tug99 meeting announcement and survey

[TUG99 survey TUG99 survey]

ANNOUNCING THE 1999 TUG ANNUAL MEETING

As recently announced in TUGboat, the twentieth annual meeting of the
TeX Users Group will be held at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, August 15-19, 1999.  We invite TUG
members (and their friends) to join us in Vancouver, and we encourage
you all to consider presenting and/or giving a workshop.  We would like
to offer information on installing and using existing macro packages and
software tools, and, of course, everyone wants to hear about new macros,
new software, and new approaches to using TeX and LaTeX. We're extending
a special invitation to publishers, commercial vendors of TeX, and
consultants.  We'd like to hear about your services and/or products, and
we'll be happy to schedule presentation time for you during the
conference and to provide you with a display area.

The Program Committee would like this conference to provide worthwhile
information for all segments of the TUG community.  In order to meet
this goal for such a diverse group, we are planning to schedule parallel
sessions as part of each day's agenda.  The overall scheme is to start
with general discussions about the day's topics, then to continue with
parallel presentations and workshops on these topics.  *For example*, a
session about the latest developments in LaTeX 2e could include a
discussion of the problems in controlling the placement of floating
tables and figures, followed by an introduction to the improved macros
for handling floats.  During the parallel sessions, a technical
discussion about the development of the macros *and* a workshop giving
step-by-step instruction on how to use the macros would be scheduled at
the same time.  We hope that this arrangement will better serve the
interests of both developers and end-users.

The theme of the conference is ``TeX Online:  Untangling the Web and
\TeX''.  We are focusing on the issues involved in converting TeX/LaTeX
files to electronic formats; some of these are:
   - how to convert the files;
   - how to handle graphics \special's;
   - what fonts are suitable for electronic formats;
     how to use alternate fonts;
     licensing issues;
   - designing for the screen instead of the page.

Right now, the Program Committee wants to hear from you, so this isn't
just an announcement--it's a survey.  Even if you don't feel qualified
to make a presentation, you *do* know what your current TeX problems and
interests are.  You can help to make the '99 meeting a success by taking
the time to tell us.

Below you will find a list of suggested topics.  Please take a few
minutes to respond.  Which of these topics best suit your current needs?
Please be specific; telling us you ``like them all'' is not very
helpful.  We will try to design a program based on the responses to this
survey--your opinion matters!

We are also planning to provide full courses the week before the
conference.  Again, we want to know which topics would be most helpful
to you.  Do you need a course in using TeX?  LaTeX?  Do you need courses
on using some of the supported packages?  Writing macros?  Would you be
interested in a course on HTML?  Designing for the Web?

If you're interested in giving a presentation or workshop on a suggested
topic or some other related topic--or teaching a course, we especially
want to hear from you.

Please reply to:  tug99-pc at zebra.us.udel.edu

                                    Thanks for your help,
                                    TUG'99 Program Committee

SUGGESTED TOPICS

As you review this list, please tell us which you would most like to see
at TUG'99. If you don't see what you need, feel free to make other
suggestions.

TeX:  Do you use plain TeX, as opposed to LaTeX, for your work?  Are you
interested in learning about macro sets other than LaTeX, such as Eplain?

   TeX in the Office:  interactions with programs like Mathematica,
   Matlab, Maple; relationships between word processing files (Word,
   Word Perfect) and TeX; using TeX to typeset spreadsheets produced by
   Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, etc.

   Basic TeX:  short course presenting the TeX lifestyle plus a dozen or
   so commands, sufficient for audience to compose simple reports and
   letters.

   Introduction to Eplain:  Eplain provides macros for LaTeX-like
   features such as automatic numbering, list environments, labelling
   and cross-referencing, without locking the TeX-user into LaTeX
   styles.

LaTeX:  If you're a LaTeX user, are you now using LaTeX 2e?  Do you still
need introductory sessions like those listed, or are you ready for more
advanced topics?  If so, please tell us what subjects you'd like to see.

   Making the Transition from LaTeX 2.09 to 2e.

   Introduction to LaTeX 2e.

   Supported Packages:  discussion of changes to familiar environments,
   like multicolumn, and features of new packages.

   Beyond tabular:  Overview of various packages that extend the basic
   tabular environment, including packages that automatically break long
   tables across pages.

   Generating Bibliographies and Indices:  Using BibTeX and makeidx.

   Basic LaTeX:  same as Basic TeX, above, but for LaTeX (Basic TeX
   would be a prerequisite).

   Designing Your Own Class Files.

Fonts:  Do you need more than Computer Modern?  Are you considering
electronic publishing?

   Virtual Fonts:  what they are, some elementary font projects.

   Using outline fonts with TeX:  how to make sure your Adobe fonts
   work properly with TeX.

   Typesetting Proper Math with Other Fonts: i.e., other than
   Computer Modern.

   Font Issues of Electronic Publishing:  choosing fonts for viewing as
   well as printing; output considerations; licensing and copyright
   restrictions.

Graphics:  Are you interested in packages for producing graphics?  Do
you need to know more about integrating graphics files into your
TeX/LaTeX documents?  Are you using (or trying to use) color?

   Graphics via TeX macros, such as:  LaTeX, epic, eepic, PiCTeX,
   PSTricks.

   Graphics via Metafont, Metapost, and XY-pic.

   Integrating Graphics into TeX Documents: encapsulated PostScript;
   bitmap images; GIF and JPEG files; conversion between graphics
   types; color.

   Graphics in Commercial Implementations:  overview of graphic
   inclusion features of various commercial packages, such as PCTeX,
   Scientific Word/Workplace, Textures, TrueTeX, Y&Y TeX System.

   The In's and Out's of dvips.

TeX and the Web:  Are you interested in converting your TeX/LaTeX files
to electronic format?  Do you need to know more about how to design for
the Web?  Would you be interested in sessions on pdf and html?

   TeX, multimedia, and the Internet.

   Creating color Web graphics with TeX.

   Using TeX and CGI to create dynamic TeX documents for faxing, web, etc.

   Overviews of pdftex, dvi to pdf, and LaTeX2HTML.

   What's New with Math on the Web:  IBM techexplorer and MathML.

   Color Design for the Page *and* the Screen: making sure what they see
   is what you meant.

CTAN and Public Domain TeX Systems: Do you need help using the latest
CD's or downloading from the archives?

  CTAN:  Discussion of finding your way around the TeX archives and
  retrieving files.

  TeX Live CD:  Overview of contents and installation.

  4AllTeX:  Overview of installation and customization.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.  Your comments are appreciated!