About
The alternate (now called "unplugged") activities at ISTE and other conferences started with some suggestions posted by David Warlick on the then-NECC conference wiki. David had the ideas for both an "EduBloggerCon" and a "Bloggers' Cafe"--the first being an unconference gathering of bloggers, which he had been holding at other conference.
The first EdubloggerCon and the first Blogger's Cafe were both held at the 2007 NECC (now ISTE) conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
The first EdubloggerCon and the first Blogger's Cafe were both held at the 2007 NECC (now ISTE) conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
HISTORY
It's hard to imagine now, but for many of the roughly 125 bloggers and others who showed up for the first EduBloggerCon, this was the first time that they had met face to face. The energy of the day was incredible, and many other events and activities have their roots in that day. Adding to the aura of the event was the limited space--most who attended remember sitting in on tables, chairs, the floor, and even standing in doorways, packed into small side rooms for the breakout sessions led by our veritable who's-who of online heroes.
According to reputable lore, the first EduBloggerCon was also the inspiration for the EduCon Conference held in January each year at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia.
According to reputable lore, the first EduBloggerCon was also the inspiration for the EduCon Conference held in January each year at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia.
The 2007 EduBloggerCon
Photo by Steve Dembo
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Future EduBloggerCons were just as much fun, but as the crowds grew some felt the conversations lost their intimacy and unstructured nature. The balance of bringing in new folks and satisfying the old guard became more difficult, but for many of us the fun continued, and "EduBloggerCons" and "Bloggers Cafes" began being held at other conferences, and other unconference/barcamp-style activities began to be a great part of the ed tech professional development landscape.
2008 EduBloggerCon in San Antonio
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2009 EduBloggerCon in DC
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2010 EduBloggerCon in Denver
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2011 EduBloggerCon in Philly
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2012 SocialEdCon in San Diego
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2013 in San Antonio
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2014 in Atlanta
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The original Classroom 2.0 badges for EduBloggerCon
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The original logo and badge
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The original SupportBlogging.com button
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2011 Teacher 2.0 T-shirt
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Bloggers' Cafe
Photo courtesy of Collette Cassinelli
Again, the brainchild of David Warlick, the Bloggers' Cafe has its own lore and mystique, but is often the base camp for many of the social media, blogging, and collaborative attendees--some of whom never make it to regular sessions, spending all of their time in engaged conversations in the "BC." Multiply the picture on the left by about 5 areas (it was hard to photograph) and you have some idea of how much the BC has grown over the years.
A dilemma of the BC is that beginners often feel awkward about crossing into the "conversation zone," and this can be exacerbated by feelings of being outside of the engaged conversations people are in, and not knowing how to "come in." Each year we work on this, trying some kind of program (one year it was t-shirts and buttons that said "I'm here to help) to make newbies feel welcome.
A dilemma of the BC is that beginners often feel awkward about crossing into the "conversation zone," and this can be exacerbated by feelings of being outside of the engaged conversations people are in, and not knowing how to "come in." Each year we work on this, trying some kind of program (one year it was t-shirts and buttons that said "I'm here to help) to make newbies feel welcome.
The first Bloggers' Cafe, in Atlanta, photo courtesy of Jeff Utecht
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Bloggers' Cafe 2008, courtesy of Cory Plough
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Bloggers' Cafe 2008, courtesy Sharon Betts
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Bloggers' Cafe 2008, courtesy Sharon Betts
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Bloggers' Cafe 2008, courtesy Darren Draper
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Bloggers' Cafe 2010, courtesy Dennis Grice
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Open Source Lab
Started in 2006, or the continuation in 2006 by Steve Hargadon of an Open Source computer lab, but with the addition of a speakers' series, this program hit the end of the road in 2010. Unfortunately, the advent of cloud computing services, especially the free ones, left the Open Source movement in K12 somewhat dead in the water...
