No, I still have not had the time nor the energy to start a second blog. Today was an uninspiring day, filled with people totally absorbed in what they were doing. At the end of the day, everyone left, and no one said good bye. There are days like these, every now and then, when I find myself stuck again. There are days like today when my job seems immense and I feel tired-and I do not want the challenge. I don't know where to begin. Who gets priority? Who do I go to first? I wish there were 3 of me. Instead of everyone getting their fair share, everybody gets a little tiny scrap-and then I disappear. Things take too long to happen, problems are systemic, and we are still fixing the system. Except the end user doesn't see that-they just see their point on the spectrum. I can see the big picture, and it sometimes feels too big. It would be so much easier to throw equipment and toys at teaches and say "go teach-knock yourselves out!" Except it is ultimately not about the tech and the toys-it is about the teaching, and how the technology affects and influences the learning, when used the right way. And that seems very far away.
I am stuck between the rock and the hard place-not really on a team, except when it's convenient. I shouldn't complain, except on days like this when I have so many projects and things waiting for the magic touch..but no one to create with, the day just passes me by. I don't like that feeling. If I were to stop-which I am doing right now-and truly reflect on the small successes and importance of the tiny things, I would recognize that I did help a few people with things that mattered to them today. I did manage to get to the gym, to go running this morning, and to accomplish some seemingly small tasks. In the scheme of things, today was not up there on a list of days to remember.
I will have to take the day off tomorrow and reflect on the plan. There is a plan, and it is a good one. I will try no to let an ordinary day get the best of me-and try to remember what is extraordinary about it. And I will try to be patient-goal oriented and focused. Maybe it's time to move out of the copy room to a quiet zen-like space, or some other less public and distracting space. I will work on that .
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Time to Split
I have decided to start a second blog dedicated to education and technology. The time has come. I have a lot to say-as usual, but no place to say it. And I do not have people to talk to on a daily basis that "get it." My PLN also known as my Personal Learning Network-the new buzz phrase in education-consists of educators in the UK, Kentucky, Nebraska, California, New York, Thailand, Australia, the Netherlands, Virginia, Texas, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Georgia and the list goes on. I think there are a lot of teachers out there that have a lot to say and no one to listen and share with-seems I have found a few of them. there are thousands more like me.
That alone is an interesting commentary on education-and my philosophy. I have been asked questions like, "Why do you use Twitter?" and, "Why should teachers and administrators blog?"
Well, it is a form of journaling-but with an audience an an intended purpose. We all have the potential and ability to be an author. Writing and publishing is no longer reserved for the relatively few who have access to publishers and editors. If you have access to a computer with Internet-wait-let me take that back-if you have access to a 199 dollar ipod touch-you can be a published author. Well, you need free wi-fi, too.
If you have something to say-say it. Tweet it, blog it, post it, comment on it-put it in Worlde, create a Glog, share it, upload it-but do not sit and watch the connected world pass you by.
I am now un-stuck. My door is open and the possibilities created by creating my PLN are endless. You are what you write. And writing is a craft that must be practiced. With the birth of the Internet, however, writing and sharing and communicating have become so much more dynamic. It is no longer acceptable to be a passive consumer of knowledge and information. We must now also participate in some fashion-and be able to create and share or forward information to others.
In school this used to be called class participation. You must participate in your own learning. Read, comment, ask questions, and respond to others. Debate, share, dialogue and discuss. Write.
That alone is an interesting commentary on education-and my philosophy. I have been asked questions like, "Why do you use Twitter?" and, "Why should teachers and administrators blog?"
Well, it is a form of journaling-but with an audience an an intended purpose. We all have the potential and ability to be an author. Writing and publishing is no longer reserved for the relatively few who have access to publishers and editors. If you have access to a computer with Internet-wait-let me take that back-if you have access to a 199 dollar ipod touch-you can be a published author. Well, you need free wi-fi, too.
If you have something to say-say it. Tweet it, blog it, post it, comment on it-put it in Worlde, create a Glog, share it, upload it-but do not sit and watch the connected world pass you by.
I am now un-stuck. My door is open and the possibilities created by creating my PLN are endless. You are what you write. And writing is a craft that must be practiced. With the birth of the Internet, however, writing and sharing and communicating have become so much more dynamic. It is no longer acceptable to be a passive consumer of knowledge and information. We must now also participate in some fashion-and be able to create and share or forward information to others.
In school this used to be called class participation. You must participate in your own learning. Read, comment, ask questions, and respond to others. Debate, share, dialogue and discuss. Write.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Time to get back to writing more than 140 characters
Twitter has taken over my writing time-but with a limited audience (@brophycat) and only 140 characters at a time-there is no real opportunity to spew forth lengthy commentary on life. And it has been a couple months, so now it's time to put it down on paper so I can start fresh. Maybe it' s the change of seasons? Or the lack of summer? But as inspired as I feel, I also feel drained...like I need a break. But there will be no break on paper, anyways, until November.
