So I've been running my mouth about a broken system for a while and now I've got a cool chance to try to affect some change, at least on a small scale. For those of you who read my rant, I hope you took away that my problem is not with eduWeb specifically (as I said, I think its fine for what it is), but rather with this idea that managers just don't "get it" and that things that focus too much on the glitz and the flash that have infiltrated the imaginations of many colleges without regard for practicality, results orientation and user experience just perpetuates the problem. And have perpetuated it for the last couple of years now. I should have done key takeaways just to make sure, but alas.
So how do I use this opportunity to try and effect some change? I've got a few ideas that I want to flesh out but if you've been to the eduWeb conference and have suggestions on what you think is missing, please comment or email me! I've got my opinions but I'd be the first to say that they are mine and I could be completely wrong so I would love any thoughts or input that anyone out there in blog land would like to give.
9 comments:
I left a comment on your rant, and this comment is the continuation of my other comment...
As to your opportunity to do something different with eduWeb, my suggestion would be to address the specific problem of lack of coherence: challenge the organizers to make it a more coherent, more collaborative effort. Focus on selecting presentations that aren't just buzz-word-of-the-month, but actually have a theme and a common focus. Get the presenters together to talk about how they can tie their presentations together better. Make threads of commonality and common themes and messages run through all the presentations.
To use a music industry analogy, turn the conference into a concept album rather than just a random collection of songs.
Give it a real purpose other than "let's all get together and go out for drinks every evening after 8 hours of boring sessions". \
That means investing a lot of energy and thought in trying to find a really important theme that the conference can address and a message that the conference can communicate.
Problem is that by focusing you reduce both the number of potential presentations and the number of potential attendees for the conference.
I'll leave balancing that up to you. :)
Wow...talk about user generated content.....now its user generated conferences!!
I have read both your original "rant" and this post. I think the point is well taken and I especially like some of Tony's comments on a more
coherent/collaborative approach to presentations and a conference track. However, I am sure you both realize the challenges of doing something more
synergistic like this for a conference like EduWEB. The presenters (myself included) are "voluntary". To realize the coherence you advocate, you
need something more like the James Tower "Technology in Student Recruitment" conference where both the size and the focus can be smaller, because it is a
single entity controlling both content and schedule. Of course, this also has its potential drawbacks.
If nothing else, I think the opportunity to work with her to define future tracks that would appeal to users more at your level is a great opportunity. I wish you the best of luck. I really do look forward to some of your ideas.
Also, I know you aren't trashing Shelly, but I do want to say that I think she has put together a great line up this year, from what I can tell thusfar.
And to those that will be attending EduWEB this year, I look forward to seeing you in Atlantic City. Sorry that won't be you, Karlyn. You will certainly be missed. However, let's do lunch at AMA!
Darren
@Tony - right on!
@Darren - You're right too. I've got plenty of time to figure this out, but its something I've been struggling with since I talked to Shelley. How do you do something more technology oriented that is going to (a) attract presenters and (b) attract people at the conference? This stuff isn't as sexy to a lot of people, so how do you make it interesting? But judging by the responses I've gotten so far, which have all been extremely positive, I really think there's a need for something else and a desire for it. Now if I can just figure out what that "something else" is ;-)
Who knows if I'll be there? Shelley just called and offered me free registration for this year ;-)
Having been to events from Adaptive Path and UIE, most higher ed conferences pale in comparison. This year will be my first trip to eduWeb, so I'm not sure what to expect.
To something different, how about incorporating some of the elements of an unconference. Create a track where participants have an opportunity to see the ideas and themes prior to the conference and allow them to provide comments, suggestions and general feedback which will be incorporated into the final presentations.
Perhaps use a track where presenters follow the 20/20 format of Pecha Kucha - 20 slides for 20 seconds each for a total time of 6:40 seconds. Say what you have to say, then sit the hell down. No more death by PowerPoint. The remainder of the time will be for audience conversation and dialogue.
Also use twitter to create a backchannel that we could use before, during, and after the presentation to further the conversation.
I gave a presentation at HighEdWebDev 2007 that followed this general format and it was well received. (see http://www.markgr.com/pecha-kucha/ ). The time may be right to expand it to a whole track. I think there are enough higher ed web folks who would like to participate in this format.
Hi Mark,
It's interesting that you bring it up because it was going to An Event Apart that really brought me back to this line of thinking. I would love to go to a UIE one but haven't had the opportunity to.
