Report from Rochester: Day Two
The festivities have begun.
HighEdWebDev 2007 began today with a late start and a fair amount of swag. Each participant gets a HEWD branded white polo shirt, bag, water bottle, notepad and pen. In addition there are shoestring badge holders. After registration, there was a pizza and salad lunch for the folks going to pre-conferences (and also for folks that are presenting). After lunch, the pre-cons commenced.
I went to PRE-5, which was a three hour workshop on User-Centered Design: A Hands-On Exploration of Collaborative Techniques. Julie Strothman, our presenter, covered a lot more than I’ll be able to in my one-hour session, but I was surprised at the overlap of techniques mentioned. I encouraged her, and several folks in the class, to attend my session for a nice contrast. Julie and I approach things from completely different angles and I found it really interesting to learn about her methods and reasonings because of that.
Julie’s methods seem to be a natural fit if you need to generate analytical results that can be then used to provide documentation and case-making for improving/redesigning or otherwise convincing the powers that be that your site is unusable. My approach totally assumes that the folks you’re dealing have some understanding and/or respect (perhaps, too, neglect, which can result in a lot of design freedom) for the user. I am so sure that the things you’ll learn in these processes will improve the usability and design of your sites, that I’m less worried about actual numbers. I assume the work will speak for itself. At some places, this sort of approach wouldn’t fly. And I admit, I’m awfully romantic about these sorts of things.
When all’s said and and done, there’s clearly a place for both and it’s good to have both methodologies in my back pocket.
After pre-conference workshops, conference orientation began and following that a very long line to get “dinner” on very small plates. The food was good, but it wasn’t dinner. Another beef: no 25th floor party suite this time around. I hope HEWD committee folks recognize the possibility that the parties on the 25th floor last year made choosing HEWD ‘07 a lot easier for some and it’s a disappointment to hear (admittedly, through the grapevine) that the space isn’t available to us again this year.
Post-”dinner,” a dozen or more conference goers haphazardly made our way to Nathaniel’s for libations, pool and/or popcorn. A good time was seemingly had by most, several of whom are still there.
As for me, I’m already back at the hotel, barely past midnight and downright sober. See (some of) you at tomorrow’s keynote.
