HTML Writers Guild Newsletter Volume 5, Number 4, 17 March 1998 http://www.hwg.org/ editor@hwg.org Table of Contents 1. Upcoming Online Classes: Javascript, Perl, Dynamic HTML, and more! 2. March Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, March 25, 1999 3. Job Hunting? Subscribe to the HWG-Jobs Mailing List! 4. Governing Board Update: 1999-2000 Guild Officers 5. Join Us at Toronto for WWW8 in May! 6. From the Treasurer: Canadian Checks Accepted Here! 7. Mentor/Apprentice Program Closure 8. HWG-News Newsletter FAQ: Including Subscription Information COMING SOON: April is Accessibility Month at the HTML Writers Guild! Join us for a month-long focus on creating websites accessible to _everyone_! This issue of HWG-News is sponsored by: --------------------------------------------------------------------- iServer -- Verio Web Hosting http://www.iserver.com Virtual Servers * Electronic Commerce * Reseller Program iServer provides fast, reliable Virtual Server Services to thousands of websites including the HTML Writers Guild, and offers the iServer Reseller Program to help you build your successful Internet business. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Upcoming Online Classes: Javascript, Perl, Dynamic HTML, and more! (Ann Navarro, Online Classes Manager, classes@hwg.org) The Guild's online classes program provides our members with convenient, affordable instruction on a wide spectrum of web authoring subjects. Instruction is done via a web-based interface and allows for interaction with the instructor and other students at a time convenient for each participant. Courses you can sign up for now include: G101: USING ADOBE PHOTOSHOP 4/5 Dates: March 15, 1999 - April 23, 1999 (6 weeks) *** Limited late enrollment available, sign up now! *** Graphics for the web -- learn how to add visuals to your web designs, generated by Adobe's popular Photoshop software. H101: INTRODUCTION TO HTML 4.0 Dates: March 15, 1999 - April 23, 1999 (6 weeks) *** Limited late enrollment available, sign up now! *** The basics of web authoring -- graduate from your WYSIWYG editor and discover the beauty of HTML crafting! P151: INTRODUCTION TO JAVASCRIPT Dates: March 29, 1999 - May 7, 1999 (6 weeks) *** A few "seats" remaining, sign up now! *** Make your web pages come alive! Javascript/Jscript/ECMAscript adds interactivity and action to your site; learn to program in Javascript here! H301: WORKING WITH DYNAMIC HTML Dates: March 29, 1999 - May 7, 1999 (6 weeks) *** New Course! This course will allow you to blend your current talents in HTML, Scripting, and CSS into what's commonly known as Dynamic HTML. Go beyond the mouseover into engaging effects that can be viewed by most of today's most popular browsers. [Pre-requisites: HTML, Javascript, and/or CSS experience.] D201: DESIGNING FOR UNIVERSAL ACCESSIBILITY WITH HTML 4.0 Dates: April 19, 1999 - May 30, 1999 (6 weeks) Learn and apply principles of accessible web design to create pages that can be used by anyone! P101: BEGINNING PROGRAMMING WITH PERL Dates: May 10, 1999 - June 18, 1999 (6 weeks) Perl is one of the most useful programming languages in the webmaster's toolbox -- learn it now! COURSE FEES For all courses, Full and Discounted members may register for $25, Trial members for $50. Upgrade your membership before registering, and save money! Payments may be made online via secure transaction; all figures are in U.S. funds. A certificate of completion is available for an additional $5; the request needs to be made at the time of registration. Textbooks (when required) are separate and may be purchased through the Guild's online bookstore, The Bookmark. Books should be purchased before the first week of class! In addition, students should have regular access to the web and the ability to post completed assignments on a public (non-Intranet) web server. Sign up today through our online enrollment forms or get more information at: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/ 2. March Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, March 25, 1999 (Kynn Bartlett, HWG President, president@hwg.org) Each month, the Guild provides an opportunity for real-time discussion and chatting via HWG Interactive. These monthly meetings are hosted by members of the Governing Board (with most of them in attendance), and give our members the chance to voice your views about the HWG. The details for March's meeting are: 25 March Town Hall Meeting Date: Thursday, 25 March 1999 Time: 6:30 p.m. PST, 9:30 p.m. EST, 02:30 (26 March) GMT Server: HWG Interactive, http://interact.hwg.org/ IRC: irc.hwg.org, port 6667 Hosts: Joe Cline, Kynn Bartlett Channel: #townhall To connect, either go to the URL above and use the Java-based client available via the web, or use your favorite IRC client and join channel #townhall. We look forward to meeting you there! 