The February meeting of the Adobe User Group of Atlanta turned out great. I think that everyone found some really cool ideas on how they could use some of the features of Acrobat 9.

Quote of the evening: "15% of most corporate IT departments budgets goes to paper supplies." Holy crap. Can you imagine how many jobs could be saved in our crazy economy if corporations reduced their paper use (not to mention trees)? Adobe just released a white paper on Enterprise Sustainability (and Acrobat) that is an interesting read (and could be useful to some of our clients). You can find this white paper here.

Adobe's presenters Phil Lee and Ann Fracas would have continued to show the really cool PDF example files for hours if I had let them.They wanted to show as many of the new features possible (as well as some of the more useful yet overlooked older features of Acrobat).
We are scheduling a "Flash Inside PDF" meeting for the Adobe Flash Platform User Group of Atlanta later this year. It's really powerful to see a Acrobat form use Javascript to talk to a Flex-based charting application all inside a Acrobat 9 PDF file. I think this use of Acrobat combined with Flex/Flash is really cool and has a totally untapped potential.

There are two meetings at Roundbox Global next week:

Tuesday, February 24, 2009, 7PM
Adobe Flash Platform User Group of Atlanta
Kenny Bunch presenting Building Media and Video Apps
[link]

Thursday, February 26, 2009
CHI Atlanta
CNN presenting Election 2008
($15 Charge for Non-members)
[link]

And don't forget the InDesign User Group:

Monday, March 2, 2009
Atlanta InDesign User Group
InDesign and Flash - The Digital Transition
[link]

I think that the title says it all.

We already have over 70 RSVPs (46 from our group, the rest from others).

In case you don't see the link on the right, here it is again!

We love getting everyone modivated for the Fall. Here's what is on tap for you in September and October! We're not saying that you have to go to all of these events. We just want you to know what is coming up so you can plan to attend an event or two and reconnect with your community after a long, hot Summer.

Adobe MAX 2007
October 1 -3, 2007
Chicago
site

They have turned the asylum over to the crazy people! Or, as the speaker list suggests, the Adobe MAX 2007 conference has been turned over to the designers and developers. This year's MAX is shaping up to be a must attend event. Mark October 1 - 3 on your calendar and get your ticket soon! And if you use Ted Patrick's magic $400 discount code, BFF755, you can save some bucks! Register now before the discount ends on September 10. Don't forget to list your favorite user group manager when you register — Michael Hagel, John Mason, Paul Olmeda, Teddy Payne or Leif Wells!

Adobe Flash Platform User Group of Atlanta
Tueday, September 11, 2007 - 7:00 PM
site | event | rsvp

Ever wish you were in the Rich Media advertising game? Ever think it might be easy to get there? The folks at EyeWonder have arranged for Toolbox No. 9's Jason Rhoades to show us how Rich Media Advertising with Flash CS3— ads containing animation and video — are in the reach of Flash designers and developers everywhere.

Adobe eXperience Design User Group of Atlanta
Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 7:00 PM
site | event | rsvp

Design Patterns! Designers have heard about them and read about them. See what Roundbox Global's Brian Hochhalter says about what you can do with them.

Atlanta Flash and Flex User Group
Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - 6:30 PM
site | event | rsvp

Ever build an application that needed to be rapidly developed and wish there were ways to test builds just as rapidly? John Mason is going to show us the way by using Unit Testing and Test Driven Development (TDD) for Flex & ActionScript 3.0.

Adobe User Group of Atlanta
Thursday, September 27 - 7:00 PM
site | event | rsvp

We've felt guilty about not providing proper Illustrator meetings for quite some time. This month we make up for it by having Dee Sadler present the New Features of Illustrator CS3. Want to see what you are missing since CS2? Want to see the new features working? Want to see new work flows? Here's your chance!

Also Upcoming:

Atlanta ColdFusion User Group
Wednesday, October 3 - 6:30 PM
site

Atlanta ColdFusion User Group
no meeting currently scheduled
site

There are a lot of great events coming up in Atlanta for the months of April and May! Here's the rundown:

April 10

Adobe Flash Platform User Group April 2007 Meeting

Kenny Bunch presents Time Shifting Entertainment

 

Atlanta InDesign User Group

InDesign CS3

April 12

Atlanta Adobe Experience Design (XD) User Group April 2007 Meeting

Ness Higson

April 18

Atlanta Flash & Flex User Group

Migrating Existing (simple) Applications from HTML to Flex

April 19 - 20

Atlanta Java User Group Special Event

The Practice of Java in Atlanta - an Open Space Event

$75.00 for this two-day event

April 26

Adobe User Group of Atlanta April 2007 Meeting

Greg Rewis and Stephanie Sullivan present CS3 Web Workflow and CSS with Dreamweaver CS3

(this is a special event, so please send an RSVP)

May 17

Atlanta ColdFusion User Group Special Meeting

Ben Forta/Scorpio Tour (this is a special event, so pay attention to the instructions)

OK, so I expect you to come to our meeting anyway. But if you get bored and want to watch it live, then follow that link.

The Atlanta InDesign Users Group is meeting this week!

As a continuing effort to wow and amaze us, Chris Converse will demonstrate and impress us with Creating Interactivity with InDesign. First there will be a demonstration of the interactive capabilities of InDesign, including the hyperlink palette, and button tool. Chris will demonstrate how to create an interactive PDF document right inside of InDesign. See an example of the final product in his Acrobat Design Guide 2006.

