The "Unplugged" (and Free) Community Events at ISTE 2013 in San Antonio

Each year hundreds of educators interested in social media, technology, teaching, and learning gather to build and participate in "unplugged"-style activities as a part of the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference.

 All of the ISTE Unplugged events are free, thanks to the support (and latitude!) given us by the conference organizers, so please come join us. You do need to be registered for ISTE for all activities except for Hack Education unconference and the after-party, which are open to anyone, registered for ISTE or not. A HUGE thanks to ISTE for making this all possible!

Saturday, June 22rd - HACK EDUCATION: 8:00am - 4:00pm in the San Antonio Convention Center, Room SACC 103A. Audrey Watters of HackEducation.com co-chairs our all-day flagship event this year, as we yet again rebrand our "unconference" on teaching and learning (for years called EduBloggerCon and then called SocialEdCon last year). In our seventh year, this event typically draws 200 - 300 participants from around the world. We start by building a session and topic schedule together, and then spend the rest of the day in engaged conversations around what are always amazing topics. More information and a sign-up page (not required) at http://www.isteunplugged.com/sat-622-hack-education.html.

Saturday, June 22nd Evening - HACK-ED AFTER PARTY!: After a banner inaugural partner last year, we'll again have an unconference "After Party" from 7 - 9pm the Marriott Riverwalk, 2nd floor, salons A/B. Generously sponsored by StudyBlue and Follett, the first 150 to arrive get a drink ticket (and maybe something else!). Munchies will be available, but plan to eat dinner before or after depending on what time zone your stomach is still in. (StudyBlue is also inviting a small group of classroom educators to dish and dine with them at 5:30pm. Get a sneak preview of new technology and brainstorm ideas for teacher/student use, while enjoying dinner and drinks with fellow educators. To learn more contact info@studyblue.com.)

Sunday, June 23rd Afternoon - GLOBAL EDUCATION SUMMIT: Another return event, the Global Ed Summit is a 3-hour mini-conference organized by Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon (well, actually, organized by Lucy with Steve as support staff) for those interested in globally-connecting students and teachers, and is a physical followup to the hugely popular online Global Education Conference. All welcome! More information is at http://www.globaleducationconference.com/group/gec-summit-at-iste.

Monday, June 24 - EdTechWomen at ISTE 2013 Dinner: For the first time at ISTE, EdTechWomen will be hosting a dinner and community networking event for women and their supporters in education technology. The mission of EdTechWomen is to connect women across sub-industries and to leverage women's influence in education, now and for the future. More information at http://www.isteunplugged.com/mon-624-edtechwomen-dinner.html.

Monday, June 24 - Wednesday, June 26th - THE BLOGGERS' CAFE: Also in it's seventh year now, the Bloggers' Cafe is an informal, couch-chairs-floor gathering area in the conference center for bloggers, social media mavens, and anyone else who wants to find and connect with others. A beehive of constant activity and conversation, the Bloggers' Cafe makes it hard to go do anything else once you discover it. All are welcome, and if someone doesn't notice you or introduce you to a group you want to meet, please introduce yourself! More information at http://www.isteunplugged.com/mon-624---wed-626-bloggers-cafe.html.

For those wanting a little history of these events (including the really fun 2007 first EduBloggerCon photo) see http://www.isteunplugged.com/about--history.html. For those paying close attention, we will not be holding the ISTE LIVE sessions this year because of conference space constraints. And our plans for a series of "unkeynotes" never really materialized. So sorry!

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS THIS YEAR!