Schedule¶
Write the Docs is more than a conference. Each year we organize a wide range of events so that people can come together, collaborate, and learn from each other in different ways.
Saturday, May 13¶
The only event scheduled on Saturday is the annual hike to Pittock Mansion. If you get into town early, join us on the hike and take the chance to explore Portland in all of its glory.
The hike starts at 2pm on Saturday.
Sunday, May 14¶
The Writing Day, Workshops, & Reception will be held at Crystal Ballroom located at 1332 W Burnside St.
During the day, we’ll hold our Writing Day documentation sprints, followed by the conference reception in the evening. We also have two half-day workshops running in parallel with the writing day.
We encourage everyone to drop by on Sunday evening for the conference reception. You’ll have a chance to get acquainted with each other over some drinks and snacks. We’ll also help groups organize dinner plans, so you can continue your conversations over more substantial food as well.
Writing Day Schedule (Free for attendees)¶
Learn more about Writing Day.
8:30
Doors Open, Breakfast Served
9:30
Writing Day Introduction - Introduction to Sprints & Project Introductions
10:00
Team up and start working
12:30
Lunch Break
18:00
End of Writing Day, Beginning of Reception
20:30
End of Reception
Workshop Schedule (Paid tickets)¶
Learn more about the workshops.
8:30
Doors Open, Breakfast Served
9:00
Workshop begins: Learn how to Git
12:30
Workshop ends: Learn how to Git. Lunch Break
13:30
Workshop begins: Structuring and writing documentation
17:00
Workshop ends: Structuring and writing documentation
Monday, May 15¶
The main conference will take place at the Crystal Ballroom located at 1332 W Burnside St.
This is the main event! Hear from lots of interesting folks about all things documentation.
Main Stage¶
8:00
Doors Open, Breakfast Served
9:00
Eric Holscher - Introduction & State of the Docs
9:20
Conversations about Eric's talk
9:30
Switch Speakers
9:40
Kate Voss - Error Messages: Being Humble, Human, and Helpful will make users Happy
10:00
Conversations about Kate's talk
10:10
Switch Speakers
10:20
Tom Johnson - Building navigation for your doc site: 5 best practices
10:40
Conversations about Tom's talk
10:50
Snack break
11:10
Amelia Abreu - Caring Systems: Documentation as care
11:30
Conversations about Amelia's talk
11:40
Switch Speakers
11:50
Christy Lutz - You have already succeeded: Design critique guidelines make feedback easier.
12:20
Lunch
13:20
Lightning Talks
13:50
Switch Speakers
14:00
Ryan Pitts & Lindsay Muscato - No Community Members Were Harmed in the Making of This Doc Sprint
14:30
Switch Speakers
14:40
Lyzi Diamond - Testing: it's not just for code anymore
15:10
Snack break
15:30
Andrea Longo - Do you know a runbook from a flip book? How sysadmins use documentation
16:00
Switch Speakers
16:10
Ruthie BenDor - Even Naming This Talk Is Hard
16:40
Switch Speakers
16:50
Matthew Buttler - Only Interesting Conversations: The symbiotic relationship between docs and support
17:20
Group Photo
17:30
Day 1 close
19:00
Official Conference Party @ JackKnife
22:00
End of Official Conference Party
Lola’s Room¶
Unconference from 1pm-5pm, these run in parallel to the main talks.
Tuesday, May 16¶
The talks will take place at the Crystal Ballroom located at 1332 W Burnside St.
Main Stage¶
8:00
Doors Open, Breakfast Served
9:00
Kenzie Woodbridge - Everyone's a player (in a mid-90s MUD)
9:30
Switch Speakers
9:40
Jodie Putrino - Treating documentation like code: a practical account
10:10
Switch Speakers
10:20
Sam Faktorovich - Interviewing and hiring technical writers: the Siberian way
10:50
Snack break
11:10
Ingrid Towey - The Wisdom of Crowds: Crowdsourcing Minimalism in an Open Organization
11:40
Switch Speakers
11:50
Sarah Hersh - Start with the tasks, not the endpoints
12:20
Lunch
13:20
Lightning Talks
13:50
Switch Speakers
14:00
Jesse Seldess - Bootstrapping Docs at a Startup
14:30
Switch Speakers
14:40
Carl Parker - Intelligent Documents and the Verifiability Crisis in Science, Tech Writing, and Life
15:10
Switch Speakers
15:20
Lightning Talks
15:50
Closing Announcements
16:00
Day 2 close. Feel free to hang out and enjoy some snacks.
18:30
Write the Docs meetup social and conference after-party @ New Relic
21:00
End of meetup social
Lola’s Room¶
Unconference from 9am-3pm, these run in parallel to the main talks.
Tuesday Night - Social¶
The after-conference social will start at 6:30pm. It will be hosted at New Relic’s office, 111 SW 5th Ave, #2700 (on the 27th floor).
This event is open to the public. There will be light snacks and drinks available.
Say Goodbye¶
Say goodbye to all your new and amazing friends. We’ll see you in Prague in September, or again in North America next year :)