Wishful Thinking

The Web Conference planning committee is still giddy over signing Jeffrey Zeldman as our opening keynote speaker. What else could we possibly do to shake things up and make the conference better? I'll tell you what we are going to do! Several of you have been requesting this change for years, and we will finally make it happen.  The Penn State Web 2010 Conference will be a two day event. That's right! A two day extravaganza of Webbie goodness.

So, what does that mean, exactly? It means several things, and I'll do my best to draw a picture for you of what those two days will entail.

Day One: Monday, June 7, 2010

The day will start with our usual continental style breakfast at the Penn Stater from 8:00 - 9:00 AM, followed by our fantastic opening keynote address by Jeffrey Zeldman. [Can I have an AMEN?]! 

The remainder of the morning will include two hour-long breakout session agendas running concurrently with our workshops. That's right...you will be able to choose whether to attend a two-hour workshop or select two one-hour breakout sessions from a menu of offerings following the keynote presentation. Oh, the options!

After the usual outstanding buffet lunch, we will offer a full slate of one-hour breakout sessions followed by an open session devoted to networking with your peers, poster sessions, a book signing by none other than Jeffrey Zeldman [his schedule permitting], and the ever popular lightning talks. 

Day one will end at 4:00 so that you may rest up for a second, exciting day.

Day Two: Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day two of the Web Conference will run in parallel with day one. Breakfast, a second keynote address, sessions and workshops in the morning followed by lunch and a full slate of hour-long sessions. The one big difference will be that the conference will end with an open session more akin to the receptions that we offered when the workshops were held in the IST Building. We may even have a cash bar...

General Observation:

There are indeed consequences to holding our workshops concurrent with the regular breakout sessions at the Penn Stater.  First, hands on workshop attendees will need to bring their own laptops or arrange for the use of a laptop to participate (not all workshops will be hands on, though).  The conference will have one fee that will include both days. Workshops will be available on a first-come-first-served basis during the registration process and depending on the number of seats available. Workshops will only be offered during the morning of of both days, which means that they can only be two-hours in length.

As you can see, big changes are in the works for the Penn State Web 2010 Conference. We hope you will be as excited about them as we are.

P.

Wow, wow and WOW! The contract is signed, sealed and delivered. Sometimes, things just seem to come together and gel. The stars align. The calendars mesh. The objectives are compatible. The universe smiles. Yep, I'm feeling it.

The Penn State Web 2010 Conference will be wicked good. How can it miss? After years of trying, we were finally able to talk Jeffrey Zeldman into coming to present our opening keynote. That's right, Jeffrey Zeldman! The "Godfather of Web Standards" is coming to Penn State! Look for a formal announcement in the next few weeks.

I have been lucky enough to have had the Zeldman experience on a couple of occasions, and the Penn State Web development community is in for quite a treat! He's smart, witty, and self-deprecating, all while providing an outstanding message to his many followers. We are extremely lucky that he's agreed to share his vast knowledge of web standards with us.

Look for a banner year at the Web Conference in 2010. Some big changes are in the works. It's all good.

P.

I'm taking a bit of a divergence from my usual Penn State Web Conference topic to introduce myself in a new role as a member of Penn State's Staff Advisory Council. For all who are in ITS, or any Penn State staff member for that matter, please consider me a confidential conduit to presenting any pertinent issues to the council.

So, what is the Staff Advisory Council (SAC), you may ask?  Since I'm new to this, I'm still learning the answer to that question, but I'll give it my best shot.  It is a group of volunteers at Penn State who bring forth issues that affect staff members and advocate (through the Associate Vice President for Human Resources) for changes to policies, procedures or programming to the Central Administration.  For instance, the SAC has recently worked to get Automated External Defibrillators (AED) in the workplace as well as recommending the development of flexible work schedules and telecommuting policies.

For more information, the SAC web site may be found at http://www.ohr.psu.edu/sac/. 

