sleep in a bit and got up at 9:15, and was out the door by 10, about an hour later than I had planned.
Decided to try and be bad: grab some to-go McDonalds on the way, only to find that there weren't any along the freeway for quite a distance. By the time I found one, it was lunch, and the finding wasn't easy. One sign that said there was one on the next exit turned out to be one in two exits, and I spent not a little time driving around off-freeway streets looking for something that wasn't there.
I took one wrong turn once I got into Portland, and the GPS got me right back on track and to the Hilton without a problem.
Found the Red Sox game on XM; they were killing the Reds, like 11-3 in the 5th, when I ended the drive.
Got in just after noon, but the bag stuffing hadn't started. Spent a couple of hours doing that. The good news: we hit 500 registrants this year.
Turns out Joe hadn't made the reservation for me (a bit of a mixup), and the hotel was booked for Monday and Tuesday ngihts. Fortunately, a couple of vendors had to cancel, their rooms were freed up, and everything got settled. I'm here for the duration.
Took a bit of a break once the bag stuffing got done. Headed up to this little town in Washington about 20 miles north called La Center, where 4 "casinos" are. "Casino" tunrs out to be a bit of a misnomer. There are these two [pairs of small, one-story buldings across the street from each other. Inside, at least of the two I saw, were only table games, no slots of any kind. The first one had just 3 poker tables, so I ended up at the other, played some $4/$8 until 11:30, and walked away with a rather small $44 profit.
Had lunch today with Char and Dave and Sue and got to meet Chris Green from HATT-OT. While others were enthralled, I thought it lunch--I actually had a breakfast plate--was OK. The company was far, far better.
The drive from Eugene to Portland was rather easy, if later than planned. Apparently, the automated wakeup system at the Portland doens't know the difference between 8:30 (when I set it up for) and 8:15 (when the phone call arrived). I decided to sleep in a bit and got up at 9:15, and was out the door by 10, about an hour later than I had planned.
Decided to try and be bad: grab some to-go McDonalds on the way, only to find that there weren't any along the freeway for quite a distance. By the time I found one, it was lunch, and the finding wasn't easy. One sign that said there was one on the next exit turned out to be one in two exits, and I spent not a little time driving around off-freeway streets looking for something that wasn't there.
I took one wrong turn once I got into Portland, and the GPS got me right back on track and to the Hilton without a problem.
Found the Red Sox game on XM; they were killing the Reds, like 11-3 in the 5th, when I ended the drive.
Got in just after noon, but the bag stuffing hadn't started. Spent a couple of hours doing that. The good news: we hit 500 registrants this year.
Turns out Joe hadn't made the reservation for me (a bit of a mixup), and the hotel was booked for Monday and Tuesday ngihts. Fortunately, a couple of vendors had to cancel, their rooms were freed up, and everything got settled. I'm here for the duration.
Took a bit of a break once the bag stuffing got done. Headed up to this little town in Washington about 20 miles north called La Center, where 4 "casinos" are. "Casino" tunrs out to be a bit of a misnomer. There are these two [pairs of small, one-story buldings across the street from each other. Inside, at least of the two I saw, were only table games, no slots of any kind. The first one had just 3 poker tables, so I ended up at the other, played some $4/$8 until 11:30, and walked away with a rather small $44 profit.
Had lunch today with Char and Dave and Sue and got to meet Chris Green from HATT-OT. While others were enthralled, I thought it lunch--I actually had a breakfast plate--was OK. The company was far, far better.
Joe helping
Even Joe gets into the acts when it comes to conference prep. Here's he's helping to collate some of the sheets that go into every conference bag.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
In Eugene, off to Portland soon
Got into Eugene just before 9:30 last night after leaving Mountain View at about 11:45am. Made a couple of stops, 30 minutes for food, twice for gas, and a couple of short leg-stretchers. Pretty good time, I think.
Not as much rain as I was expecting from forecasts, but did get some snow in what I think was Grants Pass. Not cold enough to stick or cause driving problems, but there were a couple of short periods where the rain turned to big white crystalline flakes.
