I’m ramping back up for my first in-person EDUCAUSE Annual Conference since 2019 in Chicago, and my first visit to Denver since 2019 as well.
Obviously we did not have an in-person conference in 2020, and I was unable to attend the in-person conference in 2021 due to institutional travel policies which still did not permit out-of-state conference travel (although I may have had dinner with some friends in a city 90 minutes from my house one evening, completely coincidentally.) 2021 had a parallel in-person an virtual conference; although they shared the keynote speakers most of the sessions were in fact considerably different, and that was somewhat disappointing to me as a virtual attendee. I think this year’s plan for two separate experiences is much more realistic (although it would be great if sometime we could truly have a “hyflex” conference experience like our institutions say we are offering for instruction, and for what our constituents seem to still demand, but that’s another topic.)
It’s not my first post-pandemic conference–we had a very successful NYSCIO conference this past July, and it was a great event for me to get back my “conference legs” (although perhaps not literally–there’s considerably less walking there than at a typical EDUCAUSE Annual Conference).
While I had hoped to attend this year’s event as an EDUCAUSE Board member, that was not to happen (and congratulations to Peter Angelos and Jane Livingston, the new board members). As they say it’s an honor to be nominated. And of course I’ll still be bringing my best thinking to the conference and hoping to help people have their best conference experiences, and look forward to continuing to support EDUCAUSE in any way I can.
I am looking so forward to seeing people I haven’t seen in three years in many cases, and making new connections.
As always, please find me (you can always reach out on Twitter if nothing else) and say hello. Maybe we’ll share a drink or a meal, or just have a great hallway conversation.
Please also remember to stay safe, while we will be interacting there’s nothing wrong with wearing a mask in crowds, asking to keep distance from other attendees, and of course being up on your shots.
Hopefully I’ll see you soon.