NECC Reflection

For those of you who attended NECC in Washington, DC, let's use this spot for a quick reflection. However, instead of the typical "What did you like best" idea, let's go the other way and answer the following question:

If you had to do it all over again, what would you have done differently during your time at NECC?

For me, it would have been attending the Library of Congress event. When I first heard about this a while ago, it sounded very interesting. As time went on, I never signed up. It turns out, I missed a pretty exciting evening and probably will never have that opportunity again.

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Permalink Reply by Cathy Nelson on July 3, 2009 at 9:49pm

I missed the LOC event too, but because I had family there with me, spent most of my evening s with them. Now Im disappointed to realize what a faux pas missing that event was. : (

Next year (if I get to go again) I am so ditching the family.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Frederick on July 4, 2009 at 8:44pm

i live on maryland's eastern shore, and commuted every day to the convention center, about 2 hours each way. my school paid for my conference registration, and will reimburse me for gas, parking, metro fare, and bridge tolls, but would not pay for me to stay in a hotel for those 3 nights. while i certainly liked being able to come home to my husband each day, i felt like i was missing out on some of the more informal sessions that were held in the evenings, as well as the general social opportunities to connect w/ other ed tech teachers and exchange ideas and make contacts. if i had it to do over again, i think i'd pay for the hotel myself, to have access to those other opportunities for connection. otherwise, i LOVED necc. this was my first, and i hope to go again sometime!

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Permalink Reply by Alice Mercer on July 5, 2009 at 10:24pm

Julie, the after parties/get togethers were about the best part of it. You get to meet new folks from other parts of the country. They aren't always formal, some were just getting together with friends from online, or that we meet at the conference. I can't recommend doing that enough.

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Permalink Reply by Alice Mercer on July 5, 2009 at 10:27pm

It was the opposite for me. I went to the sessions I originally signed up for when we were limited to one a day, tried to sign up for more. I then decided to drop most of the new ones when I got there and discovered, registration didn't take. I liked most of what I went to, so that was fine. I think I wouldn't have enjoyed what I tried to sign up for the second time as much.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Sayre on July 5, 2009 at 7:59pm

I, too, would have planned better. I signed up for several sessions, but missed some great sessions that I would have loved to go to. I also had family in town and missed out the chance for networking/socializing in the evening. If I get to go to ISTE 2010, I will sign up early and get lots of input from my PLN prior to signing up for sessions. Overall, I loved the experience and learned so much!

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Permalink Reply by Lee Kolbert on July 5, 2009 at 8:00pm

Great idea to start this discussion, Chad. I would also spend more time with the online planner and I would try to be more strategic about planning "meetings" around the sessions I wanted to attend. I also would take an additional day or two to sightsee. I don't do much travelling and it's a shame to visit a city and never see it. I did that in San Antonio, San Jose and although I've seen DC, I'd like to see more. I'm going to spend more time in Denver. I think I will also try take a more active role (perhaps in helping to organize happenings) in the EdubloggerCon and BloggerCafe.

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Permalink Reply by MrDee on July 5, 2009 at 8:04pm

First of all I have to say I enjoyed the conference. Things I would have done differently include taking a tour, or doing the Library of Congress. Stopping by the ballpark(Nationals) or Captials and definitely gotten there earlier on Sunday.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Johnson on July 5, 2009 at 8:08pm

I would have brought along several colleagues from my school district. It's time to get others as excited about the potential for technology in education as I am. I would like my principals to attend; they need to get it as much as anyone else, perhaps more. Principal leadership is critical for school improvement, and if a principal thinks something is important, it's more likely to get the attention of teachers.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Carls on July 5, 2009 at 8:11pm

I enjoyed going golfing on Monday and the Orioles game on Tuesday, I probably would've like going to see more of the sites, but if I could go back, I would've signed up for something on Sunday, like Karen Montgomery's "Voicethread and a camera session to track student learning" session.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hyde on July 5, 2009 at 8:21pm

This was my first NECC and I was just in awe of the whole thing...however, if I were going to do anything differently it would have been to be more active in discussions in the Blogger Cafe. Looking forward to Denver already.

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Permalink Reply by Maryann Molishus on July 5, 2009 at 8:25pm

I actually tried some new things during this conference, such as volunteering. I wasn't sure how I would feel about using my time as a volunteer, but I actually learned a lot and got to see the sessions in which I was helping. I would definitely volunteer again, maybe more. It is a great way to learn, connect, and still benefit from the conference events.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Nansen on July 5, 2009 at 8:34pm

I missed the LOC event also, but it was because of a personal priority to attend an Apple Distinguished Educators event that was scheduled at the same time.

The only regrets I have about this year's NECC is that a) the events I missed were because another of a higher priority was at the same time and b) I didn't spend as much time at the Blogger Cafe as I would have liked.

I spent much of my time connecting with people in my PLN, and wish I would have connected with even more of them that where at NECC.