What You Missed at TAAC 8 (The Alternative Authorware Conference)
Aaron Jones
Macromedia
With October going full steam, hungry Authorware developers descended onto the Nevada desert to check out what was going on with Authorware at the longest running Authorware conference, TAAC8—The Alternative Authorware Conference.
What is TAAC?
TAAC is the yearly conference for Macromedia Authorware in North America. This year's event was held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the luxurious Alexis Park Resort and Spa. The hotel is off the strip and does not operate a casino, which made it a nice atmosphere for the conference.
TAAC is in its eighth year and has been all across the country in such famous cities as Orlando, Nashville, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City.
The TAAC website,
Coming up March 22-27, 2004 is also EuroTAAC, the European conference
for Authorware and all things eLearning. It is held every year in various
locations in Europe. EuroTAAC 2004 is going to be in Edinburgh, Scotland
with the main conference on March 25-27, 2004.
Figure 1. View of the third pool and grounds at Alexis Park
Keynotes
The keynotes each morning kicked off the day's events. Each of the three keynote speakers is an expert representative in the learning software field and had some excellent topics to share with the conference attendees.
Thursday Keynote with Michael W. Allen Chairman and CEO of Allen Interactions, Inc.
Also known as the "father of Authorware," Michael Allen with Steve Berth and Carl Philabaum created the original incarnation of Authorware for the purpose of creating an easier and cheaper tool for developing training and learning courseware. The general idea was to make the tool as robust as possible without requiring the user to know scripting or programming.
Allen talked about his history working as a tools architect working on projects leading up to the development of Authorware. He later formed Authorware, Inc., which eventually merged with Macromind Paracomp to form Macromedia in the early nineties.
Though Allen shared some of his rich history with us, his real goal was to speak about creative application design and how important evolving beyond boring eLearning was for the industry. Rather than rely on page-turners, it is his hope that eLearning gain back the push for original and stimulating content that truly engages the minds of the learners. One of the backbone tenets for good learning content, Allen described the "3 Ms" of courseware: Meaningful, Memorable, and Motivational.
All attendees also received a copy of his new book, Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning - Building Interactive, Fun, and Effective Learning Programs for any Company.
Figure 2. Michael Allen, the "father of Authorware"
Friday Keynote with Vahé Kassardjian from Integration New Media
Vahé Kassardjian, President and founding member of Integration New Media, spoke on the topic of productivity. After defining productivity, Kassardjian asked the rhetorical question: “Why should I care?” He explained that we as developers need to be productive for three major reasons:
- Competition: There is a global competitive environment. "Eat lunch or be lunch", he said!
- Humans are hard-wired for competition; it is a part of our nature of evolved behaviors.
- And lastly, we need to be productive so we can have more time to enjoy life.
To elaborate, Kassardjian showed several charts and graphs about time-management, relating the scaling of urgency versus importance. One problem is that some people need the stress of urgency to get started on a project. Any good procrastinator knows the truth in this statement.
To close his presentation, Kassardjian discussed some concrete examples of ways to increase productivity while developing with Authorware:
- Use Knowledge Objects.
- Use the PowerPoint Converter to leverage existing content.
- Use the upcoming Impressario Xtra (from Integration New Media); it will support full PDF integration in Authorware without the need for a rendering engine such as Acrobat Reader to be installed.
- Can use RoboDemo inside Authorware using the RoboDemo KO from DazzleTech.
- Architect database-driven applications.
Saturday Keynote with Jamil Zainasheff , Director of Engineering, Macromedia Authorware
Zainasheff spoke about the new, free Authorware 7.01 update. He also covered technical changes and improvements to the Authorware 7.01 Web Player and then hinted at possibilities for the future. The company eHelp and its products was another common topic among conference attendees as Macromedia had just announced its intent to merge with eHelp on the first day of TAAC. Zainasheff discussed some of the implications and intent of the intended merger helping to clarify this for
Finally, Jamil again personally fielded open questions from the audience—a brave and dedicated engineer indeed!
Daily Tracks—Speaker Presentations and Hands-On Workshop Demos
With so many different, interesting tracks the hardest part was deciding which ones to attend, as you couldn't be in two places at one time. Below are some highlights.
Thursday Tracks
Introduction to Authorware 7 Features—introduced by Jamil and presented by Christopher Dant, Macromedia Authorware QA Engineer.
Chris Dant walked through the major new features inside Authorware 7, especially focusing on the PowerPoint import feature.
Figure 3. The hands-on lab
eLearning Standards and Authorware—Carol Fallon (Integrity eLearning) and Andrew Chemey (AEC Consulting and Macromedia).
This tandem presentation was very well planned and was a great overview and demonstration of standards compliance with Authorware. Covering the oft-confusing topics of learning standards such as AICC and SCORM, this was a must see presentation for many in the learning industry.
Fallon cleared up much of the confusion about standards in her overview and then handed the podium over to Chemy, who demonstrated how to use the LMS Knowledge Objects included in Authorware 7. After that, it was Fallon's turn again and she walked through the set up and packaging of an Authorware project for ADL SCORM standards-compliance using the new Authorware 7 Learning Object Commands (Metadata Editor and Metadata Packager).
