NECC update

As I sit here in the lobby of the Omni, I realize that this is the first time in the last four days that I haven’t been actively involved in a conversation with people. When I used to go to conferences, as a young and budding blogger, I’d typically sit down along the wall somewhere next to a power outlet, hopefully with decent wifi, and spend 30-40 minutes blogging periodicly throughout the day.

Just a few years later, it seems as though I barely have enough time to fill out the 140 characters available in Twitter before I see somebody else that I absolutely must chat with before the opportunity passes. I wouldn’t even be doing this now if I wasn’t waiting to meet with Adova Svitak to talk to her about a Discovery collaboration.

I think it’s really a commentary about how powerful blogs are for building community and making connections between people. It’s not like the people I’m hanging out with weren’t at NECC before, it’s just that I didn’t know them. I might have known who they were, but I have any real connection to them. That’s the most fascinating thing about it. There are so many people here that I’ve never met face to face, never heard on a podcast, and have never seen a picture of before. And I feel like they’re among my best friends! I feel like I’m hanging out with frat brothers and sisters from a college that never existed. And it’s a hell of a good feeling.

Other highlights:
* Watching Jeff and John move the Plasma so that people walking by the Bloggers Cafe could watch TwitterCamp (Kudos to ISTE for having a spare plasma TV available for people to plug into)
* Participating in the Podcasting panel for absolute beginners. Big thanks to Larry and Lucy for inviting me to be a part of it.
* Terry Freedman pointing out that with the advent of podcasting, you can hear most of these sessions anytime at all, but when else can you network with so many fantastic people?
* Hanging out with hundreds of DEN members as we celebrated the DEN’s second birthday.
* Receiving the AEP Best Professional Development Website award from Scott at that same dinner.
* Watching Twitter become the official NECC backchannel.