Please do not hesitate to approach me with any issues you may wish to be brought in front of the council.  Any information shared will be kept strictly confidential.

Thanks!

P.

We recently received the evaluation report for the Penn State Web 2009 Conference. The results were both informative and confusing. Reviewing the conference evaluation report is always both a thrilling and humbling experience. The Penn State web developers certainly are not timid to speak their minds! When we miss the mark on something, we know it. The good news is that when we do something good, we also hear about it. Yep. Both thrilling and humbling for sure!

In reading the comments about the overall conference, we had an overwhelmingly positive response to what was offered on the agenda. However, on a couple of occasions in the long list of comments, we had a situation where one respondent would lament that the conference sessions were too advanced for them to keep up, followed by a response indicating that all of the sessions were too rudimentary. Somewhat confusing, but we don't take this feedback lightly. The planning committee works very hard to insure that a wide variety of topics and levels of difficulty are represented in each time slot. We will continue to work to tweak our offerings in the hope that eventually we will get it just right ;-)

We get a good number of suggestions and requests each year. This year, more than ever, we are seeing some strong trends that are intriguing. The planning committee has already discussed some exciting prospects for improving the conference based on these trends. The feasibility for these ideas is currently being determined. Once decisions are made and plans put into place, announcements will be made. All in good time...

This might be a good time to let you know that we are in the process of negotiating with an incredible potential keynote speaker as well. I think that 2010 could be a watershed year for the Web Conference. Just sayin'.

P.

Last week at this time, I was experiencing the first day of one of my favorite professional events, An Event Apart in Boston. An Event Apart (AEA) is a web conference conceived and developed by Jeffrey Zeldman and Eric Meyer (not too shabby!). According to their web site (http://www.aneventapart.com/), they put the event together to create a conference that THEY would want to attend. Mission accomplished, fellows!

AEA Boston started off with Jared Spool giving attendees some insights into how Amazon has evolved their site to sell more product and drive consumers to their site. Anyone who has seen Jared speak will appreciate the energy and enthusiasm he brings to his presentation. How wonderful to learn so much while laughing (and laughing)!

I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Jared before his presentation. I hope we can get him to come back to Penn State sometime, and I plan to explore the possibilities. More on that if and when...

As I listened to the fabulous lineup of speakers, I was struck by the quality of every presentation. Each speaker would make a wonderful keynote at our Penn State Web Conference! Even though the speakers all wore jeans and most wore t-shirts, they exuded professionalism through their demeanor, unique message, speaking skills, appropriately accomplished visuals, and ability to connect with their audience. No talking head reading from his/her bulleted list of boring slides on this agenda! And humor (geek humor, admittedly) was used extensively and quite appropriately to drive home key points in an offbeat manner. Let's just say that if IE6 were in the audience, he/she would have either slunk out the back door or sued for defamation of character ;-)

As with my experience at AEA New Orleans last year, I had the opportunity and honor to have breakfast with Jeffrey Zeldman on day two, though this year, I also sat at his table for lunch on the first day. I couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for him...some of the others at the lunch table were so insistent with questions for him that the poor man was hardly able to take a bite of his lunch. Almost a full plate of food went off with the catering staff.

One of the outstanding speakers, Jeremy Keith, took some excellent notes while live-blogging on day one of the conference. You can view his notes at http://bit.ly/1dluZ. Well worth the read! The only unfortunate thing is that he didn't include notes on his presentation, though he did provide a link to his slides.

AEA was an awesome experience! So many potential keynote speakers, so little time. For the full agenda, you can visit http://www.aneventapart.com/2009/boston/.  Two days of keynote quality speakers was both exhilarating and mentally exhausting. I hope I can bring to Penn State some of the energy I took away from attending AEA.

