Nearing the end of what is typically the longest day, Tuesday. I'm sitting in the conference office by myself waiting for the rest of the daily newsletters to print. (Hopefully less than 15 minutes or so to go.)
The double-length, hands-on session that I attended in the morning-and that began at the awful hour of 8:30am--went so fast it was over almost before we got started, or so it seemed. this had to be because of two factors: my interest in the subject mater and Dave Gash as the presenter.
The session on grammar in the afternoon was far more interesting and entertaining than I expected, although some of the grammar terms used were, if not arcane, at least unfamiliar. Not terms I'd use in everyday conversation, even when talking about writing.
It's been wonderful to see so many smiling faces on friends from far-flung places. And it looks like, for the first time, I'll have a chance to not just peter out at the end, watching everyone drift off back to their lives. Several of us are planning to head over to what is supposed to be a great burger joint with, as I'm told, the world's best french fries. It'll be nice to just hang for awhile and unwind with others, rather than by myself.
MadCap sure put on quite a social event. Maybe because it was in a seemingly small space, but it sort of seems that they don't have too far to go, marketing-wise, to reach the lofty levels of the late 90s Blue Sky. Both MadCap and Adobe were very generous in their software giveaways in the various conference raffles.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Another fun pic
I'm terrible at remembering names. I think that's Jo Byrd on the left, it's Dave Gash in the center, and on the right.....
Hump day
Yeah, I know that Wednesday is the traditional "hump day. But with a three(plus) day conference, "hump day" to me is the middle day. And today is typically also the longest day.
I actually got the newsletter finished a printed earlier last night; I was done by 10:20. Got back to my hotel and was about to turn in when the TV announcer mentioned that up next was an episode of South Park. And it turned out to be one of the better, older episodes. So sleep got postponed.
I'm not quite as alert as I might be following two days of short sleep, but it's no bad. The whole morning was listening to Dave Gash talk about using CSS do a lot of cool stuff. Not only listening, but it was a two-part hands-on session, and I got to wrangle with some of the CSS myself.
I want to make sure I give props to Sue Heim, who for the second year now has volunteered to copyedit the newsletter. Her generosity--she's even come to the conference office for a bit the past couple of nights to do some in-person editing--is more than what I can simply thank here.
I actually got the newsletter finished a printed earlier last night; I was done by 10:20. Got back to my hotel and was about to turn in when the TV announcer mentioned that up next was an episode of South Park. And it turned out to be one of the better, older episodes. So sleep got postponed.
I'm not quite as alert as I might be following two days of short sleep, but it's no bad. The whole morning was listening to Dave Gash talk about using CSS do a lot of cool stuff. Not only listening, but it was a two-part hands-on session, and I got to wrangle with some of the CSS myself.
I want to make sure I give props to Sue Heim, who for the second year now has volunteered to copyedit the newsletter. Her generosity--she's even come to the conference office for a bit the past couple of nights to do some in-person editing--is more than what I can simply thank here.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Jared Spool rocks
One of the great joys in life is listening to Jared Spool speak. Jared's again not a keynote speaker, but again he packed the room. Poor Char: one of her sessions is scheduled for right now (opposite Jared).
And while I've seen enough of Jared's presentations that I'm beginning to see some overlap sometimes, the experience is still no less enjoyable. And interesting. And thought-provoking.
And while I've seen enough of Jared's presentations that I'm beginning to see some overlap sometimes, the experience is still no less enjoyable. And interesting. And thought-provoking.
It's here! And so am I.
I'm sitting in the Regency A/B Ballroom at the Long Beach Hyatt right now, waiting for Joe Welinske to deliver his introductory remarks and get this year's conference started. I was not able to even get Internet access here until last night, and when I did, it was inexplicably intermitent, very frustrating.
Another frustration was, while I loved how the first edition of this year's newsletter came out, produced by my spanking new HP color LaserJet printer, the doggone thing eas toner like there is no tomorrow. The black cartridge is rated for 2500 pages and the color for 2000, yet I printed jus 300 (double-sided) copies and the black and cyan cartridges are more than half depleted. This is going to be a bit of a budget buster.
It's been great seeing all the fun familiar faces: Char, Dave, Sue, Joe, and more. I heard that Dave got sick yesterday, so he was out of sight. We'll see how he's doing at his Fab FAQs session I'm attenting at 10:45.
Staying at the Hilton instead of the Hyatt and saving about $100/night for my company was a good idea, except that I didn't think it would be that bad to walk back and forth. But I didn't get finished printing the newsletter until 11pm, much later than I had planned, and it was a tiring walk. Today, I decided to drive the admittedly short distance and pay for parking here at the Hilton. Besides, I'm going to have to figure out a way to slip out and get another set of toner cartridges sometime today.
