Conference Planner

Conference Planner

The Conference Planner adds checkboxes to each session title as you browse. It is a simple "shopping cart" application. Checking a box adds the session to your plan. You can see an index of everything in your plan so far, as well as print the sessions in your plan.

Use the checkbox above to turn the Planner on (and off). Your planner choices will only last for your current browser session: once you quit your browser, you will have to start over again.

After turning on the Planner, select any of the links to the left to get started.

More information about the Planner and the technical requirements for it are below.

About the Planner

After you have browsed the conference sessions for a while and have identified sessions that you are really interested in, you may want to go into "Planner mode" to build a custom view of the conference sessions.

The Conference Planner is a simple planner to let you build lists of sessions you may want to attend at CHI 99.

When using the planner, an extra box on the right will appear, showing you how many items you have added to your plan. Also, there will be links to:

• Plan Index: chronological listing of your selected sessions, to help you review your plan
• Print Plan: full details on each selected session, without navigation controls, for printing out your plan

We think you will find the planner useful for at least two things:

1. Seeing if CHI 99 is worth attending. You can build a plan of sessions you think are valuable. If your plan becomes large enough, you will surely want to attend! Also, your bosses might like a print out of your plan to help them justify sending you to the conference.
2. Making a schedule. After you have decided to come to CHI 99, you can build a plan of sessions you will be attending. You can print out your plan and bring it to Pittsburgh! You may want to wait until late March to do this because more and more information is being added, such as session chairs, SIGs, and room numbers.

Turning the planner off will delete your current session choices and return you to a browsing mode without the checkboxes.

The Planner requires some "advanced" Web technologies: JavaScript and Cookies. Please see the technical details below to make sure your browser and settings can support the Planner.

Even if you have the technological requirements outlined below, there are several reasons why you may not want to turn on the Planner:

• You find the checkboxes annoying and think they get in the way.
• You do not want the slow down. Planner pages cannot be cached by your browser, so browsing in Planner mode will be slower.
• You do not want to enable JavaScript or Cookies.

Technical Requirements of the Planner

Unlike the conference sessions that are normally done solely in HTML, the Planner requires JavaScript (1.0) and Cookies. It is quite possible that your browser version and/or user settings will not support the Planner (or will make it cumbersome).

Browser Version

Your browser identifies itself as:

Most newer browsers (version 3.0 and later) should be able to handle the Planner. We are not familiar with your browser, so we have no idea if it can support the planner.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a programming language that is used by the Planner to save Cookies on your computer.

Even if your browser supports JavaScript, you may have it turned off in your settings or preferences. Click on the checkbox below to see if you have JavaScript enabled.

JavaScript test

If you got the message "JavaScript works" in a new window then JavaScript is enabled and you may be able to use the Planner. If you did not get the message, then you will have to turn it on. Exactly how to turn on JavaScript (also known as just "Scripting") varies widely from browser and version, so we cannot tell you exactly how to do it.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored on your hard drive by your browser. The Planner uses cookies to record the sessions you have chosen.

The Planner neither reads nor writes any personal information, so there should be no privacy concerns with using it. Also, the cookie is deleted when you quit your browser, so it will not be saved permanently on your hard drive.

Even if your browser supports cookies, your browser settings may be such that the Planner may still not work well, or at all.

• If your browser is set to always deny cookies (since you do not have to accept them, afterall), then the Planner will not work. You should change your settings to accept cookies if you want to use the Planner.
• Your settings may say to "ask me whether I want to accept or deny each cookie". If this is the case, the Planner will be very awkward because you will be asked to accept/deny a cookie every time you choose a session for your plan.

You can experiment with turning on and off the Planner above to see what your cookie settings are.

Finally, while you are using the Planner, you can see exactly what your CHI 99 Planner cookie looks like at the bottom of the page. (It is not very interesting, however.)

Caching

Planner pages cannot be cached because a change in your plan will cause the older version to be out of date. Well-behaved browsers will not use local copies of the Planner pages, so you probably will not have problems with this. But if a page seems out of date by not reflecting your current plan, then "reloading" or "refreshing" may solve the problem.