Wishful Thinking

A new year begins. Bright with new opportunities and a fresh outlook. It shows promise, and it is only a few days old!

The Penn State Web Conference has become my new baby. Well, it is more like my new adolescent ;-/ I inherited the coordination of an event that is well run, and well received. My intention is to keep the positive momentum while also pushing toward new frontiers, so to speak. The committee will reign me in if my ideas stray too far off of the beaten path.

The energy of the Web Conference Committee is contagious. Our meetings have been intense, yet fun and exciting. We have so many new ideas...the possibilities are endless (though the budget is not). We will take it one step, or one year at a time.

We hope to have a big announcement soon...

As the conference chair, I am open to discussing ideas for how to improve the conference. We realize that there are many ways to do what we do.

In any case, I wish you all a Happy New Year. Really...

P

Every year brings new opportunities and new challenges for the Penn State Web Conference planning committee when it comes to selecting our opening keynote speaker. He or she will kick things off and set a positive tone for the entire day of the conference.

The planning committee was fortunate this year that we had several excellent options to choose from when selecting the keynote speaker. We hope this portends well for future years!

We started the keynote search about a month after the conference last June. We began by brainstorming about who might provide a presentation that would be of wide appeal to our diverse group of Web professionals. Several feelers were sent to potential speakers to inquire as to their interest and availability, as well as to request information on their fee structure.

About half of those we contacted charged more than our budget could handle without significantly raising the conference registration fee. A small number did not respond to our inquiries. Others were not available during our time frame, which has been a real challenge in the past (a large Web conference has been scheduled in London within a day or two of our conference in the last few years).

This year, we have a verbal commitment from yet another speaker who has been part of a select group who has sat atop our wish list for the last few years. We are so excited, and can hardly wait to get the word out! When we get things signed, sealed and delivered, you will definitely be hearing more about it.

The closing keynote speaker selection is a slightly different animal which I will write about on another day...

Change is a strange bedfellow. It brings us wonderful opportunities, while at the same time making us lose sleep. How do we know which changes are good, and which will lead us down the wrong path? I think I’d make a lot of money if I were able to correctly answer that question! We all just have to move forward, using our best judgment.

If you visit here over the next few months, you will get some sense of many of the changes in store for you if you attend the Web 2008 Conference. Probably the most obvious will be how and when the conference starts. We don’t have all of the details ironed out yet…but we heard you loud and clear that an 8:00 start time on Monday morning provided a rough ride last year. Something a bit more fluid is in the works, if we can pull it off…

This year, the Web Conference will see a number of changes. Some will be subtle, we hope. Those are the “behind the scenes” adjustments that the planning committee has made to try and have things run even more smoothly. Other changes may be quite obvious to those of you who have attended the conference in past years. Most modifications are a result of the feedback we received on your evaluation forms. We really do listen!

P

It’s official! We have our opening keynote speaker for Web 2008. If you haven’t guessed already, Steve Krug will be joining us to share his expertise on usability. His common sense approach to Web site usability can be found in his well-read book, “Don’t Make Me Think!”

Several members of the Web Conference planning committee have heard Steve speak, and they all agree…we are in for a real treat! In researching information on him, I found him described as, “a genuinely humble guy,” “a usability guru,” and, “a Web Design God.” What a fascinating range of qualities!

We are gathering materials and information and expect to have formal announcements ready soon.

It is a wonderful day!

P