Here's the announcement from my fellow Hillsider (and long time friend) Joe Yoder. Anybody who's serious about writing, reviewing and refining patterns should have at least one PLoP under their belt.
********************************************************************* CALL FOR PARTICIPATION (final) 14th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP 2007) September 5-8, 2007 - Monticello, Illinois, USA http://hillside.net/plop/2007/ *Early Registration till 19th August* http://hillside.net/plop/2007/index.php?nav=registration**********************************************************************About PLoP*Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP™) conference is a premier event forpattern authors and pattern enthusiasts to gather, discuss and learnmore about patterns and software development.Patterns authors and non-authors will find in the different PLoPactivities (Writers' Workshops, Writing Groups, Focus Groups, BoFsessions, BootCamp, Games) many opportunities to meet and learn moreabout patterns and pattern writing.As a whole, the conference provides a friendly and effective environmentto give and get feedback, to share expertise, and to allow theparticipants to improve their knowledge about patterns.*How To Participate*If you are not an author of a paper accepted for PLoP'07, you can stillparticipate actively by enrolling a *Writing Group*, or proposing a*Focus Group* or *BoF*.*Writing Groups* are primarily for participants willing to start writing their first pattern, or to continue evolving their work-in-progress.Writing groups aim at providing authors the opportunity to work on thetheir patterns in an interactive session mentored by an experiencedauthor specifically assigned to each group.Papers on the writing groups are typically papers that, at the end ofthe shepherding process, were considered that would profit more from aninteractive session to work on the paper than from a writers workshop.After the work done in the writing group, some papers will be selectedto be discussed in the final session of a Writer's Workshop at PLoP'07.Another possibility is to further evolve them after PLoP'07 and submitto the Mini-PLoP at OOPSLA'07, a full-day Writers Workshop.*Focus groups* are free-format discussion groups or workshops aimed atbringing together people interested in a hot topic related to patternsor proven practices, for a period of about two hours.These sessions might focus on very different topics and issues relatedto patterns, ranging from writing to using, organising, or adoptingpatterns. Focus group proposals should include a brief description ofthe topic to be addressed, objectives, format, conditions forparticipation (e.g. invitation, submission, free, etc), and a scheduleoutline. Proposals addressing interdisciplinary topics and topics fromother domains than software development are especially encouraged.Non-conventional formats are welcome.Focus group proposals are reviewed by the program committee. Focus groupleaders are expected to write a report to be part of the finalconference proceedings.*BoF ('Birds of a Feather')* is a shortening of the proverb "Birds of afeather flock together.", meaning that people (birds) of the same kindor interest (of a common feather) enjoy spending time (flocking) together.BoF sessions are informal meetings, usually scheduled and organized lately or even on site, where people group together based on a sharedinterest and carry out discussions without any pre-planned agenda.Everyone may propose a BOF session to the conference chairs, on orbefore the conference.*How to submit*To participate please submit your idea or work-in-progress till *17thAugust*, by email to plopsubmissions@hillside.net. The submission can beas minimal as a 200-word abstract or a full paper under development.*How to register*PLoP online registration has opened on May 15 and will be possible tillAugust 19, 2007. We strongly encourage early registration for betterroom arrangements and conference service.URL: http://hillside.net/plop/2007/index.php?nav=registration*Important dates*Aug 12: Conference Drafts dueAug 17: Writing Workshops submissions dueAug 19: Early registration endsSep 5: First Day of PLoP*Chairs*Program Chair: Joseph Yoder (The Refactory Inc., USA)Conference Chair: Ademar Aguiar (FEUP, Universidade do Porto, Portugal)*More information*For more detailed information, please visit the PLoP'07 website.http://hillside.net/plop/2007/We will look forward for your participation.Best regards,Joseph Yoder and Ademar AguiarPLoP 2007 ChairsP.S. If you think that this conference may be of interest tocolleagues, friends or communities to which you belong, pleaseforward on this email. Thank you.--PLoP is a trademark of The Hillside Group, Inc.--