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Sunday |
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Joe Welinske, WritersUA |
5:00 - 6:30 pm |
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Creating user assistance has become the fastest growing and most exciting segment of the technical communication field. The growth of the Internet has significantly expanded the scope of responsibilities for online Help developers. New platforms like the Web, Java, and Linux are opening even more opportunities. This session provide an overview of the current trends in user assistance, defines the key terminology, and puts all the LaunchPad Conference topics into context for the participants. — YOU WILL LEARN —
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Opening Session: Searching for the Origins of Language |
Monday |
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9:15 - 10:15 am |
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Language makes us uniquely unique, and yet for a long time time we have known little about where words come from. The origins of language have remained obscure for two important reasons. First, despite its power to wound and seduce, speech is our most ephemeral creation: it is little more than air. For most of its history, language has left no fossils or other traces, and it is only very recently that researchers have begun to work out how language emerged. Second, the search for the beginning of language stalled more than a hundred years ago when it was officially banned. Even as the evolution of species drew ever more attention, the evolution of language became a taboo topic. Why are the origins of language so controversial? And what has happened in the last decade to change this? Christine Kenneally will explore these questions, in addition to addressing the process of writing about science. How can writers best weave complex information into a narrative in order to make the writing compelling for readers, and how does reporting on the complexities of language—with language—work? |
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The Difference between E-Learning and User Assistance Technology |
Monday |
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Saul Carliner, Concordia University |
10:45 am - 12:00 pm |
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Although user assistance and e-learning appear to have a natural relationship, a quick visit to "e-learning land" suggests that, despite the relationship, the two operate differently. This session focuses on differences in technologies — specifically authoring and management tools, so that user assistance professionals making the move are fully equipped to do so. After an activity in which participants summarize the key differences among the two fields, this session then reviews the key differences in technology, including authoring technologies, content management technologies, learning management technologies, and standards. The session concludes by summarizing differences in approaches to designing and developing content between the two disciplines. — YOU WILL LEARN —
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True Separation of Content, Structure, Format, and Behavior |
Wednesday |
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Dave Gash, HyperTrain dot Com |
8:30 - 9:45 am |
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Let's face it: Most of our UA pages are a mash-up of data, layout, styles, and scripts. As we edit, we tend to just stick in whatever is needed, wherever it's needed. Oh, we sometimes collect our styles or scripts into external files, but that's not enough. Ideally, we should be able to modify any page component without disturbing the others, and although it's not often done, it's not really that hard. This session follows the evolution of a page from code-in-a-blender to clean, discrete chunks, and shows you how to identify, isolate, and assemble the pieces into something you can easily maintain, reuse, and even be proud of! — YOU WILL LEARN —
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User Assistance Trends Panel: Key Future Directions |
Wednesday |
Panel of Pundits: Scott DeLoach, Alan Houser, Kevin Siegel, Bogo Vatovec, and Joe Welinske |
3:15 - 4:15 pm |
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This panel discussion closes the conference with a look ahead — predicting what the most important trends will be in the coming years. The panel of experts represents a wide range of thought and opinion in the world of user assistance. |
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