My ISTE+ASCD Live! Preview Extravaganza

For the last two decades, I’ve gathered with thousands of educators at large (and often chilly) convention centers across America for the ISTE conference. There are some things I’ve come to expect (long lines for coffee) and some things I’ve come to look forward to (Poetry Slam!). This year, ISTE has joined forces with ASCD (hence the “+” in the title) to bring even more educators to balmy San Antonio this late June. Last week, I recorded a “preview podcast” with my partner in rhyme Adam Phyall, so I thought it would be good to codify my thoughts heading into this year’s event in this post. As the event can be somewhat overwhelming, I’m going to break this post down into 4 areas of focus. If you are a first-time attendee or even an “seasoned veteran” of the event like me, hopefully you’ll find some of this useful. Also, as the event is in my home state of Texas, I’ll be using some of our local cuisine as my guiding structure.

Breakfast Tacos and Breakout Sessions

To be sure, the bread and butter of this event is the sessions. It’s the reason why most people attend. Learning from experienced voices in education and also those fresh new ideas from teachers in the classroom is a big driving force from those that considering themselves life-long learners like myself. The problem is, there are so many sessions and so little time. Like a breakfast taco that you overload with too many toppings, eventually this becomes messy.

My advice here is to look at the schedule in blocks. I look at the AM sessions and try to pick out 2-3 sessions I really want to see. Sometimes this can be based on the topic and sometimes it can be based on the presenter. Then I do the same for the PM block. If I make it to at least one of my selected sessions in each block, I consider the day a win. Then rinse, repeat for the next day.

Enjoy the side dishes (and conversations)

Some of the best BBQ joints in Texas have amazing side dishes to go with the main feature. For a conference like this, I consider the side dishes (conversations) to be where you’ll find some real professional value. Good friend (and Ed Tech Poet) Dan Ryder once shared with an audience “If you have to make a choice between a session and a great conversation, choose the conversation.”

I vividly remember meeting Chris Lehmann for the first time at the “blogger’s cafe” at ISTE 2012 after he had basically passed out from presenting non-stop. I stopped Dean Shareski to ask him some questions to which he gave me the following “Carl Hooker” pose while passing the hallway in Denver.

This isn’t about name-dropping or finding the biggest edu-celebrity you can and taking a selfie with them. It’s about taking 5 minutes to have a problem-solving session and creatively think about some issue in education. If you see someone you know or have seen speak, don’t hesitate to go up and say hi. You might get some amazing pearl of wisdom that will change your own educational journey, or if nothing else, you can always take a selfie with them.

Come for the steak, stay for the sizzle

The vendor hall can match the schedule in terms of its intensity and propensity to overwhelm. You see giant numbers that start at 100 and go to 3500000000 lining up and down the ceiling in this great expanse. Like a Vegas casino, there are sights and sounds meant to draw you in. There are new and improved (now with AI!) tools from your educational past and some new found favorites trying to make a name for themselves in the Ed Tech space.

I used to loathe the exhibition hall and tried to avoid it at all costs. I didn’t want sales people hard selling me on some product that I didn’t really want. However, over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks to manage my time there and make it meaningful. Here’s a few things I do when I find myself being gravitationally pulled into this space:

1. Look for sessions – Some of the best sessions I’ve seen are in various vendor booths. These are usually short and bite-sized (30 minutes or less) and offer some opportunity to win a prize or get some great swag. Learning plus free gifts? Count me in! (Shameless plug – I’ll be presenting at both the PocketTalk and Brisk Teaching booths this year!)
2. Have a purpose – Don’t just go into the hall and wander around. Find a company or two that you want to connect with and look for their booth. Otherwise, you’ll get sucked into a time warp and before you know it, you’ll be helping roll up the carpets on Wednesday (something I actually did in Chicago ISTE 2018).
3. Bring a crew – There is strength in numbers and if you are the type of person who is too nice to say no, bring a group with you. You can visit booths together and might discover a tool or app that you didn’t know about from someone in the group.
4. Put it in your schedule – After you’ve made your session outline for AM and PM sessions, look for spots where you don’t have anything and make a point of scheduling an hour or so to walk through the hall. Between the mini-booth sessions and the giveaways, you’ll be sure to walk away with something.

Don’t skip the dessert

This event can almost be split into two events – daytime and nighttime. There are great sessions, the exhibit hall and lots of interactive spaces during the day, but at night, things change. At last check, I counted over 50 events that happen either before the event (like this Follett breakfast) and tons that happen in the evening hours (did I mention the Poetry Slam?).

These “after hours” events can be great opportunities to connect with other educators in a more laid back and informal setting. One word of caution from someone who considers himself an “after hours vet”: Pace yourself. Drink plenty of water in between those free drink tickets and be wary of louder spaces as it will exhaust your vocal cords and eventually lead to burnout. Check out an event or two, but then be ok with calling it a night. Its good to downshift your brain for a bit, but then rest up and prepare yourself for the next day’s learning. I tend to the follow the rule of words of former coach Herm Edwards who said, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” (see clip below)

Take time to digest (and reflect)

You’ve spent 3-4 days going to sessions, having conversations, interacting with vendors and enjoying time at various events. As you travel home, you might try and recollect all that you did during your time at the event and it seems like a blur. This is because your short-term memory is trying to process everything and move it to long-term storage. It’s a LOT to process.

My last bit of advice is to take time to reflect THROUGHOUT the event not just AFTER the event. If you saw an amazing session with some great ideas, write down or sketch out one idea or takeaway you have from it. If have a great conversation with someone and they hand you their business card or ask to follow you on social media, make a note as to the connection of that contact. As you walk the exhibit hall, you might be captivated by a tool or program while watching a demo of it. Take a moment to write a reminder to yourself to explore the program further.

All of these little reflections and reminders help you digest the content of ISTE+ASCD Live! It helps you process and unpack some of what you have learned before moving onto the next thing. Then, at the end of the event, as you are traveling home, take time to look through all your reflection notes and create an action plan of next steps to bring to your classroom, school or district. Learning in isolation helps no one.

I hope to see you in San Antonio next week!

My schedule: