Excitment Building for Plone Conference 2008

I don't know about you guys, but I am starting to get super pumped for the Plone conference this year. I've been working with Alex Clark and the rest of the planning team since March. It all seemed so far away for such a long time. It started sinking in when I visited this summer for Joel Burton's Plone Bootcamp.
I posted the social itinerary for the conference last night and that's when it finally hit home for me....the conference is just around the corner! I arrive in DC on Oct. 5th and now that's just over a week away!
I'm particularly excited about doing a quiz night on Monday Oct 6th. If you're in town early for training, let's get Team Plone together and kick some interns butts! I also can't wait to go back to Science Club. I can't talk enough about that place. Great decor, great drinks, great food, and great service. Plus they were kind enough to bring in extra staff in anticipation of our group on Tuesday night. They've been very accommodating and I can't wait to go back! Now that I've been back in Iowa for a few months, I'm definitely missing all that ethnic fare I got so used to in NYC. I can't wait to try Sushi Taro and Dukem. I also want to swing by Cafe Saint Ex. One of my oldest friends, Holly, is a DJ there every once and awhile. I hope I can catch her set if she's there!
I know it's an odd thing to say, but I've also missed public transportation, especially the subway. I loved being able to hop on, pop on my iPod, tune out the noise and just watch people. I had a playlist especially for this when in NYC. So what are you going to be listening to while in DC? You know me, I love a good theme! Sounds like a challenge to me....
All this social planning and I've barely had time to think about what sessions I'll attend. I'm supposed to be live blogging for the conference so I should probably get that sorted out as well!
Can't wait to see you there!

We Need You for the Doc Sprint!

Note: This is repost of an original written on the Plone Conference 2008 Blog

It’s no secret that many people think writing documentation is boring. Sure, it’s time consuming, a bit dull, and, well, just not as exciting as programming something new. Nonetheless, having an accurate documentation set is important to any piece of software.

• How many times have you had a problem you needed to figure out and couldn’t get an answer?
• How many times have you gone looking for Plone docs only to come up empty handed?
• How many times have you found inaccurate or just plain incomprehensible documentation?

Happens more often than you’d like, right?

So here’s your chance to do something about it!

Great documentation improves Plone usability and approachability for users at all levels. Consistant and correct documentation cuts down on Plone’s notorius learning curve, making it easier for people to jump into more advanced topics and contributing back to the community. For those of you that own your own business or do consulting work, did you ever think that great docs on plone.org could save you money? Think about it…if great documentation already exists, you can refer you clients to plone.org instead of spending precious development time writing training materials. If your company uses Plone but can’t afford to hire outside help, using docs on plone.org may just be the key to keeping your implementation functional. Not to mention, having great documentation makes Plone much more visable and desirable to people who are just starting to consider a content management system. Thorough documentaiton soothes the nerves of anxious stakeholders and integrators alike.

The documentation team is making a lot of changes to try and improve both the look and content of documentation on plone.org. The post conference sprint is your chance to get involved and help! We have a lot of ground to cover. The more people that help, the sooner we can claim that our doc set is the best that it can be.

The Plone Documentation team needs your help and the post conference sprint is a great time to get involved. We welcome everyone - from beginners to advanced Plonistas, non-writers and writers, native and non native English speakers. We can find something interesting for you to do! So please consider staying for the post conference sprint and helping out the doc team.

Plone Conference Preparations

Oh I know dear blog, I've been neglecting you. But look! I have been blogging else where.

Check out the Plone Conference 2008 Blog and see what we've been talking about!

http://www.openplans.org/projects/plone-conference-2008-dc/blog/

As some of you already know, I'm the Social Director for the Plone Conference this year. I've been spending all my extra time making sure we have lots of fun after we're done learning.
Pay close attention to the conference wiki as we get closer and closer to the date. There's all kinds of great information there so take some time to explore the wiki.

http://www.openplans.org/projects/plone-conference-2008-dc/project-home

See you in DC!