The built-in navigation in my car worked flawlessly. The XM radio, for some stange reason, didn't. It kept losing signal for brief periods through good portions of central Oregon.
Just about ready to head out of here. The next note will be from Portland.
Not as much rain as I was expecting from forecasts, but did get some snow in what I think was Grants Pass. Not cold enough to stick or cause driving problems, but there were a couple of short periods where the rain turned to big white crystalline flakes.
The built-in navigation in my car worked flawlessly. The XM radio, for some stange reason, didn't. It kept losing signal for brief periods through good portions of central Oregon.
Just about ready to head out of here. The next note will be from Portland.
Friday, March 14, 2008
I'm outta here!
Outta the Bay Area, that is. About ready to hit the road for the long drive north. Through plenty of rain for most of the trip, if the forecasts are accurate.
Staying in Eugene tonight, then will be in Portland Saturday morning. Will report not long after I get there.
Staying in Eugene tonight, then will be in Portland Saturday morning. Will report not long after I get there.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Less than a week away now
Well, finally, the excitement and anticipation is starting to build. Less than a week from now, I, along with quite a few others, will be fully immersed in sessions on all sorts of interesting and useful topics.
I'm already keeping an eye on the long-range weather forecasts, and it looks like it's going to by typically Pacific Northwest in March: cool (low to mid 50s by day, high 30s to low 40s at night), cloudy, and rainy. Sigh.
It looks like the attendee numbers are going to be pretty good. Not like the DotCom heyday where we'd see more than 1000 folks jammed into the Sheraton in Seattle (those were the days!), but still pretty good.
Meanwhile, I just reduced my company's cost to send me. I'm driving up, and just got rid of my first "fun" car, a PT Cruiser with leather seats, alloy wheels, moonroof, and everything else, that I'd been driving for a year and a half, but got an increasingly painful 22 MPG, and bought a Honda Civic Hybrid. that should cut fuel costs in about half for the trip.
While I expect the long drive to be a bit daunting, I was looking forward to it. The potential of driving in the rain, however, has dampened what enthusiasm I had.
I'm already laying out the newsletter and getting in event items that I know will be happening. I've learned that by doing this advance work, I end up managing to get to bed at reasonable hours on conference days. having the newsletter cut back to a single page (it was a 4-pager back in the aforementioned heyday, requiring not a little more work) and being able to print fewer copies myself.
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing familiar faces that I see usually only this once a year, and I will lament some faces who cannot make it. I do hear that it's not too late, and maybe some miracle will get a few more folks in.
I'm already keeping an eye on the long-range weather forecasts, and it looks like it's going to by typically Pacific Northwest in March: cool (low to mid 50s by day, high 30s to low 40s at night), cloudy, and rainy. Sigh.
It looks like the attendee numbers are going to be pretty good. Not like the DotCom heyday where we'd see more than 1000 folks jammed into the Sheraton in Seattle (those were the days!), but still pretty good.
Meanwhile, I just reduced my company's cost to send me. I'm driving up, and just got rid of my first "fun" car, a PT Cruiser with leather seats, alloy wheels, moonroof, and everything else, that I'd been driving for a year and a half, but got an increasingly painful 22 MPG, and bought a Honda Civic Hybrid. that should cut fuel costs in about half for the trip.
While I expect the long drive to be a bit daunting, I was looking forward to it. The potential of driving in the rain, however, has dampened what enthusiasm I had.
I'm already laying out the newsletter and getting in event items that I know will be happening. I've learned that by doing this advance work, I end up managing to get to bed at reasonable hours on conference days. having the newsletter cut back to a single page (it was a 4-pager back in the aforementioned heyday, requiring not a little more work) and being able to print fewer copies myself.
I'm definitely looking forward to seeing familiar faces that I see usually only this once a year, and I will lament some faces who cannot make it. I do hear that it's not too late, and maybe some miracle will get a few more folks in.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Two weeks to go now....
