This was my setup for this year’s ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference. Due to circumstances, one of them being available funds from my school district – we get about $275/yr to spend on any PD that we want and we can bank our funds for a few years – I was able to attend ISTE, but I could only afford to go virtual. I was at the same time excited to finally get to attend an ISTE conference, and live, but was also devastated that I was going to miss out on attending in person. Not only would I miss out on getting to visit New Orleans, but I wouldn’t be able to finally meet face-to-face with so many amazing friends I’ve made online – my PLN.
ISTE‘s conferences are large scale EdTech conferences and here in the pacific northwest we have our own smaller scale EdTech conferences put on by the NCCE (Northwest Council for Computer Education). I’ve been fortunate enough to have my district send me to our yearly NCCE conferences for many years. The conferences take place in Seattle and sometimes Portland, Oregon, which are both within driving distance of Chimacum so travel has been affordable. This year, 2022, NCCE was planning on having its first in-person conference since COVID hit but when the new corona virus variants mutated they postponed the in-person conference and changed it to completely virtual. I was devastated. Not only was I excited to get to attend an in-person conference but I got three proposals approved to present so I was going to present to a live group instead of over Zoom! In all my disappointed I didn’t even stop to think of the incredible work the NCCE people had to do to move their February in-person conference to an all-virtual conference in April! Just amazing. And the conference was great, just like ISTE’s! So I got to attend two amazing conferences, all virtual. Recently, I also attended a two-day WSSEA (Washington State Scholastic Esports Association) virtual esports conference so I’ve had some great experiences with virtual conferences to compare to all the years of attending in-person conferences.
So two main benefits of attending conferences in-person are for sure visiting a venue or city that isn’t where you live and getting to meet face-to-face with members of your PLN plus getting to make new friends.
So is it a slam dunk that attending in-person is the best way to go? I’m not so sure. Hear me out. In so many ways, attending conferences live is so amazing. Seeing all the photos coming through the #ISTELive hashtag on Twitter and Instagram I am very jealous. I missed out on visiting New Orleans and I missed out on meeting so many amazing people that I’ve wanted to meet for so long.
Are there downsides to attending a conference in-person? Yes, there are. I read some threads on Twitter where ISTE in-person attendees shared that the venue was so huge and there were so many people that they had a hard time getting from one session to another, reducing the number of sessions they could attend, and making it difficult to find and connect with people they were looking forward to seeing! I can see why with a whopping 14,282 people in person!!
Two possible downsides to attending in-person could be limited number of sessions one is capable of attending due to time constraints and getting from one place to another, as well as, not being able to find and actually connect with people you want to see.
What else? Are there other benefits or downsides to attending conferences in-person? Share in the comments.
Attending a conference virtually means you completely miss out on visiting a new town or city and not getting to view the sites and not getting to eat the fabulous foods! There’s no denying that is a major downside and did I mention that I am devastated at not getting to go to New Orleans?!? But are there benefits to attending virtually? Yes, yes there are. One main benefit that took advantage of is attending as many sessions as I possibly could! Even if there are only ten minutes between sessions, I didn’t have to go anywhere so I used the ten minutes or so to grab a bit to eat or go to the restroom. Speaking of breaks, I could get up and use the restroom or get something to eat anytime I want. I didn’t have to put all my stuff down and walk over people to exit the room. And with my setup pictured above, I could be in three sessions at once to find out which one better met my needs! One thing I hate and cannot do is walk out of a session once it starts. I know you’re supposed to, of course, and the presenters often tell you that it won’t hurt their feelings, but it just feels wrong. Then what do you do? You can make the trek to another session you wanted at that same time slot but then you’ll have to either stand by the door or walk in mid-presentation and find a seat. Cringe.
So benefits to attending virtually is being able to attend as many sessions as you can and want plus being able to easily and without bothering anyone leave one session and quickly and easily enter another!
In terms of meeting people from your PLN or making new friends, that happens virtually, too! I got to make new friends through the chats and the conference game (more on that in a separate post)! I also got a chance to chat with someone I’ve been learning from on Twitter, reading her blog, and listening to her podcast, Vicki Davis, the Cool Cat Teacher!
Even virtually you can meet up with friends from your PLN and you can make new friends by connecting on the chats, seeing people over and over in sessions, and playing the conference game!
Another thing I missed out on is the badge. I have a HUGE collection of conference badges on their lanyards and with badges you get to collect ribbons! This year I got none of that from neither NCCE nor ISTE!?
Finally, I have to mention the elephant in the room – testing positive for COVID. Sadly, I’ve seen on Twitter many in-person attendees coming back home and testing positive. As much as we want to and need to believe that we are now living in a post-COVID world, the fact is that COVID seems to be here to stay like the flu. I feel for all those who are testing positive as I got infected myself in late May, early June, and I wish them all a speedy recovery with mild symptoms.
What did I miss? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
