This question is super important. Are conferences still relevant?

10 words · 1 min read by Ben Wilkoff

This question is super important. Are conferences still relevant?

http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/are-education-conferences-relevant/

28 comments from the original blog. Comments are closed now; the conversation moved to Bluesky.

  1. George Station

    Before reading: Decision-makers still go to conferences to compare notes in person. So, I guess conferences are still relevant.

    After reading: Tom said, “The glaring deficiency in any session is that it must be submitted and approved 8 to 12 months in advance. How does that maintain relevance?” I think it takes anticipation and creative proposal-writing to allow for a slight, uh, shift in your original intent between the proposal deadline and conference time.

  2. George Station

    Before reading: Decision-makers still go to conferences to compare notes in person. So, I guess conferences are still relevant.

    After reading: Tom said, “The glaring deficiency in any session is that it must be submitted and approved 8 to 12 months in advance. How does that maintain relevance?” I think it takes anticipation and creative proposal-writing to allow for a slight, uh, shift in your original intent between the proposal deadline and conference time.

  3. George Station

    Before reading: Decision-makers still go to conferences to compare notes in person. So, I guess conferences are still relevant.

    After reading: Tom said, “The glaring deficiency in any session is that it must be submitted and approved 8 to 12 months in advance. How does that maintain relevance?” I think it takes anticipation and creative proposal-writing to allow for a slight, uh, shift in your original intent between the proposal deadline and conference time.

  4. George Station

    Before reading: Decision-makers still go to conferences to compare notes in person. So, I guess conferences are still relevant.

    After reading: Tom said, “The glaring deficiency in any session is that it must be submitted and approved 8 to 12 months in advance. How does that maintain relevance?” I think it takes anticipation and creative proposal-writing to allow for a slight, uh, shift in your original intent between the proposal deadline and conference time.

  5. George Station

    Todd Curtis “…being connected and sharing ideas.” Of course we can do that without a conference. We’re doing it here! But is it as relevant or “as good” as the f2f conference experience? One down side of the typical conference is the difficulty in sharing the experience further. No proceedings without paying. No recordings. One thing they have in common with G+ or other online spaces is: If you miss the synchronous experience, there’s no way to match it by viewing, commenting, writing about it afterward.

  6. George Station

    Todd Curtis “…being connected and sharing ideas.” Of course we can do that without a conference. We’re doing it here! But is it as relevant or “as good” as the f2f conference experience? One down side of the typical conference is the difficulty in sharing the experience further. No proceedings without paying. No recordings. One thing they have in common with G+ or other online spaces is: If you miss the synchronous experience, there’s no way to match it by viewing, commenting, writing about it afterward.

  7. George Station

    Todd Curtis “…being connected and sharing ideas.” Of course we can do that without a conference. We’re doing it here! But is it as relevant or “as good” as the f2f conference experience? One down side of the typical conference is the difficulty in sharing the experience further. No proceedings without paying. No recordings. One thing they have in common with G+ or other online spaces is: If you miss the synchronous experience, there’s no way to match it by viewing, commenting, writing about it afterward.

  8. George Station

    Todd Curtis “…being connected and sharing ideas.” Of course we can do that without a conference. We’re doing it here! But is it as relevant or “as good” as the f2f conference experience? One down side of the typical conference is the difficulty in sharing the experience further. No proceedings without paying. No recordings. One thing they have in common with G+ or other online spaces is: If you miss the synchronous experience, there’s no way to match it by viewing, commenting, writing about it afterward.

  9. Erin Luong

    For me the best part about attending a conference is the face to face time to meet up with colleagues. Often in our classrooms or offices we can feel isolated and its great to be able to connect.

  10. Erin Luong

    For me the best part about attending a conference is the face to face time to meet up with colleagues. Often in our classrooms or offices we can feel isolated and its great to be able to connect.

  11. Erin Luong

    For me the best part about attending a conference is the face to face time to meet up with colleagues. Often in our classrooms or offices we can feel isolated and its great to be able to connect.

  12. Erin Luong

    For me the best part about attending a conference is the face to face time to meet up with colleagues. Often in our classrooms or offices we can feel isolated and its great to be able to connect.

  13. Ryan Smith

    I always learn more in the hallway than the meeting room at conferences. Perhaps we need to change the way we look at them. They are really just networking events with some surface-level learning thrown in. We were not trained to see the importance in networking like other industries. A few new meaningful connections are worth the price of admission.

