HTML Writers Guild Newsletter Volume 5 Number 20, 9 November 1999 http://www.hwg.org/ mailto:editor@hwg.org Table of Contents 1. HWG Membership Certificates Now Available 2. Learn New Skills Before Year's End with HWG Online Education! 3. New Orleans is the Place to Be! HWG at Builder.Com Live, Dec 7-11 4. Town Hall Meeting Tuesday November 23 (Note Day Change!) 5. Open Position on Governing Board 6. About the HWG-News Newsletter and Your Subscription 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. HWG Membership Certificates Now Available (Kynn Bartlett, HTML Writers Guild President, kynn@hwg.org) The Guild is pleased to announce the availability of Membership Certificates for Full members of the Guild! These optional paper certificates display your membership status in the Guild and are suitable for wall display. (At the present time, certificates are only available in English.) Any Full member of the Guild is eligible for a certificate, which is dated with the term of membership (one year) covered by your Full membership. Rather than increase the cost of Full membership for everyone, the Guild has chosen to make these membership certificates available for an additional cost of $5 to cover printing, shipping and handling when renewing or joining as a Full member. Members who do not wish a certificate are not required to pay. If you need an additional certificate, or if you are not renewing or paying your membership dues, a membership certificate is available to you for a $10 processing and shipping charge. For more details on the new membership certificates, please see: http://www.hwg.org/member/cert.html 2. Two New Online Courses: Intro to Programming Concepts, ColdFusion (Ann Navarro, Online Education Director, classes@hwg.org) Wrap up the year with HWG Online Education! Take a four, six, or eight week course with us and start the New Year right with new Web development skills! We know the winter season can be a busy time for everyone, so we've scheduled a full Winter Break into each one of our classes that span late December! You'll have an official break from Friday, December 24, through Sunday, January 2, 2000. You won't miss an assignment while visiting with friends and family! Courses open for registration through the end of December include: Introduction to Programming Concepts Dates: November 29, 1999 - January 14, 2000 (7 weeks - 1 week winter break) Tuition: $25 Full members, $50 Trial members Details: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/ Want to take one of our programming courses, but feel you're not yet ready for the "intro" courses? Here's the class for you! Learn the programming concepts central to all programming languages, and you'll be prepared to master your next (or first!) choice of scripting or programming languages with ease. Introduction to HTML 4.0 Dates: December 6, 1999 - January 21, 2000 (7 weeks -- 1 week winter break) Tuition: $25 Full members, $50 Trial members Details: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/h101.10.html Leave your WYSIWYG editor behind and explore the nuts and bolts that make web pages function! Introduction to Cascading Style Sheets Dates: December 6, 1999 - January 21, 2000 (7 weeks -- 1 week winter break) Tuition: $25 Full members, $50 Trial members Details: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/h151.7.html Add a little style to your web design! This popular course covers CSS 1 and 2, which can enhance the appearance of any web page! You'll learn which CSS rules are -- and are not -- supported by the major browsers, and more! Developing Dynamic Web Sites with ColdFusion 4 Dates: December 6, 1999 - January 21, 2000 (7 weeks -- 1 week winter break) Tuition: $50 Full members, $80 Trial members Details: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/db221.1.html Add dynamically generated content to your Web Site! Allaire's popular ColdFusion lets you incorporate database-backed Web sites into your design arsenal. With your knowledge of HTML, a basic knowledge of databases such as Microsoft Access, and your own Web server, you're on your way! Business Writing Basics Dates: December 13, 1999 - February 4, 2000 (9 weeks -- 1 week winter break) Tuition: $25 Full members, $50 Trial members Details: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/b101.5.html You may be good at HTML tags, but that's just half the equation! Learn how to make your content sizzle in our writing course! Beginning Programming with Perl Dates: December 13, 1999 - February 4, 2000 (8 weeks -- 1 week winter break) Tuition: $25 Full members, $50 Trial members Details: http://www.hwg.org/services/classes/p101.5.html Learn the basics of the Perl programming language, system administration, and a variety of other tasks. The course will cover the fundamentals of the language, preparing you for a variety of scripting projects. (Please note, this is not a CGI course) COURSE FEES Course fees are based on membership level; Full members receive a discounted tuition price, while Trial members pay the standard price. Full membership is only $40 per year, so 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/ 3. New Orleans is the Place to Be! HWG at Builder.Com Live, Dec 7-11 (Frank Boumphrey, Vice President of Special Events, vp-events@hwg.org) The HTML Writers Guild Speaker's Bureau is pleased to invite Guild members to the Builder.Com Live conference, which will feature HWG sponsored presentations: WHEN AND WHERE * Builder.Com Live! New Orleans, Louisiana 7-11 December 1999 http://www.builder.com/live/ WHO AND WHAT The best web design sessions all under one roof in the heart of the ultimate fun city! HWG presentations include Frank Boumphrey who will tell you how to "Use ASP to Access XML Data Stores" and the panel "You Can Build It, But They Won't Come If They Can't: Accessibility and Your Site" with Kynn Bartlett and others. HOW For more information on attending Builder.Com Live, please see the website at: http://www.builder.com/live/ Any special HWG events will be announced beforehand, watch this spot in the next newsletter! 4. Town Hall Meeting Tuesday November 23 (Note Day Change!) (Fred Barnett, HWG Assistant Secretary, fred@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. Due to the (U.S.) Thanksgiving holiday, the November Town Hall meeting will not be held on the fourth Thursday of this month, but instead on Tuesday of that same week. Here are the details for November's meeting: 23 November Town Hall Meeting Date: Tuesday, 23 November 1999 Time: 6:30 p.m. PST, 9:30 p.m. EST Server: HWG Interactive, http://interact.hwg.org/ IRC: irc.hwg.org, port 6667 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! ADVANCE NOTICE: The December Town Hall meeting will also be held on a Tuesday -- the 21st of December -- instead of a Thursday. 5. Open Position on Governing Board (Leanne Phillips, Guild Secretary, secretary@hwg.org) The Governing Board announces the retirement of Dain Anderson from the Board. Dain has served as manager of the Bookmark, the HWG's online bookstore, and as a member of the Governing Board. Due to time constrants, Dain has stepped down from both positions. The Board would like to thank Dain for all his hard work on behalf of the HTML Writers Guild and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors. Dain's resignation leaves a seat open on the Governing Board; members who wish to submit their names for consideration may do so by writing to gb-search@hwg.org. Applicants should meet the following set of qualifications: * Understanding of the Guild's strategic plan and bylaws * Member of the HWG for at least one year * Current Full (paid) member of the Guild * Must be at least 18 years of age * Experience with Guild operations highly desirable Members of the Board must commit to: * Serve a term of up to three years on the Governing Board * Invest a minimum of 10 hours per week in Board-related activities, and possibly more if asked to serve as an officer on the Executive Committee * Contribute to setting the direction of the Guild through participation on the Governing Board's private discussion list, and effectively articulate your vision for the HWG * Reach decisions based on the best interests of the HWG Inc. corporation as a whole, in cooperation with other members of the Board * Be willing to travel (if necessary) on behalf of the Guild Being on the Governing Board is a major responsibility and commitment, but it can also be very rewarding to shape the future of this organization. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to gb-search@hwg.org 6. About the HWG-News Newsletter and Your Subscription (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: mailto:lost-password@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 password support team 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 107,000 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. Copyright 1999, HTML Writers Guild, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Published monthly via email and WWW.