3. Job Hunting? Subscribe to the HWG-Jobs Mailing List! (Chris Higgs, List Guide Manager, lg-manager@hwg.org) To meet the needs of our membership, the Governing Board has approved the creation of a new moderated mailing list for announcing job openings. The list is intended as a resource and information channel for our membership; all HWG members are welcome to subscribe. Anyone (Guild member or non-member) can submit a job listing for review and posting by the HWG-Jobs List Guides. NOTE: Job postings will no longer be sent to the HWG-Business list, now that HWG-Jobs is operational. What can be advertised on HWG-Jobs? Only job opportunities (contract, full-time, part-time, volunteer) related to the development and maintenance of a website. This includes, but is not limited to, content development, page and site design, graphic artwork, programming, and website maintenance. What should a job advertisement contain? The ideal situation is to compose a brief message, with a URL link to company information (if appropriate) and clearly list a contact address. Including "hype" would be considered advertising so keep the company info short and to the point or use a pointer. To what extent is the HWG responsible for the positions advertised? HWG-Jobs is a service for members to be notified of job opportunities. The HWG is not in any way responsible or liable for the positions advertised. For subscription information, FAQ, and more, please see the following: http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-jobs/ Questions regarding the new list can be directed to the HWG-Jobs List Guides at: mailto:lg-jobs@hwg.org 4. Governing Board Update: 1999-2000 Guild Officers (Leanne Phillips, Secretary, secretary@hwg.org) The Governing Board recently met to elect the corporate officers who will serve one year terms. Your 1999 HWG Governing Board members and officers are: President Kynn Bartlett Treasurer Ann Navarro Secretary Leanne Phillips VP of Technology Joe Cline VP of Marketing Kynn Bartlett VP of Finance Ann Navarro VP of Member Education Leanne Phillips Members at Large Gerald Oskoboiny Jim Barchuk Fred Barnett Dain Anderson Frank Boumphrey Please feel free to write to any of the members above regarding the Guild's direction and activities! 5. Join Us at Toronto for WWW8 in May! (Ann Navarro, Vice President of Finance, affinitycard@hwg.org) The Guild is proud to be participating in the Eight Annual World Wide Web Conference (WWW8) being held at the Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, May 11 through May 14, 1999. Keynote speakers at WWW6 will include Dr. Greg Papadopoulos Chief Technology Officer, Sun Microsystems, and Dr. Robert Metcalfe, Vice President of Technology, International Data Group. Featured WWW6 tutorials include E-commerce, Metadata , XML, XSL, Security, Java, RDF, JavaScript, Python, SMIL, Search Engines, Web Engineering, Web-based Collaboration, and Internationalization. Worships will cover Virtual Documents, Hypertext, Functionality, Online Learning, Science Education, 3D Graphics, Adaptive Systems, User Modeling, and Web Engineering. The exhibit hall will feature booths by conference presenters and other Web related corporations and organizations, including the HTML Writers Guild! Come meet the Guild at booth 516! If you are interested in attending or would like more inforation, please see the WWW8 website at: http://www.www8.org/ More information on the Guild's activities, including member get-togethers and other HWG events, will be announced soon! VOLUNTEERS WANTED: The HWG will be promoting our organization with a booth on the exhibit floor at the WWW8 Conference in Toronto, Canada. We are looking for volunteers to man the booth, answering questions for show attendees about the Guild. Free HWG t-shirt to any volunteers who works a shift in the booth! We're looking for people who fit the following criteria: * Friendly and outgoing, with a desire to meet other web authors and fellow HWG members. * Local to the Toronto area, or attending the conference on your own. (We cannot reimburse booth volunteers for attendance expenses.) * Available for a minimum of one four (4) hour shift. (Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday May 11 to Thursday May 13.) * Familiar with current Guild programs, aims, and membership levels. * Willing to assist Guild staff as directed at the show (Heavy lifting or other physical activity should not be required.) If you are interested, please email your date(s) and hours of availability, name, email address, postal address, telephone number, and age to ann@hwg.org, using the subject line "WWW8 Volunteer". 