FETC Day 1
January 24, 2008
I understand that today was not FETC day 1 for everybody, but this was my first day in town. I am going to post my general observations about this conference.
-This is probably wrong to say in education technology circles, but I like this conference much better than NECC. I went to NECC last year, and it was overwhelming. There were thousands of workshops, vendors, and things happening – and it felt chaotic and disorganized to me. FETC is a lot more manageable and seems to attract higher quality speakers and vendors.
-It is wonderful to see so many personal and online friends and colleagues attending the same conference. I am meeting my friend, Anna, from wireless generation for dinner this evening. Her FreeReading.net program is being adopted by Florida! My old buddies from SchoolNet are in attendance.
-Alexander Russo, Will Richardson, and Lee Wilson are other prominent bloggers in attendance.
-At the vendor booths, the variety of product knowledge is staggering. There are some products where the vendors understand every detail about their product, its market, and its advantages – and these vendors are a pleasure to listen to. Other vendors are unclear about what they are selling and how it fits a school’s needs.
-I also had the opportunity to watch Steve Dembo from Discovery (and Teach42) speak about the Web 2.0 revolution in education. Steve had great energy and energized the crowd. I heard comments after his speech that people were incredibly impressed with his passion and ideas. As a heavy Web 2.0 user, I found his speech to be a bit boring. I believe that people who are not exposed to these tools need to get their hands dirty with these tools to truly understand them. But it was still a good time.
Overall, I have been quite pleased with the conference. It is well attended and presents the perfect opportunity to build relationships with new partners and vendors in our space.
Comments
One Response to “FETC Day 1”
Got something to say?
Nitin, I appreciate hearing your candid thoughts about the presentation! It’s always a challenge making a presentation pertinent to users of all levels of experience, and obviously that presentation needs a little work yet. To be honest, I’d love to hear more of your thoughts, particularly if you have any suggestions for improvement. You should get my email address with this comment. I’d personally appreciate any critiques that you have to share about that presentation, both positive or negative. Be as blunt as you want, trust me when I say you won’t hurt my feelings
Thanks for attending and for taking the time to share it with your readers.
Steve