Today I filled out a survey put out by ISTE asking what excites me about ISTE10. I found that an easy question to answer. I am excited about meeting the members of my PLN (personal learning network) face to face. I was fairly new to Twitter last year when I went to Washington, D.C. to attend NECC, but I was warmly welcomed into the Blogger Cafe by the likes of @bethstill, @suewaters, @jutecht, @rmbyrne, @paulawhite, @paulrwood, @dobrien917, @angelamaiers and many others. I went to a TweetUp and attended a baseball game with my new friends. I had great conservations with @coolcatteacher, @stevehargadon, @teach42, @mcarls, and other wonderful educators. I had such a great experience that I decided there and then that I would definitely attend ISTE10.
I've been lucky enough to attend NECC04 in New Orleans, NECC08 in San Antonio, and NECC09 in Washington D.C. Each of these trips was funded by my school. Funds were written into our School Improvement Plan to allow for this. Unfortunately those funds are not available this year, but I decided to foot my own trip to ISTE10. Why you might ask? Is the $1,500 worth it? My answer is absolutely YES.
What will happen in those five days in Denver will be worth every penny I will spend to attend. I will attend sessions presented by innovative educators from around the globe. I will renew my old friendships, and establish many new ones. I will get to share ideas and set up collaborations for the coming school year. I will hear about others' best practices and learn new ways to use Web 2.0 tools. I will get to spend quality time with other educators who are like me. I will get to hone my presenting skills at ISTE unplugged. I am psyched. It will be so invigorating.
I am prepping for my trip by adding an ISTE10 column to Tweetdeck, tweeting with my PLN, establishing a presence on the ISTE Ning, ordering my Twitter Tshirt, organizing my conference planner, and signing up for activites like TweetUps. I have started adding places of interest to my ISTE10 Google map and I downloaded the Bump app to my iPhone so I'll be ready to exchange contact info with everyone. Okay what have I forgotten?
Can you tell that I am excited to get to ISTE10? If you are attending I hope I get to connect with you. If you are not attending in person, be on the lookout for all of the tweets on Twitter which will tell you how to attend virtually. Look for the backchannels that I'm sure will be set up for some of the sessions.
I am prepping for my trip by adding an ISTE10 column to Tweetdeck, tweeting with my PLN, establishing a presence on the ISTE Ning, ordering my Twitter Tshirt, organizing my conference planner, and signing up for activites like TweetUps. I have started adding places of interest to my ISTE10 Google map and I downloaded the Bump app to my iPhone so I'll be ready to exchange contact info with everyone. Okay what have I forgotten?
Can you tell that I am excited to get to ISTE10? If you are attending I hope I get to connect with you. If you are not attending in person, be on the lookout for all of the tweets on Twitter which will tell you how to attend virtually. Look for the backchannels that I'm sure will be set up for some of the sessions.
