http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/ en-us Copyright 2009 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:49:40 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/10/two-day-extravaganza.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/10/two-day-extravaganza.html Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:49:40 -0500
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/08/web-standards-on-steroids.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/08/web-standards-on-steroids.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:10:44 -0500
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.


]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/07/a-minor-divergence.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/07/a-minor-divergence.html Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:54:11 -0500
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/07/looking-back-to-look-forward.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/07/looking-back-to-look-forward.html Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:40:53 -0500 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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/06/quality-counts.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/06/quality-counts.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:37:32 -0500
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/06/after-the-thrill-is-gone.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/06/after-the-thrill-is-gone.html Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:21:06 -0500
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/06/a-ma-zing.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/06/a-ma-zing.html Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:16:33 -0500
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/05/anxiously-awaiting.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/05/anxiously-awaiting.html Thu, 21 May 2009 10:15:15 -0500
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.

]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/05/swimming-in-details.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/05/swimming-in-details.html Tue, 12 May 2009 10:19:18 -0500
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.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/04/get-ready-get-set.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/04/get-ready-get-set.html Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:06:53 -0500
A little bit about Mark (taken from the bio he sent to us)...he is the bestselling coauthor of The Google Story, a critically praised account of the search company that's being published in more than 25 languages worldwide. He's an investigative journalist and former researcher for Bob Woodward of The Washington Post. He focuses his writing and consulting practice on the intersection of media and search, and has appeared as a guest commentator on ABC News, FOX, CBS, Al Jazeera and the BBC.

Mark's keynote presentation will take us from focusing on search results to finding answers using even simpler access to even more information, anywhere, anytime and on any device.  He'll walk us through the complex web and point out what it will take for us to connect to the audiences of the future.

As an added bonus, Mark will offer a breakout session on what is new in web and mobile search.

We are thrilled that Mark will be starting the conference day!

P.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/03/youll-be-the-first-to-know.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/03/youll-be-the-first-to-know.html Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:37:08 -0500
These musings reminded me that I have not written updates about the Penn State Web Conference for some time now, though we have been far from idle.  A good deal of the planning, organization and collaboration necessary to put on the conference gets done during this quiet time of year.  We have solicited proposals, reviewed and debated each one, and made the final, and often quite difficult decisions of which made the cut and which did not.  We have provided orientation sessions for our presenters, giving advice and sharing the details they will need to know on conference day.  We have canvassed potential keynote speakers and chose a keynote whose expertise should be of great interest to Penn State's Web developers. Our invitation was accepted and we are preparing for that time when all is in order and we can make that big announcement.  We also have invited some visiting higher education professionals to join us to share what they are doing and how we might put their ideas to good use.  Just a normal set of winter activities for the Web Conference planning committee.

It isn't too late to be a part of the Web 2009 Conference.  We are still accepting proposals for poster sessions at http://webconference.psu.edu.  The deadline for proposal submission is March 2.

In the next couple of months you should be hearing quite a bit about the conference.  We hope you will agree with us that this is shaping up to be another outstanding year!

P.


]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/02/the-silence-of-winter.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2009/02/the-silence-of-winter.html Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:37:43 -0500
A unified Web in higher ed can take many shapes and sizes. While that may sound like an oxymoron-like notion, the nature of the Web creates an environment where the seemingly disparate concepts of unity and taking on many shapes and sizes can meld and make perfect sense.  Each player in the collective Web presence may have a different and unique vision for what they would like to accomplish.  Having some measure of a shared vision could help to make the overall Web presence feel planned rather than haphazard, and could help to create a strong brand identity while maintaining individuality.  Being part of the Penn State brand can enhance the image of each individual site...not to mention the potential ease-of-navigation benefits to those who visit any of our sites.

My vision of a unified Web at Penn State is not even remotely reminiscent of a lock-step, Stepford wives approach to working together to create an overall vision for the Web.  Penn State has a rich diversity of ideas about and implementation of Web design that I believe can and should be embraced.  The notion of working together on an overall Penn State Web presence, however, may have only just recently appeared on the radar screen of many of our Web developers.  At the Web Conference last year, Kevin Morooney suggested some compelling arguments for us to create new lines of communication to become more collaborative and broaden the focus of our work on the Web.

One idea that came as a result of Kevin's discussion was the development of a Penn State Web Developers social network (http://psuwebdev.ning.com).  It is only in its infancy, but the hope is to start providing some enhanced ways to communicate and collaborate across the diverse and sometimes physically (or philosophically) divided community that encompasses our Web developers.

