The HighEdWeb 2008 conference: “Infinite Solutions” is from October 5-8 in Springfield Missouri. This year, I will be wearing several hats:

Presenter [UAD5]

This will be the second year that I am presenting at HighEdWeb and the presentation will be similar to the previous one. However, there will also be a lot of new information - so feel free to attend, even if you joined me last year.

• The Accessible Video Interface (UAD5)
  
• Usability, Accessibility, and Design Track
• Monday, 3:15 – 4:00PM
• Read the full description

If you are interested in implementing a video interface, make sure to check out the presentation page where you can download the handout, code and more.

Committee Member

I was asked to be the “multimedia representative” representative on this year’s conference committee. One of the new things that we are planning is podcasting. This means that we will attempt to record the 60-something sessions that happen simultaneously during the 3 main days. So, if I seem a little busy next week, you will know why.

Blogger

Every time I attend a conference, I just can’t help but live-blog the sessions. It helps me stay focused and supplies notes that I can look back on at a later time.

This year’s posts will be tagged HighEdWeb 2008 if you would like to follow along.

A few bad apples shouldn’t be able to ruin it for everyone. However, on the internet, that is usually what happens…

You set up a blog or mail form and everything goes great for a while. Then come the spammers. They want your attention and will do what ever it takes to get through.

Some of it is obviously computer automated:

Dear Sir / Madam.
You want to save your money and get licensed medications? I bet you do!

Others seem hand written:

Hey Gabriel,
Great blog. I really like your photos. Viagra Viagra Viagra. (more…)

After presenting in 2007, I was asked to be on the conference committee for the 2008 HighEdWeb. This next conference will be in Springfield Missouri, and I have been selected as multimedia representative (though I am not entirely sure what that means yet). We have already had several meetings (via the telephone) and many items are set, or underway.

The theme for the conference will be “Infinite Solutions” and this year we have decided to set up a  competition for designing the logo and website template. Along with the deepest admiration from your peers, you are also set to receive $200 cash if your submission is used. So all of you out there in higher education land should take a look and show us what you’ve got!

But, you better get started. We need to get everything rolling, so submissions  are required by January 21.

Details on the conference and competition can be found at: www.highedweb.org/2008

“HighEdWeb is an organization of Web professionals working at institutions of higher education. We design, develop, manage and map the futures of higher education Web sites.”

Each year, the organization puts on a conference where web professionals from colleges around the country gather to learn, discuss and network. I had the opportunity to attend in 2006 and had a great time. Afterwards, I thought about how to contribute and ended up submitting two proposals for 2007. Both were accepted. There will be an hour long session called “The accessible video interface” and a poster presentation called “Pattern Matching: An Introduction to Regular Expressions“. (more…)

We just spent the last two weeks down in the southwest. I wrote some trail logs of our adventures, but it may take some time to post those on the web. For now, I just wanted to get a quick synopsis and some photos up.

I flew down to meet Sam in Reno, NV. After a night in the crazy neon of the downtown casinos, we took off and headed west along highway 50. Later, we would learn that this road is nicknamed “the loneliest road in America”. Between the small towns, there are just hundreds of miles of desert and rolling mountains.

Our first stop was the Great Basin national park on the other side of the state.

From there we headed down to Zion and spend several days slot canyoneering. Afterward, continued down toward the Grand Staircase, Glen Canyon, Lees Ferry and then the Grand Canyon.

We then turned north and went up to Bryce Canyon and the Kodachrome state park.

On the way back, we passed the Bonneville Salt Flats and the 1000-spring senic byway.

Whew - I get exhausted just thinking about how much we packed in. (more…)