Thoughts By Jen

Smiles, just my thoughts today…..

If you give a teacher a conference,
He/She is going to ask for a keynote.

If you give a teacher a keynote,
He/She is  going to ask for a back channel.

If you give a teacher a back channel,
He/She is going to ask for reliable wi-fi.

If you give a teacher reliable wi-fi,
He/She is going to ask for no sites being blocked.

If you give a teacher open internet,
He/She is going to ask for ways to share what they find.

If you give a teacher the opportunity to share,
He/She is going to ask for a group to share with.

If you give a teacher a group to share with,
He/She is going to ask for skype.

If you give a teachers skype,
He/She is going to ask for a microphone.

If you give a teacher a microphone,
He/She  will realize THEY CAN BE A KEYNOTE.

If a teacher can be a keynote,
They will ask you for a conference.

……..yep!!  (grins)

This post can also be read at http://www.techlearning.com/section/Blogs

should the presenter be able to give it again??

I know that this is a rant — but am just wondering about 2 things.

1.  The price that is paid for keynoters
2.  And the fact that MANY are repeating information that has not only been presented before BUT that is available now by way of YouTube, elluminate archives, or ustream.

I can only guestimate that a keynote speaker makes about $5000 per keynote….could be less, could be more.  $5000 is the only one I know for sure because the keynote speaker told me that in conversation.

Hmmm, $5000 for 60 minutes to 90 minutes of information is……interesting.

But then, what do you get for the $5000??  What would you expect?

I will let you speculate on that answer, because we all have probably a variety of thoughts…..but then I have to wonder……

If you, as a presenter/a keynoter, already have your content archived and you are giving the same presentation — I mean the EXACT same presentation — what is the necessity of your being there on the stage…..if we can just hit PLAY and let the audience watch your speech?

It then makes me wonder this….

What does an “in-the-building” speaker need to provide that just hitting “play” will not provide?

I am still in contemplation on this one…..lots of thoughts…….some contradictary thoughts as I work my way through this………..

but I wonder, and I invite you to wonder with me………..
why are we paying HUGE amounts of money for the presence of someone to present in person, if we can get their content for free online?

Thanks for helping me think.
Jen

There are several people, who cause me to think deeper than I usually am comfy doing — and one of them is Stephen Downes.  I feel his support, yet I know he continues to poke me, especially when I present fluff.

Now, my last blog post — was not 100% fluff — because I did learn (and relearn) some ideas…..but his comment “poked” me and I needed to expand some thoughts.

So Stephen, for you….

What I learned at #cue10

Not much — but before you start formulating your opinions and judgements…..let me share why.

1.  I choose WHAT sessions to attend.   Of the sessions I CHOSE to attend, only 2 of them were new sessions or speakers to me.  Of those TWO sessions, 1 was not new information and the other, I choose to TWEET out thoughts, check emails, and update information and I did not give it my full attention.

Because I did not learn — that was MY fault, not CUE’s.

2.  I am tired.  Whether it is this stupid infection, or age, or just the fact that I am mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally exhausted……it was hard for me to concentrate.   I found myself with about 10 good minutes of concentration and then I began to wander.   And that is bothering me, because this was not the fact 10 years ago and really need to see just what and why to concentrate is much harder than it used to be.

~*~*~*~*~

I did have some takeaways, though, besides the one’s I already shared and here they are:

1.  I had a great conversation with Steve Dembo — several in fact.  Where he helped me and I helped him.  Not our general “how is the family, how is the weather” but deeper conversations on “how could I be better, what do I need to change, why is this not working” kind of conversations.  We sat and talked….we sat and listened…..necessary, I believe, for both of us.

2.  I feel that the exhibit hall is WAY too big and the Student showcase area is WAY too small.   People spend 30 minutes playing with a smartboard and talking about online options and walked right by the students.   Something is so wrong here.

3.  There are too many answers and not enough questions and there is too much acceptance and not enough challenges.  I would suggest that ALL conferences, from now on, have a 1 hour Q&A time AFTER each keynote for the audience to interact instead of just absorb.

4.  Teachers need to play together and not just always TALK ABOUT TECH.  The DEN event on Friday mixed learning with playing.  I spent over an hour talking with a professor about possibilities with Laura Ingalls Wilder and then Cherie and I went over and played Jurassic Park and Steve D and I rode motorcycles through Chicago and Dennis and I tried to play a game of air hockey.  I think we need to play more!!  I know I need to play more.

5.  I was always on my way to the next thing so quickly that I had no time to absorb, contemplate, and even “dwell” on what I had just learned.  We must have time to do those things…..or I needed to set time apart to do it myself.

6.  Palm Springs is beautiful but I stayed inside the conference center almost all the time.  I missed the beauty because I was to busy to stop to look.