Take a look at the user group's website.

We are meeting a second time in August so that we can bring you some very important video -- and that video may be the future of your client's content. Kenny Bunch will be giving us words and examples from his recent and on-gonig experiences putting videos on the Web for CBS and Cartoon Network.

WHAT: The August 2006 Meeting of the Adobe User Group of Atlanta (Part 2)
WHO: Kenny Bunch presenting Web Video and the Future of Content
WHEN: Thursday, August 24, 2006 -- 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
WHERE: Savannah College of Art and Design - Atlanta
DIRECTIONS:
Written directions on the SCAD site
Google Maps
RSVP: Please RSVP via email at rsvp@augatlanta.org

About the Presentation:

Content creators have always had to shift their distribution, content creation, and business efforts to fit emerging mediums. Looking at the past century, it is evident that we experienced most of our entertainment in a linear fashion. Traditionally, this has been slowly moving towards a more time shifted environment. Recently, however, this shift has dramatically accelerated.

The presentation will address where we have been and where we are going in terms of content, distribution, and business models.

Who Should Attend:

The intended audience for this presentation include producers, writers, designers and developers.

About the Presenter (from http://www.kennybunch.com):

Kenny Bunch's passion for programming began at age 8 on an Adam computer. By creating his own choose your own adventure games, he realized early on that he could use the computer as a tool to make his dreams a reality. From that point forward, his mindset became a motivation to create things that would make people's lives better. The first real world opportunity he was given to achieve this goal was at CNN. Serving as the lead Flash developer, he began working on easing the ways the world consumes information, communicates, and entertains itself. Of course, with every quest, there are many markers before the finish. Moving past CNN, he has held positions as lead Flash application developer at Cartoon Network/Adult Swim and as Software Architect at both Bellsouth and Gametap. In an effort to further expand his vision and experience, Kenny formed Dreamsocket. Alongside the work with Turner, Dreamsocket provided an outlet to work with clients like CBS, Rolling Stone, Nascar, Motorola, IBM, ING, and a host of others. Each of these positions, projects, and experiences has been one more step in the quest. Whether it's a smile on a child's face from owning digital cards from Cartoon or connecting long distance friends with communication applications, he is moving forward.

However, his goal has not been reached, and each day Kenny strives to do something new in order to give back to world that has given him so much.

Happy Birthday, Flash! That's right, folks, it's been ten freakin' years since Flash started rockin' our world. So, in honor of the occasion, we've put together two very interesting meetings for the month of August.

First off, Jesse Warden will be giving us a look at Flex from the Flash Designer's point-of-view. Find out where your Flash skills can help you fit in with the Flex crowd. Now, I'd be telling stories if I told you that Jesse wasn't presenting this very same topic at the Flex Seminar (http://www.flexseminar.com/) in NYC later this month, so now you can save all that business travel.

Then, on August 24, Kenny Bunch will be showing off some Flash Video and other Web Video technologies. Kenny's the one responsible for the new video options on CNN.com and CartoonNetwork.com. But you'll be hearing more about that later.

WHAT: The August 2006 Meeting of the Adobe User Group of Atlanta (Part 1)
WHO: Jesse Warden presenting Flex for Flash Designers - How Flex and Flash Work Together
WHEN: Thursday, August 3, 2006 -- 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
WHERE: Savannah College of Art and Design - Atlanta
(http://www.scad.edu/scadatlanta/)
DIRECTIONS:
Written directions on the SCAD site
(http://www.scad.edu/scadatlanta/admission/visit/directions.cfm)
Google Maps
(http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1600+Peachtree+Street+NW,+Atlanta,+GA+30309&om=1)
RSVP: Please RSVP via email at rsvp@augatlanta.org

About the Presentation:

Jesse will cover how to make the most of using Flash & Flex together in applications. The session will focus mainly on using Flash in a supporting role for Flex applications from a design standpoint. One facet of Flash is design, and it allows the creation of useful content that cannot be created in Flex alone. Creating design specific content in the form of animations, audio, and video combinations allows for an even richer experience in Rich Internet Applications. This also fills the skill gap between artists and programmers, fullfiling a great and necessary bridge in the production art workflow. Through live examples you will learn how Flash can benefit your Flex applications, your workflow, and put your Rich Internet Application a cut above the rest.

Who Should Attend:

Flash Designers:

• Learn how to get your designs into Flex and Flash.
• Learn how to assist your Flash and Flex developers on making a better product.
• Learn how to better fit design into the Flex workflow.

Flex Developers:

• Learn how to make your Rich Internet Applications not look like everyone else's.
• Learn how to assist your whole team in implementing better design practices.

About the Presenter:

Jesse Warden is a Flex Consultant, specializing in Flex & Flash Development. He has spoken at many venues including MXDU 2003, 2005, multiple Atlanta Macromedia User Groups, and other venues about various Macromedia products
and technologies. Jesse runs a blog at http://www.jessewarden.com where he contributes Flash, Flex, & ActionScript techniques, plugins, and sample projects to the community. Jesse enjoys coding, hanging out with designers, watching the History Channel, raving at da clubz, D&D, and playing games (all consoles, all PC genres). Will code for beer.