ISTE June 29th Recap

So much going on! So much learning!

Started this day in the Digital Age Library Playground. I’d never been to a presentation of this style – it’s similar to poster sessions. Several stations are set up with computers and presentation tools, and different people present on different topics throughout the playground. You can stay at one station and listen to the presentation, or walk around, grab QR codes and flyers, and get more info later. These sessions are made for dropping in and out. There were a lot of interesting topics, and I had a lot of good converstations. However, I have found that this doesn’t really work well for my learning style – there’s too much chaos and too many distractions. It was a great opportunity to network and meet people though, and I found out about a lot of great projects that my fellow SIGLIB librarians are up to.

I skipped breakfast this morning (horrible idea – NEVER do this at a conference) so after the playground I was seriously hungry and getting brain fog. I filled up on a big lunch at The Park Bar, then headed back for some more learning.

The only other session I went to was a panel discussion on Genius Hour, featuring such amazing people as Sylvia Martinez and Erin Klein. The discussion was very inspiring, and it helped to solidify my desire to get something like this started at my school next year. I think that there are amazing possibilities when you allow for students to pursue their passions.

I was mentally worn out after this, so I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the vendor hall. Lots of robots, interactive screens, device cases and carts, 3D printers. It’s so exciting the see the things that I’ve read about live and in person.

The day ended with the SIGLIB social reception at Game X, which was super fun. I got to hang out with all the cool librarians that I love talking to on Twitter. There were intense air hockey competitions with Andy Plemmons and Okle Miller, giant connect four with Sherry Gick, watching Tiffany Whitehead play Fruit Ninja, photo booth fun with everyone including Matthew Winner and Elissa Malespina. I was ridiculously fun and awesome and I’m so glad I went.

It was a super busy day, and I collapsed when I got back to the hotel room. I’m definitely getting in my exercise with all this walking.