THE BEST ISTE EVER: Reflections Day 2, continued

Okay, this is taking longer than expected, but I have made a promise and I intend to keep it.

When last we saw one another, we had just finished up the amazing and action packed EPIC LEADERSHIP: Beyond the Hype of Gamification. I’ll continue Day 1.

We moved out of the Hyatt Ballroom A and into the Ballroom next door, where a lovely buffet awaited us in preparation for the “Making IT Happen” awards ceremony. Several folks were awarded this in-our-circles-prestigious pink or black jacket, actually kind of a lifetime achievements award. This year they were:

Lisa Perez

Mike Lawrence

Julie Lindsey

and Kecia Ray 

Jane McGonigal and Andy Wheelock

Congratulations to all of the  recipients this year! I was so-honored in Philadelphia two years ago, so I clearly I do have a vested interest in its being accepted as prestigious. Think of this, though—ISTE Has over 20,000 members, and the affiliates’ and vendors’ connections number tens of thousands more human beings. Each year at an event like this one, only three or four of these awards are handed out, through a nomination and approval process, out of that pretty vast pool. This year, my dear pal Dr. Kecia Ray finally got hers, after years of dedicated service and in the year that she steps into the presidency of ISTE, arguably the most powerful EdTech organization in the world. Lunch was great, and we had a chance to line up for pictures with Jane McGonigal. Unfortunately she had to leave before we got ours, but we were issued VIP passes for the keynote address later. We were also told that we could jump to the front of the after-keynote book signing for that photo opp with Ms. McGonigal. I never got mine, though Andy did. I hate him.

Just kidding. Andrew Wheelock, salt o’ the earth, is a brother to me. He rocks. 

Straight from the Making IT Happen awards, it was me and Andy trucking  down to the main staging area to line up in order to accept the “President’s Volunteer Service Award.” Dear friend Helen Crompton handed them out backstage in the opening ceremonies and we marched out with the certificates in hand, posed, and smiled for the camera. When I arrived backstage, I’d had my own Black Jacket on for over an hour and when I took that off I felt, and looked, like I’d taken a shower with my pink dress shirt on. I cooled off over the hour or so introduction and welcome and I marched out onstage with a fair level of confidence, mostly dried off and proud to have received this award in front of 5 or so thousand people (seating capacity in Hall A of the Convention Center is officially 5,500.

I obviously did not take a photograph at that event, but I later tweeted out asking for one and thanks to Anita Harris for this pic:

From that event I had to book it again, once offstage, for the SIG Open House. Thankfully, Anita and Mike were responsible for the SIGOL one and Bob and Kae and crew had set up for SIGVE. The place bustled just as soon as the Welcome event let out and we hope that we inspired some new members to check out both SIGs. I had a fun reminder of the old days as I commandeered the Smart Board which was for some reason turned on, directly across from our poster session. I shared our Flickr stream, our Weebly and our Wiki with the steady stream of passersby. As a side note, I accepted this year's Vice Chair role in the Special Interest Group for Online Learning, ISTE's oldest and I believe largest SIG, at ISTE13. What am I thinking?

BEST LAID PLANS

I had determined that after all the above I was going to catch the opening Keynote from a monitor at some quiet lounge in the Convention Center, but what with the VIP pass Andy and I headed on over and found our way to row three center. You must understand. There are perhaps 200 rows in this huge Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center’s mainstage. The only people in between us and the star presenter were two rows of Board Members. To sweeten the experience, old blogger pal Ann Truger (left) popped in the seat next to me.

Aside: This is one of the very best things about ISTE annual conferences. I see Ann only at ISTE. I could say that about many many of my personal/professional learning networks. But at least I get to see them at all. For me, always and forever, it will be about hugs and sharing appreciation and encouragement. For the first time in ISTE history, there was a “house band.” Check out the band's website and pick up their CD at http://daraniemi.com/. Wow. these talented highschoolers from several schools in San Antonio performed masterfully and entertainingly for all the keynotes. Just wow.

