Penguicon Souvenir & Schedule Books Done
They are off to the printer. You can look at PDF drafts of them on this page. I have now begun work on the tri-fold brochure with the schedule grid and errata.
Chrometa tells me that I worked on them for 30 hours, 8 minutes, and 50 seconds. At $20 per hour, this is a value of $600 of professional work, pro bono. I automated two time-consuming parts of the process this year, so my mind boggles at what Chrometa would have measured in previous years.
Jen made me a Python script which took the output from our web-based database and turned it into an XML file, with which I automatically applied my style sheet to the schedule. For all previous Penguicon and ConFusion books I have done, I applied a style from the style sheet to each paragraph by hand, one at a time. This year I still had to apply the little topic icons, but I sent out a proof draft the same day I entered the content.
I always feel a vestigial panic in March and April-- my body has acclimated to Penguicon stress on an annual clock. And yet, suspiciously, everything appears awesome. Trevor and his team were organized and thorough. They arranged the rooms and timeslots, checked for conflicts, confirmed it with the presenters, and got it to me on time. This allowed time for the community to spend a reasonable time proofing.
Normally it's "Beautiful and legible, or correct enough to be useful. Pick one". For six years my goal has been a program guide which is both simultaneously. It's difficult to accomplish when working with so many volunteers on a project with so many links in the chain that can break. Just when I had begun to lose hope and burn out, I believe that quest is achieved this year. This has injected me with fresh enthusiasm.
Comments
sorcycat on Apr. 19, 2010 12:51 PM
Jen made me a Python script which took the output from our web-based database and turned it into an XML file, with which I automatically applied my style sheet to the schedule.
Did you learn that trick from U-Con? I can generate XML over text if that is preferred.
matt-arnold on Apr. 19, 2010 5:25 PM
No, I didn't. Please do generate XML. I'll give you the appropriate tags at that time.
netmouse on Apr. 19, 2010 2:41 PM
Fresh enthusiasm is good!
Now that I'm publishing Midfanzine again, I'd like to run that diagram in it. let me know if that would be ok and if you would be interested in writing a short anything to go with it.
matt-arnold on Apr. 19, 2010 6:21 PM
You certainly may run that diagram. I would like to run an edited version of this text with it. When is it due?
netmouse on Apr. 19, 2010 6:23 PM
Awesome. If you could have it by the end of the week or one week from today, that would be great. I am hoping to publish the current issue before the end of the month and I would like to include this. Would that be doable?
matt-arnold on Apr. 19, 2010 6:38 PM
Sure. I'll do it right now while I'm thinking of it. Expect an email by end of day.
matt-arnold on Apr. 19, 2010 7:32 PM
Come to think of it, that blog entry, while valuable in and of itself, is on a separate topic from the graphic. I have created a writeup specifically describing our communication process.
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