PLoP 2000

 Conference Schedule

The conference sessions begin on Monday morning. Each day will be quite busy, but we hope that they will also be rewarding and fun. Information on the individual events is linked at the bottom of this page.

Travel Plans

If at all possible, you should make travel arrangement so that you arrive around dinner time on Sunday and fly out late Wednesday afternoon. The shuttle running between Allerton House and the airport will usually require you to leave 2-3 hours before your flight departs. This means that you should aim for a scheduled departure time from the Urbana-Champaign airport of 3:00 PM or later in order for you not to miss any part of the conference.

Menus

Check out the menus and let us know if you have any special dietary needs.



Start  End  Event  Other Activities
Sunday, August 13th
17:00 21:00 Registration  
17:00 21:00 Pizza Reception  
19:00 19:45 Games  
20:00 20:45 Newcomer Orientation  
Monday, August 14th
07:30 08:25 Breakfast  
08:30 08:55 Reading Time  
09:00 09:55 Opening Ceremonies Shepherding Award
10:00 10:40 Games  
10:45 10:55 Break  
11:00 11:25 Writers Workshop Organization  
11:30 11:55 Reading Time  
12:00 12:55 Lunch  
13:00 14:15 Writers Workshop Session #1  
14:20 14:55 Games  
15:00 16:05 Reading Time Patterns Bookstore
16:10 17:25 Writers Workshop Session #2  
17:30 18:55 Dinner  
19:00 20:25 Plenary Session: Moving the Patterns Community Forward  
20:30 22:30 Entertainment  
Tuesday, August 15th
07:30 08:25 Breakfast  
08:30 09:25 Reading Time  
09:30 10:45 Writers Workshop Session #3  
10:50 11:25 Games  
11:30 12:25 Lunch  
12:30 13:25 Shepherding Workshop  
13:30 14:45 Writers Workshop Session #4  
14:50 15:25 Games  
15:30 16:05 Reading Time Patterns Bookstore
16:10 17:25 Writer's Workshop Session #5  
17:30 18:55 Dinner  
19:00 19:50 Newcomer Session: What Next? On the Future of Your Patterns  
20:30 22:30 Entertainment   
Wednesday, August 16th
07:30 08:25 Breakfast  
08:30 09:45 Writers Workshop Session #6  
09:50 10:25 Games  
10:30 10:55 Time to Checkout  
11:00 11:55 Closing Ceremonies  
12:00 13:00 Lunch  


Details on Some Activities

Games

Games are an integral part of the PLoP experience. This year, we are glad to welcome back George Platts as our "tangential thinking coordinator". George is a fixture at PLoP and EuroPLoP.

We encourage everyone to participate in the games as fully as they are able. You'll find that they add a lot to your PLoP experience, in terms of mental freshness, personal connections within the community, and just plain fun! 

Newcomer Orientation

PLoP veteran Steve Berczuk will lead an informal session for folks new to PLoP or the software patterns community. Topics will include the history of PLoP, the format of the conference, the nature of writers workshops, and workshop moderation. Of course, Steve will entertain any questions and maybe even answer some of them! And you need not be a newcomer to join in--either to ask or answer questions... 

Opening Ceremonies

This session will formally open the conference. We will introduce you to the people and facilities you'll need to know for the conference, and answer any questions you may have. We'll also present a short demonstration writers workshop, so that newcomers will have a better idea of how they work and so that veterans can refresh their memories. 

Shepherding Award

At PLoP and EuroPLoP this year, the Hillside Group is inaugurating a new award, the Neil Harrison Great Shepherd Award, to honor one or more shepherds who provided exemplary service to their authors and thus to the software patterns community. The award is named in honor of Neil Harrison, widely acknowledged as perhaps the one person who has contributed the most to our community to shepherd papers and to help the rest of us become better shepherds. Neil was honored at EuroPLoP this year. The first recipient of the award was Norm Kerth, for his exemplary work as a shepherd for EuroPLoP.

Who will receive the Neil Harrison Great Shepherd Award for PLoP-2000? You'll find out at the opening ceremony! 

Writers Workshops

The writers workshops are the heart of PLoP. If you are an author, you will stay with your workshop group for all the sessions. Please prepare for each workshop so that each author in your group has a valuable experience. Your co-authors will do the same for you.

Non-authors are strongly encouraged to choose a workshop group and work with it for all the sessions. Your workshop groups may invite you into full particiapation and, if so, you should prepare to participate just like another author. 

Patterns Bookstore

We plan to have Borders Book Stores as a guest. Borders will set up a table at which you can buy a selection of books on patterns, including some of Christopher Alexander's books. More details on the days and times will be made available soon. 

Plenary Session: Moving the Patterns Community Forward

The software patterns community is almost a decade old now. We have grown in size, in traditions, in talents, and in goals. People are beginning to ask themselves and one another, what now? Where are we headed, and how best can we arrive there? How can we best act as stewards of the gifts we've been given by the folks who helped build this community?

Please come to our plenary session on Monday night to participate in an activity that we hope will help facilitate our search for answers. 

Shepherding Workshop

Bob Hanmer, a veteran pattern writer, shepherd, and instructor, will lead a session aimed at helping us all be better shepherds. Those of you who have written a PLoP paper know just how important shepherds are to PLoP. They are the lifeblood of the community.

Even if your paper at PLoP-2000 was your first pattern-writing experience, we encourage you to look toward being a shepherd for future pattern events. This workshop will help you begin to contribute as a shepherd. If you are a PLoP veteran, please join us, too, to work toward being a better shepherd. 

Newcomer Session: What Next? On the Future of Your Patterns

The patterns community thinks differently about the life cycle of papers submitted to its conferences. Those who have never been to a PLoP often are not sure just what happens -- or can or should happen -- with a paper after it has been workshopped at the conference. This session will help newcomers especially figure out what to do next. 

Closing Ceremonies

This session will bring the conference to its formal close. We will introduce you to some of the folks who will be working on next year's PLoP. Then, we will "workshop" the conference, to help next year's organizers improve PLoP. Finally, we will close with a traditional end-of-PLoP game.


Eugene Wallingford ... July 15, 2000