An "unconference" was my original thought on it - I would love to create a way for people to learn from each other rather than being stuck in a room listening to a presenter drone on for hours. I think interaction (and dare I say, disagreement) is the best way to learn. I love the 20/20 format idea! Thanks for your input!
Karlyn,
Since you have actually seen the framework of the presentation I'm doing at eduWEB hopefully you can at least admit a few of the presentations won't be all glamorous and sexy. As I've been thinking about some key takeaways that I want to leave people with I think it keeps coming back to here are all the pieces of a successful campaign which piece are you not doing or could be doing better and tying it all back into everything else you do.
I completely agree that people get so hung up on the cool stuff it's easy to skip over the essential standards, probably why I'm so big into SEO, accessibility, and usability.
@Darren - I look forward to meeting you at the conference! Hopefully you plan on going to the BlogHighEd meetup no matter if you decide to attend my presentation or not.
Kyle, I did point out some of the presentations that I thought would be valuable and not reform to the "marketing fluff" mold in my rant the other day. I left yours out not because I don't think you'll do a good job (as you said, I have seen it...) but because it's just not something I would attend any more than I would expect you to attend something that is a basic introductory to SEO. I've said it before but the reason I appreciate your blog so much is because you address a lot of the "not so sexy" issues. But you're just one blog and you largely have a like-minded audience. Unfortunately the people I think we really need to reach are better reached at conferences, which carry more credibility and weight with managers.
I really want to convey that I'm sure the presentations will be great at eduWeb and done by really smart people....for me though, it's more about content (though I could also argue that standing up and lecturing a group of people for an hour is not the best learning environment, but that's what 99% of conferences out there are). If the majority of the presentations at a conference are fluff, it is going to perpetuate more fluff in both the industry and at the following years conference, because people want to be recognized for their work and that's what'll do it. On the same token, if you do more data-driven and implementation-driven presentations, they will perpetuate like content. Which is more beneficial at the end of the day - a presentation about how great social networking is or a presentation that assesses down and dirty ROI on a social network to show what the REAL value is? Or a presentation about how great email marketing is conceptually and why we should all do it or a down and dirty presentation about all the behind-the-scenes factors that it takes to implement an email marketing program?
I haven't been to an eduWeb conference and unfortunately I won't be at this one, either. But I've been to enough higher ed conferences to second Mark's notion that they are woefully out-of-sync when compared to some of the other conferences available. I also don't know Shelley but from everything I've read and heard about her and her efforts with eduWeb, it seems that she's one of a handful of people in conference planning who are trying to broaden the agenda to embrace new approaches and new content. The fact that she reached out to you in this way shows a positive spirit and a maturity that can only benefit the future of eduWeb.
Higher ed is struggling mightily with the communications sea change that is upon us. Our institutions are run by aging baby boomers who have built careers in a command-and-control, hierarchical, institutional communications and marketing system that is being dismantled before their very eyes and ears. We need desperately to absorb the ideas and thoughts of new leaders like you, Kyle and others, and unfortunately the way we usually do it, as you point out, is by attending conferences. We don't frequent blogs. Heck, most of us don't even know what an RSS reader is. We need help but, dammit, we're old and curmudgeonly and set in our ways. Many of us will tune out but that is to our detriment.
@tony - I like the "concept album" analogy. That's something we aging boomers can relate to. (Has there even been a concept album released in the last few years? Last ones I can recall are Sufjan Stevens' "Illinoise" and "American Idiot." But again, I'm old.)
In many ways, higher ed is in the same boat organized religion has been in for a while. Some of you may be interested in a rant I wrote after attending a conference in 2002 that was supposed to be of like-minded, innovative, eager young ministers and church folks eager to learn the latest about using the Internet as a medium for fostering community. (See this article from Next Wave, The Church-Internet (dis)connection, if you're interested in one old man's ramblings, when he was six years younger.) Looking back, it's funny how little has changed, and how similar the problems are in both churchianity and higher education, all these years later.
Rock on.
K--
Totally digging on what you've said (and many of the comments). As a person who gets to present at a lot of these things (including EduWeb in a few weeks), I am frustrated by the need to homoginize my content for a really wide range of attendees.
If you're taking suggestions for the "ideal" conference agenda, what do you think about something that gets to the human part of web dev? In my work, wrangling the humans (on campus) is often more challenging than getting the design, positioning, content, or interactive offerings right. Web teams, org structures, CMS use...all of those issues can slow a project to a screeching halt.
Thanks for starting the conversation.
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