View PTC Live Global 2014 Session Info & Register

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
January 28, 2014
37 replies
6216 views

Please see the highlighted note at the bottom of Margi’s email blast. This note does not appear on the event web site.

John Sillari

Show previous replies

C

ClayHelberg

18-Opal

Hi Dan--

Thanks very much for the clarification, and the statement of support. Assuming we can get past initial hurdles in planning for an independent conference of some kind, we will very likely take you up on your offer, and tap into the extensive experience of you and other long-time PTC/USER members.

--Clay

G

GarethOakes

16-Pearl

Well this discussion thread has certainly stirred up some interest. My thoughts:

* Is this a sales or technology conference?
* If it's a sales conference, you can get others to pay for it 🙂
* If it's a technology conference, it will have to be funded by individuals (eg. "building a business case" as Trevor/Sindy pointed out)
* I totally agree with the "build it and they will come", like any endeavour there is always an element of marketing needed in order to generate a good level of interest and excitement
* But who holds the "risk"? (organising, booking, marketing/sales, deposits, etc.)

From my perspective, I think a broader focus would generate more interest, eg. not just Arbortext but "structured documentation". That would then include people from communities such as Arbortext, APP/3B2, Framemaker, XMetaL, XSL-FO, XPP, AuthorIT, etc. There are a lot of exciting new technologies out there to explore, and improved methods of achieving results. I'm sure cross-pollination between communities would lead to some very interesting discussions.

There are already conferences like WritersUA which have some overlap, and dedicated XML conferences like Balisage, but I'm not sure there is a dedicated technology conference in this space (tools and methods in structured documentation).

Just my 2c.

-Gareth

T

thendricks

12-Amethyst

Garth makes a good point. A broader net would likely catch more fish. Me included.

~Trevor Hendricks

On Feb 6, 2014, at 5:58 PM, "Gareth Oakes" <goakes@gpslsolutions.com<<a style="COLOR:" blue;=" text-decoration:=" underline"=" target="_BLANK" href="mailto:goakes@gpslsolutions.com">>">mailto:goakes@gpslsolutions.com>> wrote:

Well this discussion thread has certainly stirred up some interest. My thoughts:

* Is this a sales or technology conference?
* If it's a sales conference, you can get others to pay for it 🙂
* If it's a technology conference, it will have to be funded by individuals (eg. "building a business case" as Trevor/Sindy pointed out)
* I totally agree with the "build it and they will come", like any endeavour there is always an element of marketing needed in order to generate a good level of interest and excitement
* But who holds the "risk"? (organising, booking, marketing/sales, deposits, etc.)

From my perspective, I think a broader focus would generate more interest, eg. not just Arbortext but "structured documentation". That would then include people from communities such as Arbortext, APP/3B2, Framemaker, XMetaL, XSL-FO, XPP, AuthorIT, etc. There are a lot of exciting new technologies out there to explore, and improved methods of achieving results. I'm sure cross-pollination between communities would lead to some very interesting discussions.

There are already conferences like WritersUA which have some overlap, and dedicated XML conferences like Balisage, but I'm not sure there is a dedicated technology conference in this space (tools and methods in structured documentation).

Just my 2c.

-Gareth

T

thendricks

12-Amethyst

Sorry Gareth! Stupid spellchecker.

~Trevor

On Feb 6, 2014, at 6:05 PM, "Hendricks Trevor" <-<<a style="COLOR:" blue;=" text-decoration:=" underline"=" target="_BLANK" href="mailto:-">>">mailto:->> wrote:

Garth makes a good point. A broader net would likely catch more fish. Me included.

~Trevor Hendricks

On Feb 6, 2014, at 5:58 PM, "Gareth Oakes" <goakes@gpslsolutions.com<<a style="COLOR:" blue;=" text-decoration:=" underline"=" target="_BLANK" href="mailto:goakes@gpslsolutions.com">>">mailto:goakes@gpslsolutions.com>> wrote:

Well this discussion thread has certainly stirred up some interest. My thoughts:

* Is this a sales or technology conference?
* If it's a sales conference, you can get others to pay for it

* If it's a technology conference, it will have to be funded by individuals (eg. "building a business case" as Trevor/Sindy pointed out)
* I totally agree with the "build it and they will come", like any endeavour there is always an element of marketing needed in order to generate a good level of interest and excitement
* But who holds the "risk"? (organising, booking, marketing/sales, deposits, etc.)

From my perspective, I think a broader focus would generate more interest, eg. not just Arbortext but "structured documentation". That would then include people from communities such as Arbortext, APP/3B2, Framemaker, XMetaL, XSL-FO, XPP, AuthorIT, etc. There are a lot of exciting new technologies out there to explore, and improved methods of achieving results. I'm sure cross-pollination between communities would lead to some very interesting discussions.

There are already conferences like WritersUA which have some overlap, and dedicated XML conferences like Balisage, but I'm not sure there is a dedicated technology conference in this space (tools and methods in structured documentation).

Just my 2c.

-Gareth

C

ClayHelberg

18-Opal

Hi Gareth and Trevor--

Thanks, this is definitely something we can take into account, and ask people about in terms of what they want. OTOH, with a grassroots effort such as this, it might pay to keep it smaller and more focused, at least at first. If we try to go too broad in scope, I'm afraid we'll end up reinventing STC or WritersUA, which is way more than I think any of us wants to take on right now.

Speaking for myself, the thing I miss most about AUGI is the really deep technical content about Arbortext technology, how to really squeeze every ounce of value out of the system.

Sometime in the next few days I'm going to put together a very short survey (just a few questions) to try and get a sense of what it would take to get people to sign up and attend a user-organized conference. Stay tuned...

--Clay

N

naglists

1-Visitor

One possibility we have mulled over in the past is to "piggy-back" an
Arbortext-specific conference onto an existing one with which there would
be a lot of synergy ... the topics that Gareth mentions are a good example
of that. Balisage, CMS/Dita, for example, have been pondered (along with
the ones Clay mentioned). Whether to piggy-back with support from the
hosting conference ("buy" a track with our numbers, for instance) or to
bootleg (meet in seedy hotel bars 😉 is a good question to explore. An
existing, proven conference may be easier to justify than a new one and
provide group rate rooms, air-to-venue travel deals, etc.

M

mramshaw

1-Visitor

I think this list is a great starting point, I could make a case to attend a conference like this. I could have gone to PTC last year in Anaheim but there was the small matter of there not being any Arbortext content. Also, call me old fashioned but I am not big on social media and would much prefer some kind of survey or discussion topic here on Adepters to further plan this.

In Reply to Clay Helberg:

1) Some kind of PTC representation, even if it's just one or two people, to give a roadmap-type presentation on what's new and what's coming in the pipeline for Arbortext products. Even if the conference had to pay for their travel to get them there, I think it would be worthwhile.

2) Lots of technical content, tutorials, how-tos, etc. Things like:

a. ACL programming

b. Stylesheet development (FOSI and Styler)

c. ACM/Windchill integration

d. Publishing Engine configuration

e. Legacy data migration

Sign up

Please use your PTC eSupport account.

Welcome to the PTC Community

Please use your PTC eSupport account.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded