Hi Liz--
I appreciate how you are trying to get the ball rolling on this. However, I think we need to be careful about judging how much interest there is in a potential new conference based on the number of people who are willing to sign up for Yet Another Social Media list with no details whatsoever to go on.
I certainly understand that no one has gotten any plans in place, so there aren't any details to give at this point. But keep in mind that the lack of specifics is going to discourage some people from chiming in, people who might be very eager to participate if they knew what they would be getting.
Maybe a better approach would be to have a discussion about "what would it take to get people to come to a meeting"? The discussion could be informal, on this list, or could be formalized through a survey or something similar. But, if we can develop a manageable list of things that would be in high demand at such a meeting, and then include that in the proposal/planning, you might see a lot more excitement and commitment.
To get the discussion started, my wish list for an independent Arbortext conference would include the following, at a minimum:
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
3) Time and infrastructure for networking, even if it's just a designated happy hour at the hotel bar with some cheesy ice-breaker games to get people chatting with each other.
--Clay