Another frustration was, while I loved how the first edition of this year's newsletter came out, produced by my spanking new HP color LaserJet printer, the doggone thing eas toner like there is no tomorrow. The black cartridge is rated for 2500 pages and the color for 2000, yet I printed jus 300 (double-sided) copies and the black and cyan cartridges are more than half depleted. This is going to be a bit of a budget buster.
It's been great seeing all the fun familiar faces: Char, Dave, Sue, Joe, and more. I heard that Dave got sick yesterday, so he was out of sight. We'll see how he's doing at his Fab FAQs session I'm attenting at 10:45.
Staying at the Hilton instead of the Hyatt and saving about $100/night for my company was a good idea, except that I didn't think it would be that bad to walk back and forth. But I didn't get finished printing the newsletter until 11pm, much later than I had planned, and it was a tiring walk. Today, I decided to drive the admittedly short distance and pay for parking here at the Hilton. Besides, I'm going to have to figure out a way to slip out and get another set of toner cartridges sometime today.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Soon to be 15 years and counting
It was 1993--1992 probably--and Joe Welinske had an idea. The explosion of computer use that Windows 3.0 had created had also created an explosion of another kind: application development. And what did applications need? Online help. And where were the online help development experts, especially of Windows online help, or WinHelp?
Well, one of them was him. And his idea was to share his knowledge, and the knowledge of others, in a conference setting. The first one, essentially a trial run, hosted about a dozen people over two days in a single conference room of a small hotel on Seattle's 6th Ave. There were, as I recall, 3 speakers: Joe, Scott Boggan, and David Farkas.
The trail run was successful, the feedback was good, and an annual event was born.
The first several years were in Seattle at the Sheraton. And in just a few years, attendance topped 1000, with speakers and attendees flying in from across the country and around the world.
As its popularity peaked, Joe moved the conference out of Seattle, but still on the west coast. Dalliances occurred in Silicon Valley and San Diego before the Dot Bomb decimated the software development landscape. The conference, however, survived. Reigning in the opulence, Joe returned the conference to Seattle, keeping its focus on bringing together experts to disseminate the latest information, and now not only about online help, but about emerging technologies and about other forms of user assistance.
In recent years, the conference was again on the road, in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, and this year in Long Beach.
I believe only two, perhaps three, people have been to every conference. One is Joe, of course. I think Scott Boggan may have made every one. And I have been a dawn-to-after-dark presence every year.
This year marks the 10th year that I will be producing a daily conference newsletter. This was an idea that I, uh, borrowed from the Seybold shows I used to go see in San Francisco. A publishing show, Seybold but out a glossy, multi-page magazine every day of that show chock full of news and pictures and information, all for the people attending. I pitched the idea to Joe and he thought it was a great one.
For the first few years, the newsletter was 4 pages, which ended up being far more work that I could have imagined. In more recent, and more lean years, we've cut back to a single sheet newsletter. It's still plenty of work, often challenging, and at times, it has not been without mistake or controversy. But I'd not change the experience for all the tea in China.
This year, I'm planning to take the newsletter to the next level: color. But because color copying is so expensive, I'm bringing my own color laser printer along for the ride. I think it will tremendously enhance the experience. I also have in mind a few interesting ideas that I hope will go over well.
I've actually been to long Beach a few times in my life, the last time just last year to compete in a track meet. It was early summer and hot. I cannot say that Long Beach would normally be a "destination" for me, places such as Seattle or Las Vegas or even Los Angeles. But being surrounded by old (and hopefully new) friends, being able to drink new knowledge from the vast stores available, and being refreshed and rejuvenated by the energy that is always there should make this once again a great experience.
Well, one of them was him. And his idea was to share his knowledge, and the knowledge of others, in a conference setting. The first one, essentially a trial run, hosted about a dozen people over two days in a single conference room of a small hotel on Seattle's 6th Ave. There were, as I recall, 3 speakers: Joe, Scott Boggan, and David Farkas.
The trail run was successful, the feedback was good, and an annual event was born.
The first several years were in Seattle at the Sheraton. And in just a few years, attendance topped 1000, with speakers and attendees flying in from across the country and around the world.
As its popularity peaked, Joe moved the conference out of Seattle, but still on the west coast. Dalliances occurred in Silicon Valley and San Diego before the Dot Bomb decimated the software development landscape. The conference, however, survived. Reigning in the opulence, Joe returned the conference to Seattle, keeping its focus on bringing together experts to disseminate the latest information, and now not only about online help, but about emerging technologies and about other forms of user assistance.
In recent years, the conference was again on the road, in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, and this year in Long Beach.
I believe only two, perhaps three, people have been to every conference. One is Joe, of course. I think Scott Boggan may have made every one. And I have been a dawn-to-after-dark presence every year.
This year marks the 10th year that I will be producing a daily conference newsletter. This was an idea that I, uh, borrowed from the Seybold shows I used to go see in San Francisco. A publishing show, Seybold but out a glossy, multi-page magazine every day of that show chock full of news and pictures and information, all for the people attending. I pitched the idea to Joe and he thought it was a great one.
For the first few years, the newsletter was 4 pages, which ended up being far more work that I could have imagined. In more recent, and more lean years, we've cut back to a single sheet newsletter. It's still plenty of work, often challenging, and at times, it has not been without mistake or controversy. But I'd not change the experience for all the tea in China.
This year, I'm planning to take the newsletter to the next level: color. But because color copying is so expensive, I'm bringing my own color laser printer along for the ride. I think it will tremendously enhance the experience. I also have in mind a few interesting ideas that I hope will go over well.
I've actually been to long Beach a few times in my life, the last time just last year to compete in a track meet. It was early summer and hot. I cannot say that Long Beach would normally be a "destination" for me, places such as Seattle or Las Vegas or even Los Angeles. But being surrounded by old (and hopefully new) friends, being able to drink new knowledge from the vast stores available, and being refreshed and rejuvenated by the energy that is always there should make this once again a great experience.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Open for Business
Welcome to the blog for the annual WritersUA Software User Assistance Conference. While the conference itself is still a few weeks away, I wanted to get going on this blog, if for no other reason that to hope that it might convince a few more people to attend. I plan to update this blog regularly during the days of the conference, but even the bits and pieces here are no substitute for being there.
I try to prevent bias from creeping into my writing and reporting, but I can say that the WritersUA conference is one of the best I've ever attended, chock full of useful information. Even though I've gone every year since it began, there is always more new and useful information available than I have time to learn about. (If only I could clone myself.)
Before I go any further, I should make it clear that this is not an official conference publication. That said, it will contain information about what's going on at the conference. I'll post breaking news, tidbits about sessions, photos, and more. Maybe even a little dirt. If you can't make it to Long Beach this year, you'll be able to follow along a bit, and perhaps this will help you recognize what you're missing and find a way to make it next year, wherever it may be. I'm not kidding when I say that, if you're a technical writer on any level, the information you get here is the best you'll fond anywhere outside of a full-fledged degree program.
My plans are to be online during all the sessions I attend, taking notes and posting as the conference progresses. I believe you can sign up for a RSS feed to get notices about when new posts are available.
I want to add, too, that this conference is, at least for me, about more than just learning tons of useful stuff. I also get to see many of the people I know and respect, people who are experts in so many areas, people such as Char James-Tanny, Dave Gash, Joe Welinske, Scott Boggan, Matthew Ellison, Jared Spool, Dana Worley, and so many, many more who are not only a pleasure just to spend time with, but who work their, uh, assets off in this field and who share freely of their expertise. I leave every year not only with more knowle3dge than when I arrived, but I leave also inspired and energized, wanting to do mo, be more, and reach for the heights that they have already achieved.
It's not too late to sign up and attend (even if the early registration discounts have expired), and it's easy at the WritersUA web site. I really hope to see you there, and if not this year, in future years.
Meanwhile, keep your browser tuned here. There will be occasional updates before the conference begins, and then the Big Show starts on March 25.
I try to prevent bias from creeping into my writing and reporting, but I can say that the WritersUA conference is one of the best I've ever attended, chock full of useful information. Even though I've gone every year since it began, there is always more new and useful information available than I have time to learn about. (If only I could clone myself.)
Before I go any further, I should make it clear that this is not an official conference publication. That said, it will contain information about what's going on at the conference. I'll post breaking news, tidbits about sessions, photos, and more. Maybe even a little dirt. If you can't make it to Long Beach this year, you'll be able to follow along a bit, and perhaps this will help you recognize what you're missing and find a way to make it next year, wherever it may be. I'm not kidding when I say that, if you're a technical writer on any level, the information you get here is the best you'll fond anywhere outside of a full-fledged degree program.
My plans are to be online during all the sessions I attend, taking notes and posting as the conference progresses. I believe you can sign up for a RSS feed to get notices about when new posts are available.
I want to add, too, that this conference is, at least for me, about more than just learning tons of useful stuff. I also get to see many of the people I know and respect, people who are experts in so many areas, people such as Char James-Tanny, Dave Gash, Joe Welinske, Scott Boggan, Matthew Ellison, Jared Spool, Dana Worley, and so many, many more who are not only a pleasure just to spend time with, but who work their, uh, assets off in this field and who share freely of their expertise. I leave every year not only with more knowle3dge than when I arrived, but I leave also inspired and energized, wanting to do mo, be more, and reach for the heights that they have already achieved.
It's not too late to sign up and attend (even if the early registration discounts have expired), and it's easy at the WritersUA web site. I really hope to see you there, and if not this year, in future years.
Meanwhile, keep your browser tuned here. There will be occasional updates before the conference begins, and then the Big Show starts on March 25.
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