2019 KB User Group Meeting Sessions

Coffee and Registration

Please feel free to arrive anytime after 8:15am to sign in, get situated, and chat with other attendees! We will have some light breakfast items available (coffee, tea, bagels, and yogurt).

Welcome and Introductions

Beginning at 9am, we will begin the day with a welcome, attendee introductions, and a review of the agenda and other logistics.

Modernizing the KB

Keeping the KB in line with modern development strategies and methodologies is critical to our service. We'll look back at some of the key improvements made this past year as well as the technical changes we're planning for the new future. Additionally, we'll take a look at some newer technologies that have emerged in areas like searching and discuss how we will explore them as part of our long-term roadmap.

On the Horizon: The KB Roadmap

It's time to revisit our roadmap, which is framed within three time horizons&msdash;now, next, and later. We'll take a deep dive into what we're doing now, discuss some of our next steps, and get a preview of what we plan to work on into the future.

WYSIWYG Editor Feature Prioritization

As we implement a new WYSIWYG editor for the KB, we would love to get your feedback on what features are the most important to you. This will be a group brainstorming activity to capture your thoughts and help us prioritize what we should work on.

Morning Breakouts

We will have two pairs of breakout sessions in the morning; please choose whichever you would like to attend. There will be extra time allotted to allow you to move between rooms as needed.

Session Group #1: Tapping into the KB APIs

During this session, we'll explore some of the ways that you might be able to use the KB APIs. We'll have a few examples, but we would love for you to come with your ideas (even if they are still completely hypothetical)!

This session is intended for those who have access to development resources, or who otherwise have some experience working with APIs.

Session Group #1: The Internal KB: A Group Discussion

How are you using the internal features of the KB to share restricted documents, compile best practices, or promote team cohesion? Join us for an informal discussion of the best practices and pitfalls of using your group’s internal KB space.

This session is intended for anyone who manages an internal KB that would like to participate in a group discussion and learn from other's experiences.

Session Group #2: Creating Accessible Content in the KB

Accessibility is an often forgotten or ignored aspect of developing content for the web, but without it, you may be inadvertently excluding a large number of your users. We'll discuss some key points to understand about accessibility and what you can do to ensure your content is accessible to all.

This session is intended for any KB author who wants to learn more about what they should be doing (and what to avoid) when creating KB content with accessibility in mind.

Session Group #2: Designing Your KB Homepage

Your KB homepage is often the first page your users see. We'll take a look at some examples of different KB homepages and discuss some of the questions you may want to ask of yourself and your users in considering what would make the best homepage for your KB site.

This session is intended for KB admins that want are thinking of building out (or stripping down) their KB homepages to customize them for their respective audiences.

---

LUNCH

---

WYSIWYG Rollout and Flow

An important aspect of rolling out a new WYSIWYG editor for the KB is the way in which we guide users to it for testing. During this session, we'll demo our current plans for rollout of the new editor and the intended flow to move between it and the "classic" editor. We'll then take time to discuss this as a group and capture your thoughts.

Afternoon Breakouts

Session Group #3: Google Analytics and the KB

Analytics seem like they might be important to your online content, but why, and how do you figure out what are the important analytics to you? Learn some of the basics of Google Analytics, what information you can get from them and why setting goals should always be the first step.

This session is intended for anyone that has implemented or is planning to implement Google Analytics for their KB site.

Session Group #3: Motivating Users to Contribute

One of the greatest challenges in building a KB is motivating those who hold knowledge to contribute it to the KB. We'll have a high-level conversation about some of the philosophies surrounding motivation and discuss some ways that we might be able to help those individuals measure the effectiveness of their contributions.

This session is intended for those who want to discuss ways to encourage subject matter experts to help create content within their KB spaces.

Session Group #4: Implementing a Chatbot: Lessons Learned

During this session, we'll hear about two different experiences (whether good or bad) with implementing a chatbot and connecting it to KB content to assist end users.

This session is intended for those who have implemented, or are considering implementing, a chatbot for their campus or department.

Session Group #4: Content Strategy and the KB

It’s a common problem when people can’t find content they’ve posted online, and a creating strategy for how to manage it can help. This conversation will discuss what content strategy is, including recommendations on where to store your documents and why.

This session is intended for those who are managing content in multiple places (e.g. in the KB and on another website) and would like guidance in determining where to place their various types of content.

Content Templates and Blocks

One of our future goals for the KB is to develop a wide range of content templates and types of content blocks for authors to pick up and use in their sites. We will spend some time as a group brainstorming the major types of content that you would like to see in a future "content library" for the KB.

Full Group Q&A

Over the course of the day, we'll ask you to submit questions that you would like to pose to other KB admins. During this last session, we'll turn those questions over to everyone for a free-form, collaborative, full-group discussion of our experiences, thoughts, and ideas.