We’ve been asked by people who have never attended a DTI Users Group conference what the conferences were about and who from their newspaper should attend.

The users group comprises representatives from all areas of newspapers: News, Advertising/Production, Classified, Systems/IT, Project Management and Internet/Online.

Once a year we retreat from the pagination battlefield to share our war stories, learn from each other and brainstorm with experts.

How are your colleagues at other papers pulling it all together? What can you learn from their experiences, and they from yours? What don’t you know about your system and the software? What tips could you come away with to make your users’ lives easier and better, if you had just a little time to learn more?

You’ll make invaluable industry contacts and leave with new ideas and a clearer picture of what the future holds for pagination technology.

Feature sessions and area-specific workshops are the meat and potatoes of the conference and the agenda is shaped by the suggestions of the members. If you don’t see what you need in the workshop listings, ask any of the conference planners and you’ll get answers to your questions.

This year, joining the ranks of DTUG member newspaper presenters will be DTI staff closely involved with software development, project management, training and system support. Representatives from Adobe and Apple Computer will also be on hand to listen to user needs and suggestions. As planning proceeds it’s likely that other vendors will join the ranks of participants.

Our breakout meetings give users a forum to discuss bugs and feature requests of a particular product, then decide on the top issues and features they’d like DTI to address. We submit these in advance of the conference and get responses before the conference ends.

Who should attend? As many as your operation can spare. The DTI Users Group is only as strong as its membership, and we invite you to join us.