HighEdWeb 2008 will take place on October 5-8 in Springfield MO.
Unfortunately, I’m not going this year. I haven’t placed a call for guest bloggers as I did in the past, because many higher ed bloggers/twitterers are scheduled to make the trip. However, if some of you would like to take this opportunity to publish a few posts on collegewebeditor.com, just let me know by emailing me at karine@collegewebeditor.com
Whether or not you plan to go to Springfield next month, I’m sure you’ll be interested to read the Conference’s Program Chair Doug Tschopp’s perspective on this big event in the higher ed Web world.
1) This year’s theme is “Infinite Solutions.” What’s behind this catchy phrase?
The conference is always about solutions, or at least seeking solutions. Since this is a conference run by higher-ed web developers, with content from higher-ed web developers for higher-ed web developers… this conference is always about sharing our solutions with our colleagues.
So why “Infinite Solutions� Come on, you have to have the original Stars Wars opening scroll in your head when you read it… and there always seems to be something new to learn, that infinite set of knowledge that we all seek.
2) This year, the conference has changed location. What has been the impact of this change on the level of registration up until now? Next year, will it stay in Springfield or move to another location again?
The new location is awesome by the way. Excellent conference facility on a university campus… a nice Midwest college town with more than one micro brewery… exactly what our attendees will appreciate.
Registration is strong. We are very close to capacity and will close registration on September 23rd or earlier if we get just a handful more people to register.
Right now the plan is to move the conference every year. Returning to good locations periodically. We are currently reviewing proposals for 2009 and hope to announce that location at the conference. We also are looking to 2010 already and would be happy to talk to anyone interested in hosting it at or close to their school.
3) Can you tell us a bit more about this year’s program? If somebody can only attend a few presentations or workshops, what should they be and why?
Wow, a tough question. We had about 120 proposals for the 50 spots in the main tracks, so I anticipate an excellent program. The program committee had to turn away some excellent proposals because the overall quality was so good. Many top rated presenters from previous years are back and there are topics for all attendees… propeller hats to non-techies.
Overall – The poster session is always one of my favorites and I only wish it could be longer… I guarantee you can learn more in that one hour than any other hour at the conference.
Workshops – If wasn’t presenting an early workshop, I would do the Graphics Optimization session. My personal post workshop pick is Advanced Photoshop because I need it.
Main Tracks – I can’t pick because every hour I have 2 or 3 favorites. The big thing here is to stay for Wednesday morning and get the chance to see at least two of the best rated presentations in the repeat sessions.
Karine’s note: Are you going to HighEdWeb 2008, in your opinion which presentations look the most interesting? Post your take in a comment!
I can tell you that the XSS session will be entertaining AND informative =)
Not attending myself (even though Springfield’s practically in my back yard) but am sending three staff.