After some warm welcome remarks by ISTE CEO Brian Lewis and President Kecia Ray (a dynamic and personable team if ever I saw one), the beautiful Jane McGonigal took the stage. Calm and self-possessed from the outset, she proceeded to win over the ISTE keynote record crowd with her charm, her humor, and her story. Toward the end of the session, entitled "Learning is an Epic Win," she bade everyone stand and after brief background and instructions had everyone in the hall play what was the second largest record setting game of thumb war. Now there's a way to engage a room!
Here are some brief clips from her talk:
As the session description states, "Her book, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World," is the definitive book on gamification."  I have read this one cover to cover and I'm currently listening to it via a checkout from the Nashville Public Library. I highly recommend it, especially if you are in the majority (though its numbers are dwindling, certainly) who simply don't get this convergence of game design and instructional design. McGonigal has done her research and it's compelling. If we imagine every convincing presentation, book, or celebrated activity as putting another chink in the wall of denial, Jane McGonigal's work is a roadside IED of immense impact and effect. Her TED Talks continue to receive millions of views and once you've seen them you'll understand why.

I've described in an earlier post McGonigal's moving answer to our Rosie Vojtek's question requesting a description of her greatest Fiero Moment, and if you haven't seen that, click on over and then come back. There's more the first day, but we're almost done.

Heck, I'll give you the first one right here. Save you some clicking:
 

With the Good Dr.. Helen Crompton

Following the keynote I headed over to the hotel and changed clothes for the President's Reception, an invitation only bash for a few hundred of my closest colleagues. It was an open bar, and I had a tequila or two while hobnobbing with other invitees, including a fun (and dedicated) young group from Nashville's Antioch High School and our own math teachers, Anna Harris and Christine Van Loon. Doug Renfro and his lovely wife Jeannine (wrangler extraordinaire for the immensely overbooked ISTE President, my dear dear friend Kecia Ray). I also ran into my friends Helen Crompton, Shannon McClintock Miller, and many more dedicated and very very smart people I  for the most part only get to see once a year. 

My MNPS Virtual School crew were heading out for a late dinner and they texted me the location so I could join them. Once I met up with them at "The Original Mexican Restaurant" I realized I was starving so I ordered a quesadilla, joined them in a tasty adult libation, then headed back to the hotel with them, parting and collapsing for a bit of rest. 

There. I have achieved closure on reflections from the first day of ISTE13. Yay.

Only three more amazing days to go! Stay tuned!

THE BEST ISTE EVER: Day 2 Reflections, part 1

Yes indeedy it was an early one. And a late one. Let's begin at the beginning.

Sunday morning, up at 5:00 a.m. to an alarm and into the fitness room for a long stationary bike ride. Quick shower and out to the Hyatt Ballroom A to meet up with the EPIC Leadership leadership team. I met Chris Haskell for the first time, got my first ISTE hug from dear Anne Collier, Bron Stuckey, and met several new pals. We were issued event tee-shirts and red bandanas, which we were instructed to wear and to customize with a sharpie message.

Scott and Andy, dis and dat. Ready for EPIC Leadership

Peggy Sheehy is the genius behind the event, a staple of ISTE conferences for years. Sometimes called the "Leadership Symposium," it has gathered thought leaders from around the globe year after year. This year, though, with Peggy in charge, we were all in for a new experience. Those of us who had either enlisted or been volunteered to help already knew that, but wow, were the clueless in for a clue.

For starters, Peggy set the theme with a welcome that eased the attendees into the event sort of traditionally, a description of the events to come and the rules of the game, , including a closing appearance by the amazing opening keynoter (this conference was literally the first time I heard that term, so I'm excited to use it!) Jane McGonigal. She held a dramatic reading of the challenges to come, wherein the assembled were to look for numerals that would decode into a solution to the location of "The Palladin." This is where brain cells began to fry in the room. The next three hours would be challenging, frustrating, and a learning experience for all assembled.

