Readers of this blog will know that I love to travel, and just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to one of my favorite destinations, Chicago, for the 2013 ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show. At this monumental event, more than 10,800 educators showed up to hear about best practices, new ideas, and revolutionizing concepts from leading education experts in more than 400 sessions. In addition, participants heard wide-ranging, inspiring addresses from such well-known figures as poet Maya Angelou; former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor; the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Freeman A. Hrabowski III; and more. Finally, more than 300 exhibitors presented attending educators with a glimpse at the cutting-edge technologies and resources available to educators now.
From a personal perspective, the 2013 ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show will rank as one of my top conference experiences of all time. I heard new perspectives on education I’d not considered, learned new ways of supporting the success of each learner, and connected with close friends and colleagues both new and old.
In addition, I made my first foray into the growing world of social media by sending my very first tweet. Through Twitter, thousands of attendees brought the learning straight from the session rooms to the Internet, where thousands more not attending the conference were able to follow back-channel discussions. I encourage you to check out some of the best tweets of #ASCD13 in this Inservice post, and stay connected with us throughout the year by following @ASCD on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Google+.
But the conference experience does not need to end now that you are home. This year’s registrants also receive access to the Virtual Conference archives, so they can go back and watch sessions they might have missed. As many of you have noticed, we’ve already uploaded a few key sessions from the conference into the archives for viewing. We aim to have all 22 sessions archived by Friday, April 5. Please continue to check back, as we’re adding new sessions every day. To visit the archives, log in here: www.ascd.org/virtualconference.
In my travels around the world, I’ve learned that the French have two words that can be used at parting: adieu and au revoir. Adieu, simply defined, is good-bye or farewell. Au revoir, however, has a more nuanced definition, roughly meaning until we see each other again. So, au revoir until the 2014 ASCD Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, taking place March 15–17, 2014, in Los Angeles, Calif. I look forward to seeing you there.