Dateline: 10/15/99
Overview | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday
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“...this is truly an event for users, with an emphasis on hands-on learning, practical user support, camaraderie, and fun.” |
Overview
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 10th Annual CorelWORLD '99 conference
in Orlando, Florida. I made some new friends, had the opportunity to put faces
with many of the names I see online from day to day, and I learned a LOT. I'll
be sharing with you what I thought were some of the highlights of the event,
but first a little history...
Few people realize that the CorelWORLD User Conference is an independent event, not hosted by Corel Corporation. Since 1989, the annual event has been hosted by Rick Altman and Associates. Although Corel representatives are present, this is truly an event for users, with an emphasis on hands-on learning, practical user support, camaraderie, and fun. This year's event had the biggest turnout since 1993 with approximately 340 participants in attendance.
The week-long conference is divided into the DRAW and PAINT portion on Monday-Wednesday, and the VENTURA portion on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is more of a general interest day with seminars that would appeal to all users on subjects such as HTML and Web design, Import/Export issues, PDF publishing, and more. Wednesday concludes with the CorelWORLD Expo which is open to all conference participants and local users. In addition, early conference arrivals have the opportunity to partake in their choice of one or two additional two-hour crash courses offered on Sunday for an additional fee.
Throughout the week, in addition to the keynote addresses, you have the choice between three concurrently running breakout workshops to attend. The workshops are presented by a variety of Corel experts and are more or less divided into beginner topics, advanced topics, and expert topics. Several times throughout each day of the event the "Prize Train" makes the rounds, this year awarding over $50,000 in prizes during the entire week.
As part of the conference registration, attendees receive the Conference Guide; a thick, spiral bound book of over 250 pages of conference material. In addition to the Guide, the accompanying CD-ROM contains additional material from all the breakout sessions. This is a great bonus, because if you miss a session, you still get to take home the materials to study at your leisure. Participants also receive T-shirts, tote bags, and other assorted goodies. The registration fee also includes breakfast, lunch, and usually a midday snack or two each day.
That's not all... There's The Corner Pub, an area where conference participants can gather to discuss specific topics with other users. If there's a topic someone wishes to discuss that isn't part of the conference schedule, they can line it up with a conference staff member who will assign you a time slot. As topics are lined up, they are posted in a central location and announced periodically. Anyone with an interest is welcome to attend. There's also the Help Center which is set up with all the hardware you need and staffed with specialists throughout all hours of the conference. Stop by anytime to seek out help with a specific problem, explore a seminar topic, or ask questions about a current project. The Trivia Contests are a lot of fun too... attendees can sign up to compete in teams while all conference patrons look on. If all that isn't enough, there are plenty of extracurricular activities planned throughout the week during the evening hours.
That gives you an overview of the entire event, but I'd also like to mention the specific workshops I was able to attend and highlight some of the folks I was able to meet. I'd like to note that I attended this year's conference as a volunteer. My primary responsibility was to collect the prize tickets during many of the breakout workshops. This gave me the opportunity to partake in most of the workshops I wanted to see, but I didn't stay at the conference hotel, so I missed out on many of the after-hours activities, and the chance to get to know more of the attendees. I also was only able to participate in the Monday through Wednesday portion of the conference due to a prior commitment.
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Did you attend this year's or a previous CorelWORLD event? Share your stories, experiences, and what you learned in the discussion forum. Related Links:
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Overview | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday
~
Sue Chastain
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