Peggy then announced an icebreaker, Kae Novak, soon to ascend to the Lowly High Grand Poobah (read "Chair") of ISTE SIGVE, took the stage.

"You all have at your tables one brown bag with the instructions written on it--'Do Not Open.'" Laughter. "Inside you will find a long strip of tape, a quantity of uncooked spaghetti, and a marshmallow." Silence.

"Your task is to work with those at your table to create the largest possible free-standing structure with the marshmallow on its top. The clock is ticking. Go (paraphrased)."

For the next ten or 15 minutes each table worked to do so. The ensuing activity was frenetic, fascinating, and as a facilitator I found it enlightening in surprising ways. As noted by dear friend Bron Stuckey, men mostly took over the tables. Some confusion about the task existed. Cheating and stretching rules ensued. We made it through the allotted time and a winner was announced.

After that event, Anne Collier was up. She shared an enlightening presentation centered around the families, students, and attitudes about gaming and online security. Awesome as always, she implied that we are doing a great disservice to our students to ignore the obvious--there is value in games for learning, and parents needs must know what's going on.

 Breakout sessions moved to 3 separate staging areas each with two ongoing presentations on one of six topics, happening twice so attendees could pick and choose between them. They were number and color coded and we learned that a map cheat-sheet would have helped. Here are the sessions:

I roamed between the sessons during that period of the morning and in retrospect I wish I'd picked two and caught them in their entirety, but I was caught up in the helping thing. I did take time out to chase Andy in his detective's disguise (he made me do it) through all three sessions at a run, for no reason other than that we could. Here's a poser if I ever saw one:




After the sessions, the game got intense, we only had an hour left, and Jane McGonigal was scheduled to close us. According to a complicated and only partly understood by me set of rules, tables were playing against one another and were charged with determining 10 numbers that would be decoded into a final clue that would lead to the elusive Palladin. Finally, one table determined it was a phone number. With prompting from the stage it was determined it was a 212 number, then one table called it and over the speaker we heard the winner proclaim, "I have found the Palladin." Loud applause, a wrap up reminding the assembled that failure is an important process of the gaming experience, that mysteries are not meant to be easy to solve, and that fun is fun and that must also be kept in mind.

Jane McGonigal is an amazing individual. A game designer by profession, she has been called to the spotlight by experiences including injury, brain damage, frustration leading to depression and suicidal thoughts, and then pulling herself out of that by doing what she does best--designing a game called "Super Better," with which she has helped people all over the globe regain stability. Her 2010 TED Talk has garnered 3,127,045 views as I write. If you haven't seen it, take the 20 minutes or so it'll take to do so. It may not change your life, but it will help you understand how dynamic, sincere, empassioned, and intelligent Jane McGonigal is.

She walked out to resounding applause and said words to the effect, "I'm giving a talk tonight, the opening keynote, as you may know, so for the next half hour or so I would just like to do some questions and answers." She proceeded to do so.

I can promise you this: Anyone in the room who may not have been a fan before this intimate session (and there were many in the room who came into it disbelievers and may have left only with their old-school mind sets only slightly affected) has to have been seriously challenged by it. McGonigal was natural, open, candid, and she even granted permission for our Rosie Vojtek and her husband Bob to record the answer to their question and share it through the vehicle of the hot-off-the-virtual-presses June issue of the Virtual Education Journal. You must give this 194 page issue a read!

Here's the answer to Rosie's question about McGonigal's personal favorite "Fiero Moment." Watch closely for a very personal moment:

Here's a bonus for getting this far in the post, my Flickr Set of the Event!

That marvelous session done, we moved to the "Making IT Happen" awards and lunch, the SIG Open House, and the Opening Keynote. I can see I have to break up this day or else present such a long post not one of you will read it. Signing out for now, but not before thanking Peggy Sheehy and all the facilitators of EPIC Leadership: Beyond the Hype of Gamification for making it the most memorable Leadership Event of all the many ISTE/NECCs I have attended. Over and out. Typos? I'll edit again on the plane!