This is the time that gets both exciting and stressful, although I'm sure not nearly as stressful as Joe (Welinske, the conference organizer) has it. Making final plans, making sure I have all my ducks in order, etc.
Of course, for those who can make last-minute plans, it's still not too late to register: http://www.writersua.com/ohc/reginfo.htm.
I'm trying something new this year. I don't have an updated version of IndesignCS, and I dont' want to spend the mucho dinero that Adobe wants for it, so I'm going to try the conference newsletter in Microsoft Publisher. Unfortunately, it looks like there aren't many books dedicated specifically to this software, so it'll be interesting to see how intuitive the new design from the fruits of Microsoft's usability labs really is.
And that adds to the stress--and the preparation time--because one more thing I want to accomplish if give this software a bit of a test run before I even leave.
Add one more thing: I'm giving serious consideration to buying a new car before I leave, a hybrid. I have my eye on a couple of 2007 Honda Civic hybrids, and if I make a deal before I go, it will significantly reduce my travel costs (or, to be more accurate, the travel costs for my company).
Two weeks and counting....
Of course, for those who can make last-minute plans, it's still not too late to register: http://www.writersua.com/ohc/reginfo.htm.
I'm trying something new this year. I don't have an updated version of IndesignCS, and I dont' want to spend the mucho dinero that Adobe wants for it, so I'm going to try the conference newsletter in Microsoft Publisher. Unfortunately, it looks like there aren't many books dedicated specifically to this software, so it'll be interesting to see how intuitive the new design from the fruits of Microsoft's usability labs really is.
And that adds to the stress--and the preparation time--because one more thing I want to accomplish if give this software a bit of a test run before I even leave.
Add one more thing: I'm giving serious consideration to buying a new car before I leave, a hybrid. I have my eye on a couple of 2007 Honda Civic hybrids, and if I make a deal before I go, it will significantly reduce my travel costs (or, to be more accurate, the travel costs for my company).
Two weeks and counting....
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Less than a month to go...
Greetings, and welcome to one view of the 2008 WritersUA conference on software User Assistance, this year in Portland, OR. For those of you unable to attend this year (and we do miss you!), my plans are to post to this blog during the conference, wireless network permitting.
I've attended every WritersUA (formerly WinWriters) conference, I'm responsible for publishing the daily conference newsletter, and way back when, I worked at WinWriters, so I think I have a pretty good eye for what's interesting, what's useful, and what's just plain fun.
I'll be posting breaking news, summaries of interesting sessions, and odds and ends I may encounter during the 4 days. I'll also post, as I can, photos, many of folks you may know or work with, because I can put more photos on here than I can fit in a two-page newsletter, and I'll have hundreds of photos overall before we wrap things up Wednesday evening.
I hope to see many folks at the conference this year, but if I don't, I hope you'll keep this in mind for 2009 and beyond. I try not to bee (too) biased, but I do believe that this is one of the premier conferences in the field, with top-notch presenters and bleeding-edge topics, useful for both beginners and experts and everyone in between.
And if you will be in Portland, come up and say "hi." I'm the one with the big digital SLR.
I've attended every WritersUA (formerly WinWriters) conference, I'm responsible for publishing the daily conference newsletter, and way back when, I worked at WinWriters, so I think I have a pretty good eye for what's interesting, what's useful, and what's just plain fun.
I'll be posting breaking news, summaries of interesting sessions, and odds and ends I may encounter during the 4 days. I'll also post, as I can, photos, many of folks you may know or work with, because I can put more photos on here than I can fit in a two-page newsletter, and I'll have hundreds of photos overall before we wrap things up Wednesday evening.
I hope to see many folks at the conference this year, but if I don't, I hope you'll keep this in mind for 2009 and beyond. I try not to bee (too) biased, but I do believe that this is one of the premier conferences in the field, with top-notch presenters and bleeding-edge topics, useful for both beginners and experts and everyone in between.
And if you will be in Portland, come up and say "hi." I'm the one with the big digital SLR.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)