  14. Ryan Smith

    I always learn more in the hallway than the meeting room at conferences. Perhaps we need to change the way we look at them. They are really just networking events with some surface-level learning thrown in. We were not trained to see the importance in networking like other industries. A few new meaningful connections are worth the price of admission.

  15. Ryan Smith

    I always learn more in the hallway than the meeting room at conferences. Perhaps we need to change the way we look at them. They are really just networking events with some surface-level learning thrown in. We were not trained to see the importance in networking like other industries. A few new meaningful connections are worth the price of admission.

  16. Ryan Smith

    I always learn more in the hallway than the meeting room at conferences. Perhaps we need to change the way we look at them. They are really just networking events with some surface-level learning thrown in. We were not trained to see the importance in networking like other industries. A few new meaningful connections are worth the price of admission.

  17. George Station

    Ryan Smith I agree that people underestimate the informal lobby, hallway, or bar meeting. There have also been “unconferences” for some years, often in adjoining spaces in the same hotel as a major conference. I’ve never attended one, but apparently “there’s a there there”:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdCamp 

  18. George Station

    Ryan Smith I agree that people underestimate the informal lobby, hallway, or bar meeting. There have also been “unconferences” for some years, often in adjoining spaces in the same hotel as a major conference. I’ve never attended one, but apparently “there’s a there there”:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdCamp 

  19. George Station

    Ryan Smith I agree that people underestimate the informal lobby, hallway, or bar meeting. There have also been “unconferences” for some years, often in adjoining spaces in the same hotel as a major conference. I’ve never attended one, but apparently “there’s a there there”:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdCamp 

  20. George Station

    Ryan Smith I agree that people underestimate the informal lobby, hallway, or bar meeting. There have also been “unconferences” for some years, often in adjoining spaces in the same hotel as a major conference. I’ve never attended one, but apparently “there’s a there there”:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdCamp 

  21. Erin Luong

    I agree, informal meetings can spark interesting ideas

  22. Erin Luong

    I agree, informal meetings can spark interesting ideas

  23. Erin Luong

    I agree, informal meetings can spark interesting ideas

  24. Erin Luong

    I agree, informal meetings can spark interesting ideas

  25. Melissa Garner

    I read this initially just so I could say “IntegratEd isn’t like that!” and I still stand by that.  It’s an amazing, hands-on, interactive, full-of-conversation time that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

    And then I noticed this sentence: “As I talked with educators who were not in collaboration with others on a regular basis, I found a need to define and explain things to them that are discussed and understood online by connected educators daily.” (paragraph 8) I don’t know that I would have put that language to it, but it’s certainly true in my work.  So the question is, for me at least, how do I draw teachers in and help them see what’s possible?

  26. Melissa Garner

    I read this initially just so I could say “IntegratEd isn’t like that!” and I still stand by that.  It’s an amazing, hands-on, interactive, full-of-conversation time that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

    And then I noticed this sentence: “As I talked with educators who were not in collaboration with others on a regular basis, I found a need to define and explain things to them that are discussed and understood online by connected educators daily.” (paragraph 8) I don’t know that I would have put that language to it, but it’s certainly true in my work.  So the question is, for me at least, how do I draw teachers in and help them see what’s possible?

  27. Melissa Garner

    I read this initially just so I could say “IntegratEd isn’t like that!” and I still stand by that.  It’s an amazing, hands-on, interactive, full-of-conversation time that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

    And then I noticed this sentence: “As I talked with educators who were not in collaboration with others on a regular basis, I found a need to define and explain things to them that are discussed and understood online by connected educators daily.” (paragraph 8) I don’t know that I would have put that language to it, but it’s certainly true in my work.  So the question is, for me at least, how do I draw teachers in and help them see what’s possible?

  28. Melissa Garner

    I read this initially just so I could say “IntegratEd isn’t like that!” and I still stand by that.  It’s an amazing, hands-on, interactive, full-of-conversation time that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

    And then I noticed this sentence: “As I talked with educators who were not in collaboration with others on a regular basis, I found a need to define and explain things to them that are discussed and understood online by connected educators daily.” (paragraph 8) I don’t know that I would have put that language to it, but it’s certainly true in my work.  So the question is, for me at least, how do I draw teachers in and help them see what’s possible?

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