The primary function of the conference was to allow Austin Miller (at right) and Randy Redberg to explain their vision of what Experts Exchange should evolve into over the next few months. They unveiled their mission statement: "Become the world's greatest knowledge site by having the most relevant and useful content, while providing the best user experience for finding solutions and items of interest which are easily navigated, discovered and consumed."

To that end, EE is taking several major steps, all designed to provide members with the solutions to their problems. First, the topic areas are being reorganized and expanded, so that users will have an easier time finding the correct topic area for their questions. Second, the search system is being redesigned and improved, so that those members who don't ask questions can still find the information they need. Third, the user interface is being redesigned to make navigation more intuitive and simple.

Other issues with the overall site included a discussion of "training" new members in how to ask questions and participate in the collaborative process that is at the heart of Experts Exchange. That evolved into a discussion of the possible creation of a "Question Wizard"; of expanded help pages and tips; and of increased Moderator involvement in helping new users.

Also on the agenda was an extended discussion of a more prominent role for the Page Editors, who will have more responsibility over the content of topic areas, and will be providing many new features to help members get answers to their questions. The PEs will have a lot of flexibility in what extra features will be included, with ideas ranging from FAQs and white papers to quizzes and debates. The Page Editors will have the possibility of involving other Experts on the site as well, as Expert Contributors in their TAs.

The group was also treated to a tour of Level(3) Communications, the ISP for Experts Exchange.

Photos clockwise from top: Austin Miller describes the Experts Exchange mission statement; the Moderators, Admins and Page Editors gathered around the pool during much of their unscheduled time for discussions and brainstorming sessions; the group arrives at the conference, held at the San Luis Obispo Country Club; Brian Gardner (at left), EE's senior engineer, describes the servers to the group.

Photos courtesy of CetusMOD, modulo and ee_ai_construct.

• Most ISPs provide some kind of anti-spam filtering of mail, so forward the email to them. Some maintain lists of spammers, IP addresses, and so on to help clean up your mailbox.
• Click the removal button. Yes, for a long time we were told not to, but I read a report recently by a watchdog group that tried it, and it actually made a dent. It makes sense; spammers have to pay the bandwidth costs of sending out all those emails, so they don't want to send out any more than they have to. A cynic might say that the spammers probably started the "never ask to be removed" idea as a way of scaring people to stay on the lists.
• Report spam to the Federal Trade Commission by forwarding the email to uce@ftc.gov. You should use this when you encounter fraudulent or deceptive business practices, though -- not for simple advertisements.

The Old Farmer's Almanac may not be high tech, but it does have a remarkable record of consistent accuracy that's pretty impressive. Since I spend a lot of time in the garden, I thought I'd pass it along. Check it out at http://www.almanac.com.