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Things I've learned at WritersUA that have nothing to do with technical communication
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 — posted by Alan Pringle
I've been in Portland with Sarah and Matt at the WritersUA conference. I've attended some informative sessions, but I have also picked up a few bits of information that I didn't learn from a conference presenter:- There is good food in Portland. Some friends who live in Oregon met me in Portland, and they took me to a restaurant that's quite a bit off the beaten path. Lovely Hula Hands resides in a cozy old house, and the food we ate was excellent. The caramel and amaretto custard earned high marks from all of us; a friend referred to it as "camaretto."
- Having a stain-resistant finish on your pants can be helpful when you're bleeding. I sat down in one session and noticed red streaks on my tan wool pants. I thought I might have brushed up against a table or box around our booth and gotten something on my pants, but then I saw blood on a finger. I had unknowingly cut my hand and transferred the blood to my pants leg. I thought I had ruined the pants, but I was able to get the stains off easily by dabbing at them with a paper napkin and a bit of water from the bottle I was toting around. I had no idea the pants were stain resistant, so that was a happy bonus for the day.
- Going to a hands-on session 20 minutes ahead of time is still not enough time to install software and files. Yesterday, I attended Rob Houser's double session on using Captivate. Sarah recommended I get down there early to get the software and files installed, and I did just that. My laptop, however, was highly uncooperative. (Why yes, it does have Vista on it!) It refused to read the memory stick that had the exercise files, and the installation process for the software itself got stuck in some sort of loop. About 25 minutes into the session, it was clear I wasn't going to be able to complete the exercises. I ran a System Restore on my laptop while watching the presentation. BTW, my hat is off to Rob Houser. It takes a very brave soul to run a hands-on presentation. All sorts of challenges can arise: computer issues (just like mine), differences in attendees' experience, and so on. He handled a tough situation quite well.
Labels: writersua2008
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