6. From the Treasurer: Canadian Checks Accepted Here! (Ann Navarro, Treasurer, treasurer@hwg.org) The Guild is pleased to extend native currency payment options to our Canadian members. Your membership and class invoices will now include an option to pay in Canadian Dollars using checks or money orders drawn on Canadian banks. The invoice itself will still be presented in US dollars. However, the payment instructions section will contain a list of current exchange values. When your invoice is generated, you will see the following: Canadian Members may now pay in Canadian funds drawn on Canadian banks. Use the following exchange rate information (exchange rate subject to change. Please remit promptly). If your invoice shows: US $20 - pay $31 Canadian US $40 - pay $61 Canadian US $100 - pay $152 Canadian [Rates listed are examples only and may not reflect current values.] Exchange rates will be updated weekly, or as the currency market requires. Questions about payment via Canadian dollars? Please email Ann Navarro at treasurer@hwg.org. 7. Mentor/Apprentice Program Closure (Leanne Phillips, VP of Member Education, vp-education@hwg.org) The HWG's Governing Board regularly reviews all Guild programs to make sure that they are meeting the program goals and the needs of the membership. During the most recent review, the Board concluded that the current Mentor/Apprentice program's goals have been met by a combination of existing, well-developed programs within the Guild. The goal of the Mentor/Apprencie program was to provide two services to our members: A guide to learning an entire suite of skills (such as Javascript, HTML, or graphics); and a contact person whom the apprentice could ask for assistance. Both of these services are currently being met by the relatively recent addition of the Guild's Online Classes program and the open discussion between experienced and beginning members afforded by the public mailing lists. Therefore, the Board has decided to phase out the Mentor/Apprentice program, allocating those resources currently used by the program to projects that better meet the members' needs. Current mentors and apprentices can, of course, continue their correspondence if they wish; however, the Guild will discontinue future administration of the program, including no longer matching new apprentices with mentors or monitoring apprentice/mentor progress. Anyone with questions about this change may write to Leanne Phillips, Vice President of Member Education, at vp-education@hwg.org. 8. HWG-News Newsletter FAQ: Including Subscription Information (Kynn Bartlett, HWG-News Newsletter Editor, editor@hwg.org) Some questions you may be asking: Q: Why did I get this mail? A: You received this newsletter because you are a member of the HTML Writers Guild. This message came from hwg-news, the Guild's mandatory mailing list for all members. If you need more information about hwg-news, please see the List Charter at: http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-news/index.html Q. Why doesn't this newsletter talk about web design or HTML? A. The newsletter is the Guild's administrative bulletin to the membership. If you are interested in the topics of Web design and HTML, then you might want to subscribe to some of our discussion lists devoted to those topics. More information on the Guild's offering of discussion lists can be found at: http://www.hwg.org/lists/mailinglists.html Q. How can I find out more about Guild activities? A. The Guild has set up a one-way announcement list, HWG-Announce, that carries bulletins of day-to-day Guild business. For details on how to subscribe, please see: http://www.hwg.org/lists/hwg-announce/ Q: How do I unsubscribe from hwg-news? A: Since this is a required list in order to maintain your Guild membership, unsubscribing is the same as resigning from the HTML Writers Guild. If you have your Member ID and password, to resign your membership in the Guild and to unsubscribe to hwg-news, visit: http://www.hwg.org/member/resign.html Fill in the pertinent information, and submit it. If you don't have a Member ID, or have forgotten your password, send mail to: newapps@hwg.org with a Subject of: Resign membership In the body of the message, provide the following information: * Your email address(es) * Your member ID if you have one. * The list of discussion lists you are on. Please remember that unsubscribing to hwg-news automatically resigns you from the Guild. If you have problems with unsubscribing, please contact the Database Manager for help. Q: Can my company advertise in the Guild's newsletter? A: Yes; the Guild is offering sponsorship opportunities in HWG-News on a limited basis. If you are interested in advertising your web related product or service here, please send email to advertising@hwg.org or call (714) 526-4963. Discounts are available to Guild Business and Corporate members, as well as for multiple placements. The Guild's newsletter reaches over 75,000 web authors worldwide each month. (Note: The Guild does not make our member database available for third party use. We have a strong privacy policy and will not release our members' personal information; our mailing list is not for sale. Any questions regarding the Guild's advertising or privacy policies can be directed to advertising@hwg.org.) Q: What if I want to comment on this newsletter? A: The HWG-News Mailing List is a "Read-Only" list -- please do not try to reply to this message directly. If you wish to contact the editor of this newsletter, you may do so by sending email to editor@hwg.org. Each article begins with the contact information for the author as well. This issue was edited by Kynn Bartlett. Copyright 1999, HTML Writers Guild, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Published monthly via email and WWW.