Figure 4. Developers conversing after a presentation
Friday Tracks
OSX and Authorware—Michael Mizen (President, Mizen & Assoc. Inc.)
Mizen talked about what does and does not work in Authorware when packaging for playback on Apple's Macintosh OS X platform. He gave many tips and tricks and concluded with discussion of how to create a hybrid Macintosh/Windows CD-ROM for your Authorware pieces.
Flash in Authorware—Joshua Burkholder (Freelance Developer)
Being a very energetic yet patient teacher, Burkholder led a hands-on workshop about integrating Macromedia Flash in Authorware, with an emphasis in the hands-on!
People of all levels of Macromedia Flash experience came to check out this demo workshop. Burkholder covered integrating both the Flash Asset Xtra in Authorware as well as the Shockwave Flash Object ActiveX Control. The audience was able to quickly see how to send events to a Flash file inside Authorware or pass messages back out of Flash for Authorware to respond to.
Figure 5. Joshua Burkholder-Flash In Authorware
Scientific & Engineering Simulations and Presentations via Authorware—Dr. Sherman Marcus (Senior Research Engineer, RAFAEL – Dept. 88)
I found Marcus' presentation very intriguing. He showed how he uses Authorware both as a tool for scientific research and also to create presentations of his findings. The rich, interactive presentations he can create with Authorware have effectively helped him in being awarded research grants.
Figure 6. Dr. Sherman Marcus
Expanding Authorware beyond CBT—Dr. David Gordon (Design Manager, DocuMedia Learning Group)
Gordon discussed many other uses for Authorware besides using it to create eLearning content. Authorware has a tendency to get pigeonholed in the eLearning category, but Gordon made it apparent that Authorware has many rich uses beyond just learning or training. Some of the major points he made were Authorware's strengths in the following:
- Rapid prototyping
- Information kiosks, screen savers, and other dynamic data presentation tools
- Peer-to-peer networking
- Simulations
Figure 7. Dr. David Gordon
Saturday Tracks
Authorware on Secure Systems—Chris Maier (Interactive Systems Developer, HEB Grocery Company)
Maier taught about how to get the Authorware Web Player plug-in up and running on locked down systems and networks. Many tips were provided that could help a developer build and deploy Authorware content in a wide variety of restricted environments.
Using Custom JavaScript Objects with Authorware 7—Chris Swenson ("Code Monkey", DazzleTech)
This hands-on demo was an excellent introduction to using JavaScript in Authorware. Swenson demonstrated an overview of syntax differences between JavaScript and Authorware Script and then dug into examples of using JavaScript to build an Authorware application.
TAAC Events
The Meet and Greet Reception was held in the Apollo Gardens room, adjacent to the large first pool and fountain. Excellent food and an open bar ensured everyone was enjoying the reception and having stimulating conversations. Of course, what is a meet and greet without a bit of the usual networking amongst peers in the industry? Rest assured—there was plenty of opportunity to meet with the movers, shakers, and makers in the Authorware field.
Figure 8. Jamil giving Mark Henry a red coat of hair spray coloring (Mark lost a bet with Jamil about TAAC attendance)
Ask Macromedia Panel Session—Jamil Zainasheff (Dir, eLearning), Miriam Gellar (Dir, Product Mgmt), Tom Neuhold-Huber (Sr QA Mgr), Mike Baker (Software Engineer), Andrew Chemey (Software Engineer), and Aaron Jones (Tech Support Team Lead).
This was an open question and answer panel discussion. After brief introductions, the floor was opened to the audience to ask questions of Macromedians regarding Authorware. There were technical questions, policy questions, and many questions were related to the marketing of Authorware.
Figure 9. Five of the six members of the Ask Macromedia Panel (I am not there yet because I am holding the camera)
Poolside Chat
Jamil also hosts the Poolside Chat at TAAC each year, where developers can discuss their favorite ideas for new features in the next version of Authorware. They then have to prioritize the list by placing 10 virtual dollars on the features they would like to see the most. This is a very unique experience for developers to get the chance to give their two cents directly to the Authorware product team.
Pre and Post–Conference Classes and Workshops
Additional classes could be purchased for before and after the conference in case you couldn't get enough of Authorware. This is an excellent opportunity for training from some of the best.
Authorware Games
The Authorware Games present a challenge to the conference attendees and letting them create their own teams, then try in four hours to develop the best piece of Authorware learning content. This is a chance for new and experienced Authorware developers and instructional designers to flex their Authorware muscles with creativity as well as technical expertise. After judging and questioning by a panel of judges, the winner is declared and given some excellent prizes, including Macromedia software and free TAAC conference pass for next year. The competitors this year did a great job creating interesting learning content quickly in a team environment—and with limited resources at hand, some were developing in the conference hallways!
Figure 10. One of the teams at the Authorware Games
Conclusion
TAAC was a wonderful experience, and I am glad I was able to attend. With a broad range of topics and expert speakers, it has much more to offer beyond just the topics of Authorware and eLearning. If your focus is Authorware, then being at TAAC is an absolute must. Hopefully you can be there for the next one!
Resources
TAAC website
EuroTAAC website
