WritersUA Conference

Testimonial

Success in improving the software user experience depends on applying the right skills and technologies to maximum advantage. We've targeted this need by providing an array of sessions demonstrating effective techniques, case studies demonstrating best-in-class designs, technology updates, and much more.

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SUNDAY • March 29^th
12:00 - 7:00 pm Check-in for Conference and Supplemental Seminars
1:00 - 4:30 pm • Supplemental Seminars ($195)
Introduction to DITA • lp Tony Self	Five Ways to Test User Assistance Usability Mary Deaton	Introduction to Captivate • lp Matthew Ellison
5:00 - 6:30 pm • LaunchPad Orientation
Welcome to the World of User Assistance • lp Joe Welinske
6:30 - 7:00 pm • Conference Orientation

MONDAY • March 30^th
7:30 - 9:00 am • Conference Check-in, continental breakfast, and Exhibition
9:00 - 9:15 am • Welcome from Joe Welinske, President, WritersUA
9:15 - 10:15 am • Opening Session
The Google Chrome Comic & Visual Communication, Scott McCloud
10:15 - 10:45 am • Morning Break and Exhibition
10:45 am - 12:00 pm • General Sessions
A Painless Introduction to Structured Authoring • lp Dave Gash	User-Centered Design of Context-Sensitive Help • lp Matthew Ellison	Breaking Help Loose: From Frames and Tables to CSS David Locke	Contextual Awareness: Responding to User Actions and Behavior Bogo Vatovec	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: Web-Based Help
12:00 - 1:15 pm • Networking Lunch and Exhibition
1:15 - 2:45 pm • General Sessions
Production Tips and Tricks for Captivate (Hands-on) Part One • Kevin Siegel	Architecting UA Topics for Reuse Michael Hughes	Microsoft Help v. 3 and Sandcastle Anand Raman and April Reagan	Real-World XML Design and Development Joe Marini	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: Agile Development
2:45 - 3:30 pm • Afternoon Break and Exhibition
3:30 - 4:45 pm • General Sessions
Production Tips and Tricks for Captivate (Hands-on) Part Two • Kevin Siegel	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: DITA and ISO Standards	Topic-Based Authoring • lp Char James-Tanny	Pixel Perfect: Photoshop Production Tips Michael Ninness	Techniques for Reviewing a User Interface Rhonda Bracey
4:45 - 6:00 pm • Networking Mixer

TUESDAY • March 31^st
8:00 - 8:30 am • Continental breakfast and Exhibition
8:30 - 9:45 am • Keynote Session
Microsoft 2.0: What to Expect in the Post-Gates Era Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet
9:45 - 10:15 am • Morning Break and Exhibition
10:15 am - 11:30 am • General Sessions
Integration Jumpstart for Adobe Technical Communication Suite Kevin Siegel	Ten Tips toward Improvement and Success with Your eLearning Joe Ganci	Introducing the DITA Open Toolkit Pam Noreault and Tony Self	Docs to Wiki: Redesigning and Restructuring Content Paul Mueller	Managing UA Projects with Spreadsheets Michael Hughes	Quick Video Presentations with Adobe Visual Communicator Betsy Bruce
11:30 am - 1:00 pm • Lunch and Exhibition
1:00 - 2:15 pm • General Sessions
Generating Quality Print Output from Flare or Blaze (Hands-on) Part One • Matthew Ellison	An Insider Tour of Microsoft Surface Doug Bolin	User Assistance in Web Forms lp • Luke Wroblewski	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: FrameMaker	Using a Wiki with Modular and Conditionally Publishable Content Rahul Mehrotra	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: Eclipse
2:15 - 2:45 pm • Afternoon Break and Exhibition
2:45 - 4:00 pm • General Sessions
Generating Quality Print Output from Flare or Blaze (Hands-on) Part Two • Matthew Ellison	Making Computers Accessible with Everyday Input Devices Jacob O. Wobbrock	Best Practices for Embedded UA Scott DeLoach	Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and AIR Help • lp Scott Prentice	Using Simple Pictures to Communicate Complex Ideas Donna Safko	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: Wiki-based Documentation
4:15 - 5:15 pm • Product Demonstrations

WEDNESDAY • April 1^st
8:00 - 8:30 am Continental breakfast
8:30 - 9:45 am • General Sessions
Content Development with DITA and XMetal Part One • Bernard Aschwanden	Conducting Usability Tests "in the Wild" Dana Chisnell	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: Editing	Succeeding with RSS Feeds, Blogs, and WebCasts • lp Brent Schlenker	Automating Acrobat with JavaScript Thom Parker	Lessons Learned from Research on "Help" David Novick
9:45 - 10:00 am Morning Break
10:00 - 11:15 am • General Sessions
Content Development with DITA and XMetal (Hands-on) Part Two • Bernard Aschwanden	Personalizing and Customizing the User Assistance Experience Doug Bolin	Better Knowledge-Base Articles for Complex Troubleshooting • lp Dave Farkas	Exploring Open Source and Alternative Tools Mike McCallister and Paul Mueller	Double Scoop Case Studies Theme: Web 2.0	What if the Reader Can't Read? • lp Tony Self
11:00 am - 1:30 pm Peer Showcase
12:00 - 1:15 pm Lunch Break
1:30 - 2:45 pm • General Sessions
Career Strategies for Embedded UA • lp Scott DeLoach and Panel	iPhone Design and Development Overview Christopher Z. Garrett	Creating "Auto-Magic" TOCs With XSLT Dave Gash	Developing More Successful Personas • lp Tamara Adlin	Lessons Learned in Corporate Blogging Lindsey Robbins	User Assistance as an Element of eService Bogo Vatovec
2:45 - 3:00 pm Afternoon Break
3:00 - 3:15 pm Closing Comments and Raffle Prizes
3:15 - 4:15 pm • Closing Session
Magic and Mental Models: Using Illusion to Simplify Designs • lp Jared Spool, User Interface Engineering