8th Annual Webmaster Forum
Date and location: Thursday, April 26, 2007 at the Illini Union
Updated March 30, 2007
Now in its 8th year, the Annual Webmaster Forum has become something of a campus institution. We're not sure if that's good or bad, but soon we can all start saying that we've got 10 years of experience. Once again we've got a great keynote, a plethora of practical breakout sessions, the annual Cool Website Awards, and the proverbial free lunch.
- Forum registration and information times are 8:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Illini Rooms, West Entrance).
- Lunch and coffee breaks will be supplied.
- The University of Illinois Webmasters Forum is sponsored by CITES.
Schedule
| Time | Illini Room A | Illini Room B | Illini Room C | Room 404, 4th floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:15-9:00 | Registration (West Entrance) and Coffee | |||
| 9:00-9:15 a.m. | Welcome (Mona Heath, Assistant CIO for Strategy and Communications, CITES) |
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| 9:15-10:15 a.m. | Keynote address: Jason Fried, Co-Founder of 37signals |
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| 10:15-10:30 a.m. | Break | |||
| 10:30 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. | Getting real: a way to build successful web applications (Jason Fried) | Usability in Higher Education IT: (Stacey Krejci and Cordelia Geiken) | Internet Media at UIUC (Drew McGregor, et. al., Jack Brighton, Moderator) | |
| noon-1:15 p.m. | Lunch: Cool Web Awards Presentation, CSS Parade | |||
| 1:30-2:30 p.m. | CSS Magic (Doug Burgett) | Ajax (David Kees) | Does your website look lke C.R.A.P.? (Rachel Weber) | |
| 2:30-2:45 p.m. | Break | |||
| 2:45-3:45 p.m. | Working and Teaching with Wikis (Joe Grohens, Moderator) | Issue-tracking, A Panel Discussion (Leslie Sherman, Moderator) | Secure Practices For Web Apps (CITES Security Group) | |
| 3:45-4:15 p.m. | A Consistent Identity (Sharla Sola and Joel Steinfeldt) |
Abstracts
A Consistent Identity
Presenter: Sharla Sola, Office of Public Affairs, and Joel Steinfeldt, Office of Creative Services
Level: Beginner
Description: This presentation explains how the Web section of the new Illinois Identity Standards help our campus communicate a consistent, coordinated identity, which amplifies the University's reputation for excellence.
Ajax
Presenter: David Kees
Level: Intermediate, Advanced
JavaScript has gone through a growth spurt in recent years and many tools have been developed relying on a new use for an old technology: AJAX. This lecture will focus on Asynchronous JavaScript: what it does, how it works, how it's different from the JavaScript we're familiar with, and how it can be used to enhance existing web applications. This is a reprise of a very popular brownbag.
Cool Web Awards Presentation
Level: Beginner
This year's best of show in the University's webworld.
CSS Parade
Level: Intermediate
View a sample of possibilities for styling HTML with our home-grown version of the CSS Zen Garden. Local webmasters' print, handheld, and screen stylesheets will be on display.
CSS Magic
Presenter: Doug Burgett
Level: Beginner
Don't sacrifice beauty for accessibility, or vice versa. After all, who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? With CSS and Web Standards, you can make your site beautiful and accessible at the same time! Create image rollovers from plain text. Build various column structures for your layouts. These CSS tricks will make your worries (and tables) disappear!
Does Your Site Look Like C.R.A.P.?
Presenter: Rachel Weber (User Interface Design Specialist, College of Education)
Level: Beginner
If it doesn't, it should! This session will use your own Webmaster-submitted examples to illustrate the use of C.R.A.P. principles from The Non-Designer's Design Book: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity You'll learn how to recognize good design, and realize the power of simplicity in conveying your site's message. If you've ever said, "I wish my site looked like that!", this is the session for you.
Getting real: a way to build successful web applications
Presenter: Jason Fried
Level: Intermediate
This Q&A explores /Getting Real/ is the business, design, programming, and marketing philosophies of 37signals. 37signals used the unconventional Getting Real process to launch five successful web-based applications (Basecamp, Campfire, Backpack, Writeboard, Ta-da List), and Ruby on Rails, an open-source web application framework, in just two years with no funding, no debt, and only 7 people. How'd they do it? http://getreal.37signals.com/
Keynote Address: Jason Fried, Co-Founder of 37signals
37signals is a developer of web-based software used by over 1 million people and businesses in 70 countries. Jason shares his experiences about what works and what doesn't in web development and how the unconventional methodologies followed by 37signals give it an edge.
Issue-tracking, A Panel Discussion
Presenter: Leslie Sherman
Level: Intermediate
Issue tracking systems can make or break any software development project and can be used by a webmaster as a user support tool. Leslie will lead a panel discussion comparing various issue tracking
systems used on campus. Come learn about the advantages of using an issue tracking system and compare the relative merits of some of the popular ones on campus.
CITES Security Group: Secure Practices For Web Apps
Presenter: CITES Security Group
Level: Advanced
The CITES Security Group will discuss application-layer security vulnerabilities for web application development. The speakers will discuss concepts and demonstrate examples.
Internet Media at UIUC: Uses for Instruction, Public Service, and Outreach
Presenters: Drew McGregor, Coordinator of Educational & Multimedia Technologies, Department of Computer Science;
Paul Riismandel, Digital Media Lab Supervisor, ATLAS, College of LAS;
and John Tubbs, Media Communications Specialist, College of ACES;
Moderator: Jack Brighton, Director of Internet Media, WILL Radio|TV|Web
Level: Intermediate
Streaming and downloadable audio and video have become essential for instruction, service, and outreach in higher education. Presenters at this session will demonstrate some of the interesting and useful things people are doing with Internet media at UIUC. We'll also discuss campus resources and services are available for those interested in using online media. And we'll cover some basic guidelines on producing and publishing media on the web. The presenters are part of the Multimedia Users Group, an informal collaboration of media producers and creators at the University of Illinois. For more information see http://www.multimediausers.uiuc.edu/ .
Usability in Higher Education IT: A Moral Mandate and an Attainable Goal
Presenters: Stacey Krejci and Cordelia Geiken from CITES
Level: Beginner
People are more important than technology; thus, user-focused design is an indispensable expression of our commitment to the humanistic mission of higher education. This session discusses how usability is not a set of methods but a mindset and how user input can be obtained inexpensively, without a full-scale usability lab.
Working and Teaching with Wikis
Presenters: Jim Witte, Norma Scagnoli, Doug Mills; Joe Grohens, Moderator
Level: Beginner
A panel presenting some ways that Wiki websites are used in university courses and for administrative work. This session will also discuss issues that must be addressed when deploying a Wiki, such as security, passwords, campus policies that need to be created, and student confidentiality issues. Audience participation will be encouraged.
