Meeting Summary: Tampa Bay InDesign User Group Meeting

Thu, Apr 28th, 2011 at 6:00 PM

International Academy of Design and Technology Room # 201

Event Details

Our April 28th InDesign User Group Meeting with special guest speakers David Rogers and Alan Brusky proved to be a great hit with members. With all of the great feedback from members, there are rumors of another social networking / InDesign meeting currently being planned this year...

Thanks to Jorge Diaz and the folks at the International Academy of Design and Technology for hosting our event and Larry Powell for taking photos of the event. We are currently working with the website now to get the photos up, so stay tuned and we'll let you know when they become available.

Alan began the presentation by showing a simple Youtube video of what social networking is and giving testimony to how he continues to get a primary amount of business from social networking. The main points that Alan really emphasized were that it is important to get into the game of social networking, it is important who you follow (another words – it is not always important to follow everyone – all the time – figure out your niche and only follow your niche or demographics), and it is important to acknowledge the people and companies you do follow with hashtags or more importantly the “#” symbol. These three simple principles will help guide you when interacting on Twitter.

Alan continued his presentation by talking in detail on Twitter etiquette for words to use as well as retweeting or in the case of twitter using the RT before copying and pasting another person’s comment. He recommended this process because by doing this versus choosing the retweet button – the tweet will associate yourself with that person who tweeted it in the first place and pushes your reach. The more reach, the more associates, the more associates, the more trust is built amongst your tweeting colleagues -- and it also helps improve your credibility amongst your potential customers and associates.

Our second speaker of the evening was David Rogers. David continued the conversation with Twitter and demonstrated how he took artwork he created for a special Twitter event at Photoshop World. He demonstrated quick and easy techniques in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to build a business card.

One tool many people are not familiar with unless you have been working in Adobe Photoshop is a panel called GuideGuide (a free download from Cameron McEfee; once installed, go to Window > Extensions > Guide Guide). This is a pretty neat tool that places guides on your document without having to pull them out electronically using your mouse.

David also talked about the Mini Bridge that is also new to CS5. Mini Bridge allows you to find your design elements without closing your main file. This includes EPS files you may have created in Illustrator. Dragging them into Photoshop creates a smart object.

David also talked about setting up presets to save time. He touched on many different keys for saving time, such as when you press the Option/Alt key when you have the Brush tool selected; this allows you to activate the Eyedropper.

He also demonstrated the use the arrow keys when you are Illustrator, to change the roundness of the edges of the rounded rectangle to save time.

Dave continued into InDesign, but first demonstrated why building groups with layers in Photoshop is very important before moving into InDesign.

With 2 minutes to spare, David finalized his presentation in InDesign, demonstrating technique after technique of easy-to-use keyboard shortcuts and answering questions from the audience. TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN!

Finally, the meeting closed with a raffle drawing for fabulous prizes, including Flash CS5.5 donated by Adobe, a Photoshop / Lightroom book donated by Peachpit Press, and CDs donated by Harvey W, an InDesign User Group member.

Thank you

-Many thanks to:
• David Rogers and Alan Brusky
• Jorge Diaz and the folks at the International Academy of Design and Technology for hosting our event and Larry Powell for taking photos of the event.
• Lynda.com
• Adobe Press: www.adobepress.com
• Total Training: www.totaltraining.com
• Adobe Systems: www.adobe.com
• O'Reilly Media: www.oreilly.com
• Peachpit Press: www.peachpit.com/index.asp

Job Opportunities

Freelance production artist
Masonite, known worldwide for innovation, quality products, exceptional customer service and a commitment to excellence, is looking for a freelance production artist. If you are interested, please send your resume to the art director, Cynthia Bentley-DeNight, CBentley-DeNight@masonite.com, telephone (813) 739-3016.

Upcoming Industry Events

Calling all Creative Families!
Join us for the First Annual Creative's Potluck Picnic to held at the beautiful and picturesque Hillsborough River State Park.

First Annual Creative's Potluck Picnic
Saturday, May 14, 2011 from 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM (ET)
Thonotosassa, FL

Sign up for the event, go to
http://creativespicnic-eivtefrnd.eventbrite.com/

Comments from attendees

"Presentations were very informative. I will be attending more often." Angel T.

"Loved the Twitter info. Being someone who has never used it, he inspired me. David as always, with his Photoshop How-To's was amazing & educational..." Thom J.

"Never thought Twitter can do all that. David is a great teacher. Very informative and interesting." Klodiana

Next Meeting

Stay tuned! We'll be planning our next meeting shortly.

Photos from this Meeting

See the photos