Now that was an EdBlogger Meetup.
About 40 people or so showed up to the Rock Bottom last night to share stories and ideas about their use of blogs in their personal practice and in their schools, and to just do what is the most fun about coming to conferences like this: say hello, place the face with the blog, and get to know each other a bit. I got to cross quite a few more names off of my blogging life list this week, among them Jeff Utecht all the way from Shanghai, Terry Friedman all the way from the UK, Mark Wagner from just up the road, Alfred Thompson from New Hampshire, Karl Fisch from Colorado, and others. David Jakes, Steve Hargadon, David Warlick, Tony Vincent, and Tom Hoffman all made appearances, and despite the all male-ness of that list, I’m happy to report that there were just as many blogging women (like Courtney Peagler and Kathy Schrock) sharing their stories as there were men.
The cool thing is that hardly anyone was lamenting the obstacles or the roadblocks. This was a group of really energized people who just wanted to get together and share their, um…energy for the tools. And I think this year more than any other, there is a lot of energy coming out of NECC. A lot more of the “I need to figure this out” vibe. After my presentation today, I had a conversation with a teacher from a private school in Texas and she said something along the lines of “I’ve just been having my eyes opened the last couple of days and I have a lot of catching up to do when I get home.” Lots of people were feeling that, I think.
To me, the whole “School 2.0″ vision from the Department of Ed is the big news, or at least potentially the big news. I’m going to be really interested in seeing the progression of the thinking over the next couple of months as they get more and more feedback from educators.
All in all, a great few days in San Diego. So much so that I actually heard a couple people throwing out the idea of a new, separate conference just for educators wanting to really get into the whole Read/Write Web conversation. Now THAT would be a meetup…
(BTW, if you were at Rock Bottom last night, go add a link to your blog on the meetup page.)
technorati tags:necc, necc06, edblogger, education, blogging
11 Comments
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I nominate you to organize the first Read/Write Web conference….I’ll even sit on the organizing committee.
Hi Will and other bloggers
Great to hear the meeting was a success…family committments and general exhaustion prevented me from coming but I wanted to be there and represnt women who are blogging….we are here virtually, maybe not always f2f.
Congratulations to all NECC bloggers, I am really enjoying reading and absorbing the postings…they will keep me going all summer.
Julie
Hi Will,
I didn’t get a chance to talk to you much at Rock Bottom last night. Let’s get in touch soon to see what your speaking schedule looks like for the fall (or maybe spring). I’d like to bring you to Minnesota for a day or two of workshops. Later, Barry
O.k. — I’m jealous. I’m having a blast with the SLA faculty, and I can’t wait for you to come meet with us next week, but I’m still jealous I’m not out at NECC with everyone…
Great, idea, Will, and I have some great ideas to throw into the pot. Good to meet you, btw!
Will, I second Dean’s nomination, and I too would be happy to serve on a conference planning committee. What do you say?
[...] The next morning Will called this the largest meet up of educational bloggers ever. I’m glad I was there. The conversations that happened there – and the connections made – were among the highlights of the conference for me. Perhaps the best thing to come out of it was the suggestion (in the comments of Will’s post) that we organize an edblogger conference. I suggested something similar (including elements of Dave Winer’s Hypercamp concept) a few months ago, but timing wasn’t right, as everyone was hard at work trying to get the online conference rolling. I’m sure it will be some time yet before we’re all ready, but I’m looking forward to it and am ready to contribute when the time comes. [...]
What a week – some closing thoughts from NECC…
NECC has been an amazing event this year. While this is not my first year at NECC it has been one of……
I was almost there. [pout] Got sidetracked. Kicking myself for not going now. But sure enjoyed meeting those I did at NECC. I alos am willing to serve on any committee that helps recreate the energy and forward momentum we felt this week.
Will,
I wish I would have known about Rock Bottom. Hope it was fun. I would like to be invovled in this type of event. If it happens…please let me know–
and thanks for all the personal help and answers lately!
Maria
Was I that private school teacher? Did she take a picture with you, using her MacBook’s built-in camera? If so, I’m from California. If not, that lady in Texas feels the same way I do.
I have already talked to my superintendent about bringing blogging and e-mail, possibly through gaggle.net, into my computer labs for even more integration, especially with language arts. I think I may have managed to infect him with just a little of my enthusiasm.