I spent six days away from home last week attending the annual ISTE conference, this year held in Chicago. This is my fifth ISTE conference and it never ceases to amaze. A record-breaking 23,000 people attended this year!
We arrived on Friday night and got settled – late due to weather delays all around the country. On Saturday we went exploring and walked 13 miles around the city.
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| Lunch at an Italian restaurant in the city |
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| Lake Michigan |
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| Walking the river walks |
On Sunday, we took an architecture cruise on the rivers. It was really interesting and the weather was spectacular!
Sunday afternoon we went up Chicago360 and saw beautiful views of the city – as well as tipped out thirty degrees over the sidewalks. It was a fun touristy thing to do!
On Monday I had two speaking engagements – one at a Microsoft VIP Experience session where I talked to school leaders from around the US who had been specifically invited to hear about tools in the classroom, and another called Ignite. I had applied to be selected as an ISTE Ignite speaker and was so honored to be chosen. There are only 12 speakers selected each year and each person gets 5 minutes on stage to speak to 20 slides (they advance automatically every 15 seconds) about a passion or innovation. I spoke on how to make systems change throughout the science of contagiousness as it fits a professional development model. It was really exciting and very well received in front of a packed audience!
Monday night we hosted a team dinner for all of our i2e professional learning consultants (and some of our favorite clients) at Lou Malnati’s, a famous pizza place in Chicago.
The four women who make up our leadership team at i2e – Helen, me, Beth, and Kim. We are a powerhouse combo! 🙂
Followed by our group…
Tuesday we attended an evening event at the Museum of Science and Industry. It was fun to see the Pixar exhibit – even if only briefly – and learn about new tools from other cutting edge educators. We also made it to a party at a Speakeasy – hidden doorways behind bookshelves and all!
Wednesday we had some customer meetings and left the conference in time to walk some of the Magnificent Mile. We shopped and went to a lovely early dinner, street side, before heading to the airport.
The Keene Family 