Just a few of my takeaway messages from AEA:

• Pages do NOT need to look the same in every browser.
• Draw sketches of what you want your web pages to look like, no matter how rudimentary the sketch may be.
• Design should compliment and enhance content.
• Content constantly evolves and needs a strategy. The mindset of "launch it and leave it" needs to be challenged.
• Design horizontally, then vertically and use as many columns in the design as the content requires (examples using 17 columns were given!) to help with developing elegant CSS styling.
• Following web standards not only helps your sites to render well, it also simplifies style changes and helps search engines find your information.
• Fonts and colors do have a profound affect on the perception of your site.
• A culture of experimentation facilitates new ideas and creativity.
• Visitors will use your site in ways that you didn't anticipate.
• Creating reusable code/methods can allow you to spend more time on creativity and less on coding.
• Giving site users a voice allows them to connect with your message/purpose.
• The behavior you see on site analytics is the behavior you designed for.

I could go on...

P.

The anticipation is past. The plans have been made and executed, and it's all over except the shouting. Hopefully positive, wOOt! shouting will come through on the evaluations, but that remains to be seen. This week after the Penn State Web Conference is always bittersweet. I'm thrilled at how well things went at the conference and the workshops while being both happy and somewhat sad that it is over until next summer.

The tasks I turn back toward in some ways aren't as sexy as planning a conference. However, they bring their own rewards. I just read an inspiring blog post by a colleague that reinforced something that I have always felt. [She tells a great story, and I won't even attempt to top it!]. I believe that when we find our place in the world and live the kind of life and do the kind of work that matters to us, we raise the bar for ourselves and bring others up with us. If you don't love what you do, find ways to move your life toward what you do love. Even if it is just one small step at a time. You will not regret it!

So, instead of feeling let down because the conference is over, I feel re-energized and ready to take on the next challenge. Care to join me?

P.

As a teenager, I always wanted to be able say that I played to a sell out crowd. Never thought I'd get anything remotely near to it, but perhaps this is my big opportunity. I gave up the guitar long ago, but now I will be speaking to a full house at the Penn State Web 2009 Conference. Amazing!

We have never been terribly close to a sell out before, and I was surprised by the number of issues it raised. The conference venue could have fit a few more people, but we wouldn't have had a printed program or a giveaway for the last few. This situation made things a bit nerve-wracking, and yet quite exciting as we reached our upper limit. We would hate to turn anyone away, and yet we almost had to do so this year. Luckily, everything fell into place where we have exactly the number of attendees as the number of seats, programs, and giveaways. Again, amazing!

In past years, we wondered what it would take to get those extra 20 - 30 registrants that we needed for a sell out. Our attendance numbers have been almost exactly the same for the last 5 years. Not quite sure what put us over the top to reach our goal. The incredible agenda of outstanding speakers and topics? The dedicated, hard work of the best conference planning committee on the planet? Increased enthusiasm? No way to tell. With the challenging economic situation, we were unsure of how our attendance might be affected. We are more than pleased that it hasn't hurt us.

A tremendous amount of hard work and attention to detail are needed to pull together such a large event. We count on a great number of people to get on the same page and work together toward a single goal...bringing you the best conference we possibly can.

We hope you will enjoy it, that is, if you were lucky enough to get a seat!

P.

Just a little more than two weeks to go until the Penn State Web 2009 Conference.  I can hardly wait!  Most of the details are set, registration is in full swing (have you registered yet?), and all is falling into place.  Not exactly as expected, but all is well.  We always have a few challenges and last minute changes.  It goes with the territory.

Registration closes on May 29...just over a week from today.  If you are thinking of attending and haven't registered yet, please go to http://webconference.psu.edu and ensure your place at this year's outstanding conference.

Don't forget about the workshops on June 9.  They offer a more in-depth glimpse into some topics of great interest to us as Penn State Web professionals.  A wide range of topics are available this year.  Tim Plumer, Jr. of Adobe will be back to show us how to best use Adobe Creative Suite 4 Premium.  Dan Frommelt will give an advanced primer on CSS.  Mark Greenfield will host a world-wide social media summit, and Steve Lewis will be back to help us optimize our negotiation skills as a Web professional.  Our Penn State gurus will provide workshops on OWL and the Semantic Web (Brian Panulla), leveraging the Penn State digital identity to secure your Web application (Jeremy Hill), creating effective Web tutorials with screen capturing software (Nikki Massaro Kauffman and Bonnie Imler), and a free birds-of-a-feather summit (Christian Vinten-Johansen).  At least one workshop is already full, so don't miss your chance to participate!