You may wonder, what benefits could we derive if the Penn State Web development community should begin to communicate and collaborate more effectively?  The potential is as far reaching as our imagination, both individually and collectively.  I don't know about you, but my imagination can run wild at times ;-)  Allowing others to extend our ideas or perhaps to spark new ideas in them could bring to light all sorts of intriguing possibilities.  Envision a group of dedicated and diverse Web professionals working on a project or trying to find an inventive solution to a long standing problem.  The untapped potential is there!

Other potential benefits?  Building a dynamic community with unified purpose.  Finding and utilizing the wisdom of the crowd.  Enhancing our message by presenting our collective ideas with one strong voice.  Tapping into the energy of building on good ideas to make them great.  In my view, we could gain much.

So, please consider joining us at the Penn State Web 2009 Conference on June 8 and 9, 2008 and add your voice to the chorus.  We may not all sing the same tune, but let's find some harmony together.

P.

]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2008/12/a-unifying-theme.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2008/12/a-unifying-theme.html Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:14:10 -0500
And, to make this time even more special, there are the holidays as well.

The Penn State Web 2009 Conference Planning Committee has made some pretty impressive wish lists this year.  Our first set of wishes are in the process of coming to fruition, and you just might be able to help.  The call for proposals is currently open, but only until Friday, December 5.  Please make our wishes come true and propose a conference session, workshop, or poster.  You can do so by visiting http://webconference.psu.edu/call/.  The conference is not possible without the participation of our presenters!

We also have our keynote wishes in the works.  Several inquiries have been made and we are hoping to bring in some exciting presentations for our attendees.  The time for decisions is approaching, and you will know when we know who will be at the conference in June.

I'm hoping for a Secret Santa this year.  And, not just your every day, run of the mill Secret Santa.  No, I'm thinking BIG.  This may sound...well...greedy, but the secret gifts I'm hoping for would benefit the whole Penn State Web development community.  I can't reveal my secret wishes, or they may not come true (I blew out the candles in one breath and got the larger portion of the wishbone, so I like my chances).  In other words, I'm hoping that we'll have some big announcements before too very long...if the stars align and I've been a good girl (of course!).

So, I am spending this day contemplating the possibilities and hoping that my wishes come true.  If you are reading this, please send me your positive vibes, and maybe, just maybe we can celebrate together the granting of wishes.

P.
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2008/12/contemplating-the-possibilities.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2008/12/contemplating-the-possibilities.html Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:53:46 -0500
I hope I don't sound like a broken record, but...the only way the conference can take place and succeed is if you (yes, YOU) submit a proposal to present a session, workshop, or poster session.  If you don't feel comfortable talking for an hour, or are concerned that you may not have enough to say, consider signing up for a five minute talk during the Lightning Talks session, a relatively new and popular experience at the conference.

We recently started a Penn State Web Developers social network (http://psuwebdev.ning.com) as an easy way to get the Web community to start sharing resources and ideas.  The conference is an opportunity to share in a more formal and professional setting (don't worry, it is fun, too!), and is an awesome item to add to your growing resume!

The conference planning committee works diligently to make the day a wonderful experience for everyone involved.  We do a lot to insure that our speakers have the best opportunity to shine on the big day.  One way we assist accepted speakers is to offer a presenter orientation where we share tips and advice from seasoned professionals (the tips come from many sources and conferences).  This year, the orientation will have some new features and insights to help our speakers be well prepared for conference day.

If you filled in an evaluation at the Web 2008 Conference, lamenting that a topic that was near and dear to your heart was not included, now is the time to change that for Web 2009!  If you feel that you have knowledge to share, submit a proposal yourself.  If you have a topic you are just dying to know more about and know someone who is the "expert," ask her/him if you might nominate him/her to speak at the conference.  Don't be shy!  Many experts are pleased and honored to be nominated.

Look for a summary of the results of the topics interest survey in the upcoming weeks on the Penn State Web Developers Social Network (http://psuwebdev.ning.com/).  It will be another opportunity to let us know what topics you want presented at the conference...and perhaps a way of letting you experts know that your topic is of interest.  Hint.  Hint.

UPDATE: the results are now available on the Web Conference site at http://webconference.psu.edu/topics09/.

The call for proposals should be coming to your email box in the next several weeks.  Please seriously consider heeding the call and joining us in presenting at the Penn State Web 2009 Conference on June 8 (with workshops on June 9).

Thanks!

P.

PS. New year, new look, same old conference chair.  Well, not THAT old ;-)
]]> http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2008/10/your-turn-is-almost-here.html http://www.personal.psu.edu/paf119/blogs/Wishful-Thinking/2008/10/your-turn-is-almost-here.html Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:43:43 -0500