Reflecting on WordCamp

I had no idea what to expect going in but I have to say that WordCamp Victoria was well-organized, well-run, and informative. It was broader than I was expecting; the content of the sessions went beyond Wordpress itself to cover topics such as picking what to write, keeping the user in mind when you write for the web, and dealing with comments -- good, bad, and ugly.

The session I most enjoyed was the first session I attended: "Knowing & Knurturing Your Kniche Blog: Starting & Running A Successful Niche Blog in WordPress," presented by Mike Vardy. Refreshingly, his presentation did not rely on tech -- he used the blackboard. The basis of his talk was to pick something that you care about, that you know something about (and are prepared to learn more about), and then build it and promote the hell out of it. Kind of a Field of Dreams approach.

When I asked him what to do if the thing you pick is in the scrum -- one of a thousand blogs on a given topic -- he had two words of advice, "Write well." OK, Mr. Vardy, I will try.

I may even apply some of what I learned from Cathie Walker who talked about the way (most) users read websites (short answer: they don't -- 80% skim), what level they read at (generally below grade 8) and how you can cater to their needs.

That tied in well to what Lorraine Murphy had to say about moderating comments on a blog or forum. It made me think back to how I managed that ridiculous troll thing last year and how I have handled other tricky interactions online over the years. I'm still thinking.

I also attended sessions more specific to Wordpress -- about themes and plug-ins and alternate posting tools.

What now? Well, I am going to try to put my planned Wordpress niche blog into action -- sooner than later -- plus Hubby and I are scorching and rebuilding ThoseDeWolfes and (drumroll, please) we have set Kiddo up with her own blog. Cue the Yakkety-Sax...

EDIT: Cathie Walker's presentation, Writing for the Web is available as a pdf

Of Conferences

As conferences and training go, I am used to two models: the academic (DHSI, Women's Conference, etc.) and the union (CUPE, CLC, etc.)-- both styles are hyper-organized and tend to run like well-oiled machines.

Drupal registration ran the same way (especially as I registered early, on Sunday) so I had no foreshadowing of what was to come. However, Hubby attended a pre-conference training day that was delayed by nearly 90 minutes as attendees tried to download and install the required software that was not suggested prior to arriving. I think the main difference is that Drupal is all about "the community" and empowering the people to lead their own -- which they really do best in the "Birds of a Feather"(or "BOF") meetings where people gather to discuss common challenges, applications or other aspects of Drupal.

But let's get back to the disorganization... this morning, the opening session was booked for one room -- one room that did not hold all 3,000 attendees. So they simulcast it in two other rooms but that was still not enough for all those who wanted to see it. After that, the next session ran very well but, not surprisingly, it was run by an academic -- all the other sessions I've attended have been run by techies and designers, many of whom seem to be either completely overwhelmed by the crowds or completely ignorant of any variation among the attendees. There has been much discussion over the fact that this Drupalcon is double the size of the last one which itself was double that of the previous one. Part of this growth is that they have moved beyond the open source fanatics and on to a wider variety of web-designers and developers. Drupal now powers roughly one percent of the web.

Oh, and moving 3000 people around 8 classrooms means a lot of full classrooms -- and by classrooms, I really mean rooms filled with chairs, a handful of electrical outlets and a whole lot of people trying to balance laptops and type without enough elbow room. The only time I opened my laptop was during the keynote when we sat at the lunch tables. There were traffic jams during each class change and lots of grumbling. Watching the #drupalcon discussion on Twitter (from my iPod Touch), I could see that wifi varied greatly from classroom to classroom.

Worst moment though was the last session we attended today, called "From Photoshop to Drupal Theme" that ran from 5:30-6:30. I had really been looking forward to it -- as had Hubby -- so we stayed. Unfortunately, 40 minutes in, when the presenters got to the point where we expected them to fire up Photoshop and show us the details, they said, "So that concludes our presentation, any questions?" There was a collective WTF murmur from the audience and several people asked them to walk us through it but the presenters refused telling us that they felt we all had the design skills -- DUDE!! If we had those skills would we have stayed late for your presentation??? I think not. Grr.

That said, I'm still learning lots -- plenty about accessibility testing, security settings, and planning for re-theming a site -- that I can apply to the CUPE 951 site and my other sites, so I'm not worried; I'm definitely still getting my money's worth. Hubby though? He should probably be on the podium instead of in the audience, and that's definitely something to chew on.

Calm between storms

Last week was a big bag of stress right up until Thursday when by noon I decided I'd had enough of the stress at work and took a half day vacation. Friday was my flex day anyway and I managed to get an appointment with my hairdresser for a cut and colour (I'm back to basic black and a shorter, bouncier cut for the summer).

This weekend, we made time to go to the Oak Bay Tea Party and at least it was overcast but it was still crowded and kind of sad (I so much prefer West Coast Amusements to the company they now have -- Shooting Star Amusements). At least I got some Grid photos in since Willows Beach is in this month's Grid.

Otherwise, the last few days have involved gardening, napping, hang-time with the family and other non- and anti-stressful activities.

This coming week will be B-U-S-Y: I will be attending the Digital Humanities Summer Institute again, this time taking "Multimedia: Design for Visual, Auditory, and Interactive Electronic Environments" which includes a project component (eep!). Meanwhile, Minnie goes in to be edited on Wednesday and Hubby will be at Open Web Vancouver on Thursday and Friday. I still haven't quite figured out all of the juggling to get Kiddo to school, etc.

Oh, and since I mentioned the cats, you'll be happy to know they are used to each other now; Max only complains when Minnie attacks his tail more often than not, they just coexist:

Life in a nutshell...

Tonight I am pleased with myself: I whipped up an extra curtain panel for kiddo's room in a little over an hour. She had been complaining that with the lighter evenings she was having trouble falling asleep (it wasn't the light in particular, but the knowledge that it was still light outside and therefore not night; she sleeps with two small IKEA lights on over her bed).

Anyway, the panel I had was juuuuust barely wide enough to cover her window (a little light still bleeds through one side), and a little longer than needed. I hemmed both ends then folded the top down four inches and added grommets every four inches along, about a half inch from the top. I strung the full width along a cord which I attached by nails at the sides, for now.

I will go back later and install a curtain rod (I have one waiting) and hang the panel with some nice old shower curtain hooks or something similar, but tonight I just jurry-rigged it in there. Once it's up properly, I'll share photos.

...In other news...

I want to go to this conference: the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries. I've asked my supervisor and my manager (and his manager), and I should find out soon but I am not holding my breath; it's pricey, even though it's being held in Vancouver this year.

We're all season finale-d out around here and I thought I could reasonably be expected to leave the TV off, but then I found out that NBC is playing out the last half-dozen existing episodes of Studio 60. Um.... hooray? I'll watch... but it's going to be tough, knowing there aren't any more.

Speaking of not any more; the idiots at CBS killed Jericho after closing the season with a cliffhanger. Apparently fans have sent in three tons of nuts to CBS executives in protest. Awesome.

Oh, there is one show we are still watching: the last of The Sopranos. It will be interesting to see how the writers wrap it all up (only two episodes left to air here) but I think they should have mothballed it a couple of seasons ago. However, I am neither a network executive nor an Emmy-winning writer or producer, so what do I know?