September 1, 2005

Speaking in San Diego

I have been invited to speak at the E-Recruitment Mastery Workshop, October 12-13 in San Diego, CA. The conference is cosponsored by Noel-Levitz, a higher ed recruitment consulting company, and Liquid Matrix, a software company specializing in higher ed e-communication. I will be speaking on October 12, and the title of my presentation is The Changing Role of the University Webmaster.” The secret subtitle (in my brain only) is We don’t just post links anymore.” Here is my abstract:

As the Web becomes more and more crucial to key university functions, university Web sites are becoming increasingly complex. This complexity, coupled with rapidly changing technologies and large scale adoption of the Web as a major communication tool, has changed the field of university Web development in recent years. Webmasters must be focused on strategic planning and team building as well as the technical aspects of Web development, and must make significant efforts to keep abreast of progress within their field as well as the needs of their university. How the role of the university Webmaster has evolved, and some predictions about the future direction of university Web development will be examined.

That is all a bit dry— I think my scientific training got the best of me there. The presentation will be more fun, I promise— I’m using it to convince myself that I’m not more interesting in writing than in person, which is how I’ve been feeling lately. It is a specialized conference, but one of the reasons I was asked to speak is my independent voice when it comes to dealing with vendors and thinking about university sites. So don’t let the corporate” sponsorship make you too cynical :). Let me know if you’ll be there— I’d love to meet you. And if you webmasters out there have an idea you’d love to be able to put in a presentation like this, leave a comment. Oh, and I will definitely post my slides here after my talk.


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