ISTE Affiliates at NECC 2008

Today was my first day at NECC 2008, the annual convention of ISTE. It was a very busy day filled with learning.

I represented TIES at the ISTE Affiliate Annual Meeting today. From 8:00 AM-5:00 PM, eighty-some representatives from the United States, Australia, and Canada met to share and learn together. As a first time attendee and a fairly new employee at TIES, I was learning more than most! I not only learned about the content of the meeting but also dozens of names, relationships, responsibilities, and how affiliates function both independently and as a collective. Thanks to the folks from Michigan’s MAME and California’s CUE who sat with me and guided me on my journey. I also appreciated the support of Laurie and Lesley from MEMO in Minnesota. It was a bonus treat to connect with them again.

After a great start with breakfast tacos (you’ll find food to be a recurring theme to my blog posts), we began the content portion of the meeting titled Building Blocks for Successful Conferences. With only one TIES conference under my belt, I felt like every word was directed specifically to me. Topics like marketing, professional development, community building, and finding speakers all provided opportunities to learn and grow professionally. For those ISTE Affiliates who couldn’t attend, I’d encourage you to explore the ISTE Affiliate Wiki for notes on our day, but they are password protected and limited to affiliates.

The soup and salad lunch (excellent tortilla soup!) provided plenty of time to meet new people, share ideas, and begin to find a place for myself in this group. Breakout sessions followed lunch. I attended one on professional development and another on marketing.

One of the fun activities of the event was a basket exchange. Affiliates were invited to create and bring a basket that represented their state’s affiliate. I created the TIES basket that we brought in combination with MEMO, the other Minnesota ISTE Affiliate. It included MN items like an Ole and Lena joke book, a TIES notebook and pen, Sturdiwheat pancake mix from Redwing, and that true Minnesota delicacy – a can of SPAM (the meat, not the annoying emails you don’t want) with accompanying SPAM cookbook.

I want to thank Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association, the Wisconsin ISTE Affiliate, for the basket the MEMO representatives and I received. Yummy, cheese and beer! I really enjoyed my after meeting snack.

Tomorrow brings another event. I’ll be participating in an advocacy training event called ABCs of Advocacy: Make Your Voice Heard!

Check back for notes about that event, other NECC sessions I attend, the session that I am presenting with Vivian Johnson called Integrating Technology to Promote Equity in Inquiry Based Teaching.

In addition to my posts, watch for updates from Marla Davenport, Greg Bartley, and Troy Cherry who are also attending NECC this year.