Dear PePcon Attendee:

PePcon: The Print + ePublishing Conference is next week! This email contains a lot of information; please read it through carefully, as it contains important information about all four days of the event.

You can find additional important attendee information here.

CONFERENCE AND TUTORIALS

The conference takes place Monday and Tuesday, June 16-17, with an optional one-day pre-conference on Sunday, June 15, and another optional one-day post-conference tutorial on Wednesday, June 18.

If your registration type does not currently include Sunday or Wednesday tutorial days, seats are still available in these tutorials:

  • Sunday 12:30 – 5:00 pm:
    • EPUB Bootcamp: What You Need to Know
    • CSS/HTML Bootcamp: What Designers Need to Know
    • DPS Bootcamp: Building Folios for Digital Publications
  • Wednesday 9:00 am to 12:00 pm:
    • InDesign to Interactive PDF
    • EPUB Power Techniques
    • Publishing Your iPad App: The Hardest Step Explained
  • * Wednesday 1:30 to 4:30 pm:
    • What Every Designer (and anyone asked to be a designer) Needs to Know
    • Creating Fixed Layout ePUB
    • Power Buddies: InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator

To add a tutorial, please email us at info@pepcon.com or come see us at the PePcon 2014 registration/info desk starting 11:00 am on Sunday.

LOCATION

PePcon takes place on the fifth floor of the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, 540 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, (312) 836-0100
You can find maps and more information here.

WHAT TO WEAR

There is no dress code for PePcon, other than casual and relaxed. We have limited control over the “weather” inside the hotel, and air conditioning is a fact of life in hotels, so we encourage you to dress in layers and bring a light sweater, just in case!

REGISTRATION

We encourage you to check in early to pick up your badge. There’s a lot to cover each day, and the event starts promptly each morning at 9:00 am.

Conference registration is in the foyer in front of the Chicago Ballroom on the fifth floor and will be open:

  • 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday
  • 7:30 am to 5:00 pm on Monday
  • 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday

You don’t need to bring a printed receipt; if you’re reading this email, then you’re in our system.

SCHEDULE

Monday through Wednesday: Breakfast and coffee will be out at 7:30 am (see “Food” below).

On Tuesday morning we encourage you to bring your breakfast into the main room to watch a sponsored presentation by Managing Editor Software at 8:15 am.

You can download a one-page PDF of the sessions on Monday and Tuesday here.

TRANSPORTATION

We have a lot of information regarding transportation to and from the airport, parking (if you’re driving), and other details here.

Note: due to construction, traffic is predicted to be incredibly bad over the weekend. There are also some great discussions of options on this thread.

FOOD

We’ll be serving a complimentary breakfast (yes, with protein!) and lunch each day. The Marriott’s wonderful catering department has assured us that there will be something for everyone, including vegetarians. Beverages will also be available during breaks throughout the show.

FIRST NIGHT RECEPTION

Come celebrate with us Monday night! Meet the speakers and your fellow attendees at our reception, immediately following the final session at 5:00 pm in the foyer outside the ballroom. We’re serving beer, wine, and soft drinks, as well as appetizers to get you ready for dinner on your own that night… to be followed by Ignite InDesign!

IGNITE INDESIGN!

Nothing planned for Monday night? Come join us after dinner, from 8:00-10:00 pm, for this fun, informal event in Ballroom D. We’ll serve coffee, tea, and dessert, and some of your fellow attendees have signed up to speak for 5 minutes each on a wide range of InDesign-related topics, from educational to extreme!

LAPTOPS and WIFI

Laptops are not necessary, but you’re welcome to bring them. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee power plugs, so we advise you to charge your laptop’s battery before the show! We will provide free WiFi to conference attendees in the conference rooms.

MEET THE SPEAKER / HELP DESK

One of the important benefits of this conference is the extraordinary availability of world-class experts. Come say hi to our presenters at the Meet the Speaker table in the foyer, beginning at 5:00 pm on Sunday afternoon and extending until Wednesday. This is a great time for informal Q&A and in-depth “solution-ing.” When you arrive, check the schedule at the table to find out when you’ll be able to talk with your favorite speakers.

SPEAKER HANDOUTS

We combine all the handouts created by our speakers into one PDF, organized by day and session, and we make it available to you to download. We’ll post version 1 of the PePcon 2014 handout PDF by Friday morning. Please do not blog or publish the URL of the speaker presentations!

We publish the “V1” handouts before the conference so you can download them more easily from your home or office. However, note that our presenters inevitably send us additional and updated material during the event, so be sure to check back after the conference for the final version of the handouts.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Before, during, and after PePcon, you can network online with your fellow attendees and speakers on our social network site.

Facebook: We post news, pictures, and behind-the-scenes stories about the speakers and the event on our PePcon page, and any attendee can post there too! Please visit and “Like” our page.

Twitter: If you tweet about the conference, please follow us and include the hash tag #pepcon in your tweets.

Flickr: Share your photos of the event with the world on our public Flickr group.

MEET-UP BOARD

We will have a large white board and bulletin board set up in the foyer near the registration desk so you can learn about ad-hoc meet-ups organized by your fellow attendees, like dinners, outings, running partners, and so on. Feel free to post your own “event,” and be sure to check this area frequently to learn about events posted during the conference.

OUR AWESOME SPONSORS

One of the benefits of coming to PePcon is the chance to meet with people and companies who offer amazing solutions. Be sure to check out each of these companies, either online or at the show: Adobe, Aquafadas, Ascend Training, CtrlPublishing, DTP Tools, eDocker, Em Software, InDesignSecrets, lynda.com, MathMagic, MEI, Peachpit Press, Recosoft, Ripon Printing, Rorohiko, Woodwing, and XMPie. For more information about these companies see our sponsor page.

Last but not least…

Have fun! We don’t know what the Chicago weather will bring, but we do know that we have the world’s best publishing conference, largely because of YOU. Your participation, networking, and questions are a big part of what makes this event special.

We’re really looking forward to seeing you next week!

Best wishes,
David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepcion
InDesignSecrets.com / pepcon.wpengine.com