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Those attending Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco next will have the option to participate in the Power Tools Conference Program. These are in-depth sessions that focus on a specific application or tool, such as Photoshop, ActionScript and FileMaker. Each Power Tool class involves two days of instruction and are split into two series.

Series 1

The first series takes place January 5th and 6th and covers a lot of good information, including Apeture, Adobe InDesign CS4 for the practical user, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 and others that we will get to shortly.

Now, let’s think about this for a minute. My wife is an amateur photographer. She has taken several photos that could be put on anyone’s walls. In my opinion, she only needs one of these, not all of them. So, if I were attending the Macworld Expo this year, I would be choosy about my photography “Power Tools” because not all of the modules will apply to everyone.

Series one also contains a rehash of system imaging and deployment from the MacIT seminar. Also on the docket is an introduction to Final Cut Studio, which would be excellent for someone like me who has never used it and is interested in seeing it work wonders with my home movies.

Series one dedicates time for Applescript and mastering directory service. But what most people are going to be looking for, I am guessing, is the Final Cut Studio 2 “In Depth.” I imagine professionals and amateurs alike will be lining up in San Francisco to get in on the action.

The last two tracks hit close to home for me. The first—“Getting the most out of Office 2008 for the Mac”—covers one of those always open applications for me. Along with Safari and Mail, Word is always open in my dock. The reason for this is that Word does everything I need it to do, and I know how to use it. I can not say the same for iWork. Anyway, if you need to learn how to use Office 2008 for Mac, here is your chance.

That brings us to the last track for series one:. “Teleworking 2009: A Technical Guide to Being & Managing a Remote Workstaff.” I have only been writing for Appletell for about 6 weeks, and I have to tell you that teleworking is kind of weird in a really cool way. I have never had a “live” conversation with my editor. This is both weird and cool at the same time. If I was at the Macworld Expo I guarantee that I would be sitting in on this one.

Series 2

The second series, which runs on January 7th and 8th in sunny San Francisco, California (I’m jealous; its 9 degrees where I live), starts off with a Photoshop module, then moves on to “Total Network Awareness: Tools and Techniques.” Now, I am a network engineer by day, but I would be willing to bet I would learn something from this module as the speakers appear to be some very bright people in the industry.

Next you have Mac OS X Server “Behind the Box,” which is obviously geared towards advanced OS X server issues. The next module is on Dreamweaver. I have experimented with Dreamweaver in the past, and it’s an excellent and robust web design suite, but just not for me. The entire Adobe Creative Suite is also covered in what should be a very very long module (Adobe Creative Suite is quit a robust software suite) Given the short time allotted for the CS4 module, this is obviously going to be just a general overview. Learning Flash CS4 and Filemaker are next on the list. I am not familiar with either of these pieces of software, but I’m imagine these are quite popular modules. Filemaker is a pretty decent database for OS X, and has gotten some good review around the web.

Rounding out the series is “Presentation Magic with Keynote” and “Advanced Illustrator Techniques.”

All and all, the Power Tools symposium is a fantastic way for people to learn more about their favorite software, and or get an introduction to some great new software.

See also:

• Mac Labs at the Macworld Expo
• MacIT at the MacWorld Expo