Friday, April 30, 2010

ISTE 2010 Community-Created Events and a Meeting Tomorrow About Them!

Tomorrow morning we're doing a special Classroom 2.0 LIVE show on the FREE Classroom 2.0 community-based activities happening as a part of the ISTE 2010 Conference in Denver at the end of July.  We're going to talk all about:
  • EduBloggerCon - now in its fourth year, this all-day unconference gathering for those interested in social media / Web 2.0 in education takes place the Saturday (July 26) before the official ISTE start.  Honestly, this is a great event, and many will tell you it is the event to attend at ISTE because it's all about connecting and sharing.  The website for EduBloggerCon is at http://www.edubloggercon.com, but the organizing for the actual events of the day won't start for a few weeks yet.  If you want others to know that you are going to attend, you can sign up here, although no advanced registration is required.  We meet in the Colorado Convention Center thanks to the generosity of ISTE, we have access to free wireless, but bring extra computer batteries or make sure you're fully charged up because this is a BYOP (bring-your-own-power) event.
  • OpenSourceCon - for the first time ever, a parallel FREE all-day unconference for those interested in Open Source in education.  Same basic details and the same day as EduBloggerCon (you can even go back and forthe between the two), but not organized at all yet!  :) Will be soon--in fact, email me if you want to help!  http://www.opensourcecon.com is where the details will emerge.
  • Bloggers' Cafe - also in its fourth year, this is an amazing gathering place at the conference center where there are couches, tables, chairs, and fun people to meet all during ISTE.  Do not be intimidated if you are new to the social media world--we want you to come and be a part of this informal gathering.  Biggest idea for this year:  a live webcam and mic so that those not at ISTE can say hi and chat with those who are.
  • ISTE "Unplugged" - this will be the second year of this incredible opportunity to present at ISTE even if you have never done so before, weren't accepted to speak, or just have something valuable to say!  Run inside the convention center near the Bloggers' Cafe, on the same timetable as the conference, we have a small presentation area where you can sign up to present to both a live and a remote audience (those not at ISTE can watch all the presentation via Elluminate).  We still can't believe that ISTE let's us do this, but they do, and we think they are awesome because of it!
  • Classroom 2.0 Birds of a Feather Meeting - Tuesday, 6/29/2010, 4:45pm–6:15pm.  Come meet other members of Classroom 2.0 and have some fun as we share with each other.  Usually a BIG crowd for this one!
  • Classroom 2.0 LIVE Broadcast - time and date to be determined.  Come meet with Peggy, Kim, and Lorna as they broadcast a live show from ISTE that features YOU as the guests.  :)
  • Open Source Pavilion, Speaker Series, and Playground Area - this terrific speaker track, supported generously as a formal part of the ISTE conference now, is not to be missed if you're an Open Source enthusiast or wanna-be.  We need volunteers, too, who can help to man some of the playground stations!  
  • Global Education Poster Session - as part of the amazing 5-day online global education conference in November that we're just starting to announce, we'll be manning a poster session table on Sunday night to give details and make connections with the larger community.  Volunteers also needed for this!
Does this list amaze you as it does me?  I'm so excited to see so many of you at the show!  And for those that can't attend, we hope we provide you with lots of good, streamed content so that you can have some of the same fun.  

Our meeting tomorrow helps us to plan and brainstorm together.  For instance:  what do you hope we'll do at EduBloggerCon this year?  Do we want Classroom 2.0 buttons or EduBloggerCon buttons, or something else?  Do you like the idea of the Bloggers' Cafe webcam?  Please do come and tell us!  I'm also posting this message as a forum discussion in Classroom 2.0 in case you can't make the event and want to contribute ideas there.  

Date: Sat., May 1, 2010
Time: 9:00am PST / 10:00am MST / 11:00am CST / 12:00pm EST / 4pm GMT
Location: In Elluminate at http://tinyurl.com/cr20live.  The Elluminate room will be open up to 30 minutes before the event if you want to come in early. To make sure that your computer is configured for Elluminate, please visit http://www.elluminate.com/support. Recordings of the session will be posted within a day of the event at the event page.

[Cross-posted from http://www.stevehargadon.com]