April Conference Updates

If you were looking to present at any of the conferences I’ve mentioned in the past few months, I hope you already submitted your proposals. Here’s a recap of what’s going on with the conferences coming up in 2014.

WordCamps

As always, you can check the WordCamp Central schedule to see which WordCamps are scheduled, and see if any of them are in your area. As for the WordCamps I mentioned previously:

• WordCamp Austin – call for proposals is closed; speakers have been announced; registration is open
• WordCamp San Francisco – still no news about whether there will be a call for proposals or not

HighEdWeb

All of the calls for proposals for the HighEdWeb regionals have closed, and the call for proposals for the national HighEdWeb conference has closed. Registration for most of these conferences are open at this point.

• HighEdWeb Pittsburgh – This conference already occurred.
• HighEdWeb New England – This conference is scheduled for April 25, but registration is closed at this point.
• HighEdWeb Michigan – Registration for this conference is open until May 5 (assuming it doesn’t fill up before then)
• HighEdWeb Southeast – Technically, the call for proposals for this conference is supposed to be closed, but the proposal form is still available on the website, so you might be able to sneak in if you do so quickly. I’m not sure when registration will open, but it should be opening fairly soon.
• HighEdWeb National (Portland, OR) – The call for proposals has closed; they’re working on fleshing out the schedule now. Registration is open already. If you want to attend, you should hurry up and register, before it sells out (which it usually does just before the Early Bird rates expire).

Other Conferences

• Web Conference at PSU – Registration for this conference is open. This year, they’re changing the schedule a little bit; there will be two workshops offered after the conference. The first workshop will be taught by Luke Wroblewski, and the second will be taught by Ethan Marcotte. The two of them keynoted the conference together a few years ago, and were phenomenal.
• UBTech – The schedule for this conference is set, and registration is open. The Early Bird rate still appears to be available. The special lodging rate at The Mirage is only available for a little bit longer, so, if you’re interested in attending UBTech, you should at least hurry up and reserve your hotel room. I will be reprising the “WordPress in Higher Ed” SIG (special interest group) with Mike Richwalsky again this year, so, if that sort of thing interests you, you might want to sign up for that pre-conference activity.
• edUI 2014 – The call for proposals for edUI is closed, now, and the schedule is being figured out. Registration is open. There are a specific number of “early bird” tickets available or edUI, so, if you want to pick one up at that price, go ahead and register now; once the Early Bird tickets are sold out, the cost goes up for anyone else wanting to register. There is also a special “Student” rate for any students interested in attending (you will be required to show proof of your student status). I will be presenting a workshop with Boon Sheridan exploring how to fix/rebuild your website “one piece at a time”. We will be exploring ways to make iterative, meaningful changes to your site in order to effectively and efficiently improve the user experience. If you are in a decision-making or design/UX/UI position at your organization, I would highly recommend it (if I do say so myself). If website content is more your bag, Colleen Jones is offering a fantastic workshop on writing content that matters. If you’re more tech-oriented (as I usually am), or you’re interested in building an efficient, effective mobile presence (essentially building out a native app with HTML5, etc.), Greg Rewis is coming back to edUI to teach a full-day workshop on that.
• Confab Higher Ed – The call for proposals for this conference has also closed. Registration appears to be open. Their early bird price is effective until May 30, then the cost goes up pretty significantly. If you’re interested in attending Confab Higher Ed, make sure to register early. It does not appear that a schedule has been announced for this conference, yet, either, so it’s probably still being planned.

Online Events

• Rosenfeld Summit – This is a great opportunity to hear from some of the leading experts in UX/UI without leaving the “comfort” of your working area. You can even follow along on your tablet, so you don’t necessarily have to spend the whole time at your desk. You can register for an individual ticket if you want to watch the summit by yourself, or pick up a meeting room ticket to watch the event together with a few of your colleagues.