Conference Overview

Workshops
Workshops are the formal training part of the conference. Learn how to use indexing software, how to market your services or write contracts. To make your choices easier, workshops have been categorized into four areas of interest called tracks: a tools track for workshops about indexing tools, a business track for workshops about the business of indexing, a theory track for the theory of indexing, and a specialties track that deals with special types of indexing, such as Web indexes or online Help systems. Workshops last either three or six hours and are available all day Wednesday and Thursday as well as Friday and Saturday afternoons.

Roundtables
Roundtables are informal discussions conducted over lunch. A host knowledgeable on a particular subject holds forth to an intimate group of 8-10 while enjoying lunch on Wednesday or Thursday. Roundtables are interactive; feel free to ask questions and pick the brain of your host.

Panels
On Friday, you have the choice of four luncheons, each featuring a different panel discussion. See descriptions on Panels.

General Sessions
On Friday and Saturday mornings, the entire assemblage gathers for the general session presentations. These include the annual business meeting as well as presentations on topics as diverse as a history of indexing style to the indexing of 50 years worth of MAD magazine on CD-ROM.

Keynote Luncheon
After the Saturday morning general session, attend the keynote luncheon where we present the Hines and Wilson awards, recognize conference volunteers, and hear our keynote speaker, Jeff Duntemann, Editor in Chief of Visual Developer Magazine of Scottsdale, Arizona speak on the necessity of involving human judgment in the indexing of the Web.

Networking and Socializing
In response to feedback from the 1999 conference, we have built more free time into the schedule. Breaks between sessions will be longer and the Hospitality Suite, a proven success in 1999, will be back this year. Also, the major social event of the conference, the banquet, has been moved to Thursday evening, the night before the main conference, to give attendees a chance to get acquainted before the conference proper begins on Friday. Specific social opportunities are:

Hospitality Suite: The suite will be open and serving snacks and beverages Wednesday and Friday evenings and Saturday afternoon and evening. Why hang out in your room or the lobby when you have a cozy nook to hobnob with your fellow indexing wizards?

Welcome Reception: Thursday evening buses will take us a few blocks to the Pueblo Cultural Center. Weather permitting, we will enjoy an outdoor reception with a buffet of southwestern delicacies, native American dancers and musicians, and the center's gift shop and museum held open especially for us.

Saturday morning Town Hall meeting: Want to meet your officers and board of directors? Have questions about what's going on now and in the future of ASI? Saturday morning breakfast is your chance.

Saturday afternoon trip to the Botanical Gardens: Hannah Huse of the Gardening/Environmental Studies SIG is organizing a trip to the Rio Grande Botanical Garden. The garden features a glass conservatory with xeric species in the Desert Pavilion, aromatic species in the Mediterranean Pavilion and a trio of walled gardens with Old World design in fountains, tile, herbs and roses.

Exhibit Hall
Interested in the latest developments in tools and products of interest to indexers? Visit the exhibit hall, open daily.

Post-conference Tours
Acoma Indian Pueblo: One of the most unusual settlements in the Western Hemisphere is this ancient "city in the sky," which stands hundreds of feet above the surrounding land on top of a sandstone mesa. Acoma Pueblo was founded in the 12th century A.D. or possibly earlier. It is the oldest inhabited village in the United States. The 5-hour tour will depart from the Sheraton Old Town Hotel at 8:30 am on Sunday and return at approximately 1:30 pm. Cost. $35.

A Day in Santa Fe: Gray Line has modified their standard tour to better meet the interests of ASI members and to provide more leisure time in Santa Fe. The bus will take the most direct route to Santa Fe so that arrival time will coincide with the openings of the three museums at Museum Plaza. The tour fee includes a pass for admission to all the museums. Departure from the Sheraton Old Town Hotel will be at 9:00 am on Sunday with return at approximately 5:00 pm. Cost: $43.

To sign up for either tour, call Gray Line of Albuquerque directly. The toll-free number is 800-256-8991. Reservations can also be made by e-mail (grayline@rt66.com). Be sure to state that you are signing up for one of the American Society of Indexers tours, to avoid confusion with the standard tours offered other days of the week. Reservations will be accepted from January 17, 2000, through Friday, May 12. Payment for post-conference tours must be made directly to Gray Line of Albuquerque. A minimum of 5 participants is required for each of these ASI-sponsored tours. At the end of each tour, an envelope will be passed around the bus to collect tips for the driver and guide.