This promises to be an exciting year at the Web Conference.  If you have attended in the past, be sure to check out the two day agenda at http://webconference.psu.edu and register today.  If you have never been to the conference, please also look at the agenda and discover the value our dedicated Web professionals will bring to you at the conference.

We have the most amazing group of presenters, organizers, and support personnel who put on an awesome event.  Don't miss out on the fun!  Register today at http://webconference.psu.edu.

P.

Ah yes, the weather is getting nicer and I'm taking my annual swim...in details for the Penn State Web Conference.  When I first joined the committee, I was intrigued by the number of details that must be handled to put on such a large event.  Since taking over as conference chair, I'm immersed in them.  Lucky for me (and our attendees), the conference has the most dedicated and accomplished committee that I've ever seen.  These Web professionals really care about the conference and take pride and ownership in how it turns out...and it shows.  I am both humbled and extremely grateful to work with such a gifted (and fun-loving) group!

As a group, we are extraordinarily indebted to our presenters.  When we put out the call for proposals each year, we never know what we are going to get.  This year, we were again gratified by the outstanding quality and the breadth of topics that were proposed for the conference.  If you view the conference agenda (http://webconference.psu.edu/program/), you will get some idea of the amazing things going on in the world of Web development at Penn State, as well as other higher education institutions.  And, you should see what didn't make it into the agenda.  Amazing, amazing stuff!

I'll give you just a small taste of the sessions that will be presented:

Augmented Reality: Merging the Virtual World into Ours
What's New in Web and Mobile Search?
Actionable Web Analytics for Higher Education
Getting Started with AJAX
Streamlining Publications: Unifying Print and Web Production
Wayfinding the Semantic Web
Design for Non-Designers

I could go on (and on), but hopefully you get the idea.  In all, 24 breakout sessions will make up the day on Monday, June 8.  A full day of workshops will take place on June 9 as well.

So, we are spending these last few weeks immersed in the final details for the conference.  Come June 8, it will all be worth the effort!

If I've piqued your interest, registration is now open (http://webconference.psu.edu/)  All Penn State faculty and staff are invited to attend.  Prepare to be impressed!

P.

Registration for the Penn State Web 2009 Conference will be opening soon.  If you want to read information on what is being planned, just visit the conference site at http://webconference.psu.edu.  You will be able to find a link to the registration form from there when it is ready to roll.  We just have a very few more details to iron out before launching registration, but expect it to be ready by early May.

We will have an exciting conference day on Monday, June 8 at the Penn Stater Conference Center complete with a timely keynote address by Mark Malseed, 24 diverse and informative sessions, poster sessions to start the day, and a thought-provoking town meeting to close the day.  The town meeting will feature the invited speakers from other higher education institutions, as well as our own Christian Vinten-Johansen.

On Tuesday, we will offer 8 workshops in the Business Building and buildings nearby.  Workshops are more hands-on or in-depth in nature and provide an interesting balance to the conference.  As with last year, your workshop fee will include a snack break as well as lunch.  The free workshop, "Birds of a Feather" will again be offered, though no lunch will be provided for this workshop option.

In order to attend, you will need to submit a registration form.  On that form, you will be asked for an IDCC number submitted to "&CSS," or a check to pay for your conference fees.  In light of the economic situation at the university, we have kept the conference fees the same as last year, even though the costs to put on the event have gone up.  We hope that you will appreciate the awesome value you will find when you attend!

The Penn State Web Conference has been providing an outstanding networking and learning opportunity for Penn State Web professionals for 11 years.  Please join us for year 12 and find out what everyone has been talking about!

P.