by Garret Romaine

The annual STC Region 7 Conference comes back to Portland, Oregon in October. Hosted by the Willamette Valley Chapter, the event takes place at the Lloyd Center DoubleTree Inn on October 5-6, 2001. The theme is "2001: An Information Odyssey." The Web site is still under construction, but the URL is http://www.region7conference.com.

Arrangements are continuing at a quick pace. In this article, we'll report on the keynoter, some of the leading presenters lined up, and tours that are in the planning stage.

Keynoter
The keynoter is Vince Flanders, noted usability critic and irreverent author of "Web Pages that Suck." You can visit his Web site at http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/ for a preview of his always-entertaining talk. Flanders continually has a new peeve as he keeps ahead of web technology. Current jihad: "Mystery Meat Navigation." Writes Flanders: "This new trend in navigation must be stopped. The goal of Web navigation is to be able to see where you're going …" Known under different guises as "Saturnic Navigation" or "Non-Intuitive Navigation" Flanders says this newest twist on site navigation (based on JavaScript rollovers) is confusing and risks alienating customers.

Flanders knows that for developers, Mystery Meat Navigation (MMN) is "very seductive -- it looks cool and it's used on a lot of sites that win design awards. Because there are no long strings of text, MMN makes the page look cleaner because there's more white space." But users become easily confused and are forced into playing a game similar to the old "Concentration" where you have to memorize and match pictures.

"When you drive down the road, you don't see road signs that wait for you to get near them before they tell you what they say," Flanders notes on his site. "Well, now that I think about it, Seattle has a lot of MMN; nevertheless, it's still a very bad concept."

Speakers
The early lineup of speakers includes Lance Gelein, former STC International President and well known to appreciative Portland audiences; and Andrea Ames, future Society president and another familiar face. Gelein has several topics to choose from for the conference -- he has presented on portfolio tips, surviving in a politically charged office, and project management.

Ames has concentrated lately on user interfaces and embedded assistance. Like Gelein, she has been a headliner at more than one Willamette Valley Chapter meeting, and thus has a collection of presentations to choose from.

The deadline for paper proposals was not reached by the time this article was written, but there are plenty to pick from already. Submissions have arrived from Microsoft, Sakson & Taylor, and author John Hedtke, among others. E-Help (formerly Blue Sky) is one of several corporations interested in participating. Main stems include Management, Tools & Technology, and Writing & Editing, with a catchall "Miscellaneous" category that will include Translation & Localization, Training & Education, and Career Development.

Facilities
The Doubletree Inn is an excellent facility for a convention this size, and the staff has been quite helpful in setting up arrangements. You can visit the Lloyd Center Doubletree on the web at http://www.adventur.com/hotels/doubletree.htm (scroll down and pick out the Lloyd Center facility). They are conveniently located near the Oregon Convention Center and the Rose Garden Arena, home of the Portland Trailblazers. The world-famous Lloyd Center shopping mall is an easy walk away as well. There are plenty of fine restaurants in all value ranges nearby.

Tours
The Hospitality committee is comprised of Diane Purser, Bernice Kieffer, and Barry Kieffer. They're tracking down several interesting options for out-of-towners, including winery and brewery tours, First Thursday art gallery viewing, and a riverboat cruise. Final details will be available shortly.

Because of the experienced, senior leadership in the Willamette Valley chapter, expectations are very high for the conference. Volunteers have already logged hundreds of hour in preparation, and the activity level will only increase from here on out. So make a mental note: Save the first weekend in October for Portland, Oregon. See you there!

Garret Romaine is a technical publications lead at Pixelworks, Inc. in Tualatin, OR. He is a past president of the Willamette Valley Chapter and can be reached at garretr@pixelworks.com.