Wishful Thinking

After months of careful planning and hard work, we have finally launched registration for the Web 2008 Conference. Most of the decisions for the conference have been made, and are in the process of being set into motion to create two informative and exciting days at the conference and tutorial workshops.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy for the committee. We have been making the final edits and updates to the information on the conference Web site, and for the printed program you will receive when you register on the morning of the conference.

We continue to finalize the details for the conference and tutorial venues. We work closely with the Penn Stater personnel to make sure that all of your physical, dietary, and technical needs are planned out for the conference day. We will also be working with the Business Building and a caterer to prepare for for all needs on June 10. It takes a great deal of foresight and sometimes improvisation to insure that everything runs as expected for such a large number of people as attend the conference.

We are looking forward to seeing all of our planning and work come together. We are only about a month out from the conference, which in some ways doesn't seem possible. The year since the last conference has just flown by in a flurry of planning and activity. All in the hope that you will enjoy your time with us, learn a lot, and network with other like-minded eccentrics...I mean Web developers ;-)

P

Steve Krug is one cool dude. I just thought I’d reiterate that thought. Although Steve will not be in town very long at all, he has graciously agreed to do everything that he could do for the conference within his time constraints.

Even with his keynote presentation beginning at 9:00 on the morning of the conference, he did not hesitate to say yes to doing a book signing from 8:00 until 8:30. How cool is that? The Penn State Bookstore will be on location with his books available for purchase (not to mention that they are giving attendees a 20 percent discount on the books our presenters recommended all day).

After his keynote presentation, Steve will provide a breakout session where he will demonstrate how to do a usability test. Once again, way cool! We are truly fortunate that he has not only agreed to come to Penn State for a keynote address, but also to give us more in depth insight into the nuts and bolts of usability testing.

When I attended “An Event Apart” in New Orleans last month, Jeffrey Zeldman asked me who would be our keynote speaker. When he heard it was Steve Krug, his immediate response was that we were really going to enjoy him. Later on, I re-introduced myself to Jeffrey Veen. He also asked about our keynote, and again, sang Steve Krug's praises. I was already excitedly anticipating his presentation, and these comments just added fuel to the fire.

If you haven't registered for the conference yet, head on over to http://webconference.psu.edu/ and register today. The excitement is building within the conference planning committee because we know just how special it will be to have Steve Krug with us, even for just a short time.

P.