Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Stressed Over NECC Rejections? Don't Be.

I'm watching the tweets today that are expressing regret over proposals not accepted by ISTE for the NECC 2009 Conference in Washington, DC.  To all who wanted to speak on a topic and didn't get accepted:  don't despair!

Last year we held the second formal EduBloggerCon the Saturday before NECC, with the full support of ISTE.  While there are other gatherings of educational bloggers and participative-Web enthusiasts, this is the biggest.  EduBloggerCon 2009 awaits you on Saturday, June 27th.  This is a free event, and is run in "unconference" style to give you the most opportunity to find conversations with others that you care about.

And NECC Unplugged returns!  I believe this event, to ISTE's great credit, is really unprecedented in the ed tech conference world.  This is a wiki-organized event, where anyone who wants to can present on any topic they want to--and the audience determines what they will attend.  The physical space will be in the conference center, and this year should not interfere with the Bloggers Cafe area (smile!).  There will be a plasma display and seating, and we'll be allowing speakers to schedule themselves in during all time slots of the conference.   The website for NECC Unplugged isn't up yet, but I'll post here when you're able to start signing yourself up for sessions.

So even if your proposals didn't get accepted for NECC, I hope you'll still consider attending!  Our goal here is participation, and to explore the topics that weren't recognized by the committees, but which can still be super-valuable.   And let's face it--by the time NECC rolls around in late June, there will be several new ideas and technologies we'll all want to hear about!

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:46 AM

    I love you are organizing this, but please don't exclude those of us who were lucky enough to have at least one application accepted. The climate of disappointment needs to not turn into one of resentment!

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  2. @Gail: Of course you are not excluded! ANYone can present. I saw several comments in the "tweet-osphere" from folks who said they had a presentation accepted but the one they really wanted to do wasn't. I'm sure hoping you'll schedule yourself into NECC Unplugged when the wiki is up.

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  3. Steve, you're the best. Thanks for once again taking ownership of this, being responsive to concerns from last year, and making it all happen. You don't get thanked enough. You are MUCH APPRECIATED!

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  4. @Scott: thanks for that. :)

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  5. Hi Steve,
    Looking forward to helping out again this year in DC. What a great way to get more people involved and connected. I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the EduBloggerCon and look forward to the wealth of experiences, ideas, and tools that will be shared during this year EBC. I loved presenting last year and made some valuable connections with great educators from all over the world. Thanks for organizing this again!! Can't wait to share again this year. :) Happy New Year!

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