View PTC Live Global 2014 Session Info & Register

[jsillari]

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

[DanGlenn]

I'm very late to this thread but I wanted to comment on the following text being added to PTC Live messages being distributed through PTC/USER:

"*Please note that PTC is not offering any Arbortext or other service topics at the PTC Live Global 2014. PTC continues to investigate new avenues to support that growing user community and encourages Arbortext customers to participate in the online Arbortext Community in the short term."

This text is being added due to the passionate feedback we received last year when generic PTC Live messages were sent out and Arbortext users went to look at the agenda and found the lack of content and voiced various opinions about being "spammed" by advertisements that did not apply to them. PTC/USER was designed as an integrated community and lacks mechanisms to easily filter content to target groups. It is never our desire "spam" our members so this message was meant to clarify the focus of the event so there would be no misunderstanding. There is a separate Services event that does contain Arbortext content, but still not the content this group is generally looking for.

Although we do not advertise as a general policy, the PTC Live event is currently our sole source of support and it is in our mutual interest with PTC to promote and drive attendance to the event. While we would very much like to both offer the contentthis groupdesires and not message you with irrelevant information, the clarifying text is the best compromise we can offer today.

As to the conversation about starting a separate event. I would offer that it's both a matter of getting a critical mass of user interest and a bit of "build it and they will come." PTC/USER was built by a few users like yourselves who organized, gathered and eventually attracted PTC's interest and the interest of our companies. It started slow and was a lot of work by some very dedicated people. PTC/USER would very much like to be part of that journey. Whatever you all need to do to put yourselves together whether it be by Meetup, Facebook, whatever, we'll be happy to support whatever way we can.

Dan Glenn
PTC/USER Board of Directors
Solar Turbines Incorporated

[ClayHelberg]

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

[GarethOakes]

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

[thendricks]

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&quot;=" 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

[thendricks]

Sorry Gareth! Stupid spellchecker.

~Trevor

On Feb 6, 2014, at 6:05 PM, "Hendricks Trevor" <-<<a style="COLOR:" blue;=" text-decoration:=" underline&quot;=" 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&quot;=" 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

[ClayHelberg]

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

[naglists]

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.

[mramshaw]

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