So here's what's happening, and here are the questions that have been hangin' out for a couple months:
Every day I commute to work and it is a lovely ride over the bridge, over the bay, heading North. As I listen to the traffic update, they give the same report every day: "There is a slight delay heading south over the bridge"...ummm no delay have I ever seen-not at 8am. Do you think it's a pre-recorded update? It's supposed to be a live update. Yesterday as I went through the tollbooth to get on the highway heading North-traffic was backed up to the booth and crawling.due to offramp construction. What do you think the live traffic update said? That' s right...'No travel delays this morning, looking good."
I want to have some control over my life at work..well I have control, but not the kind of technical control I would really like. I may need to stage a coup. But I do not want to be a tattletale. I have spent a year developing and nurturing relationships and some clear personalities have emerged. One negative, and stuck, the other positive and visionary, but hampered by the possibilities of his own dreams. I am at their mercy..for now...but as time goes on, I find myself taking over more and more of what they are supposed to be doing, yet my job description and pay remain the same-and will always remain the same.
Why is David Letterman being seen as an okay guy when he was a jackass...just because he's funny? I bet his wife doesn't think he's so funny...
Why does it seem like the days are shorter and I am busier..am I really busier or is it just taking me longer to do the things I need and want to do? Time to check out David Allen's GTD. What is that all about?
http://www.davidco.com/index.php
I went to Houston to visit my daughter ad it was lovely and warm and summery, that was nice, but what is with all the power lines? And what is the best local fish? We were at the coast and nobody knew...what do you order for fish in Houston? I think you don't..I think you order beef or barbecue-with a Shiner.
So Twitter has proven to be fun, economical, efficient, and engaging. I have met more Tech teachers and professionals that can motivate, inspire and share than I can handle-almost. I have finally returned to learning at least one new thing every day. Maybe it's all the new stuff-and the potential of technology in education that is making me crazy. I said to a friend on Facebook the other day- I wish I had a crystal ball. But I don't. All I can do is inspire teachers to be the best teachers they can be whether or not they have the most up to date technology and equipment. Technology makes it nicer and easier, but it really is about 21st century teaching...
So that' s what' s up with Twitter-it has ramped things up. I now have friends in England, Thailand, Australia, NY, Kentucky, Colorado, San Diego, Connecticut and Idaho. And a hundred other places. Like @geobart in Denmark. It has also taken time away form writing more than 140 characters at a time.
I feel better now that I have fessed up and put it down on virtual paper. Time to head to work now-through the bottle necked toll booth and across the bridge where there is no delay. Maybe I will take an alternate route.
So here's what's happening, and here are the questions that have been hangin' out for a couple months:
Every day I commute to work and it is a lovely ride over the bridge, over the bay, heading North. As I listen to the traffic update, they give the same report every day: "There is a slight delay heading south over the bridge"...ummm no delay have I ever seen-not at 8am. Do you think it's a pre-recorded update? It's supposed to be a live update. Yesterday as I went through the tollbooth to get on the highway heading North-traffic was backed up to the booth and crawling.due to offramp construction. What do you think the live traffic update said? That' s right...'No travel delays this morning, looking good."
I want to have some control over my life at work..well I have control, but not the kind of technical control I would really like. I may need to stage a coup. But I do not want to be a tattletale. I have spent a year developing and nurturing relationships and some clear personalities have emerged. One negative, and stuck, the other positive and visionary, but hampered by the possibilities of his own dreams. I am at their mercy..for now...but as time goes on, I find myself taking over more and more of what they are supposed to be doing, yet my job description and pay remain the same-and will always remain the same.
Why is David Letterman being seen as an okay guy when he was a jackass...just because he's funny? I bet his wife doesn't think he's so funny...
Why does it seem like the days are shorter and I am busier..am I really busier or is it just taking me longer to do the things I need and want to do? Time to check out David Allen's GTD. What is that all about?
http://www.davidco.com/index.php
I went to Houston to visit my daughter ad it was lovely and warm and summery, that was nice, but what is with all the power lines? And what is the best local fish? We were at the coast and nobody knew...what do you order for fish in Houston? I think you don't..I think you order beef or barbecue-with a Shiner.
So Twitter has proven to be fun, economical, efficient, and engaging. I have met more Tech teachers and professionals that can motivate, inspire and share than I can handle-almost. I have finally returned to learning at least one new thing every day. Maybe it's all the new stuff-and the potential of technology in education that is making me crazy. I said to a friend on Facebook the other day- I wish I had a crystal ball. But I don't. All I can do is inspire teachers to be the best teachers they can be whether or not they have the most up to date technology and equipment. Technology makes it nicer and easier, but it really is about 21st century teaching...
So that' s what' s up with Twitter-it has ramped things up. I now have friends in England, Thailand, Australia, NY, Kentucky, Colorado, San Diego, Connecticut and Idaho. And a hundred other places. Like @geobart in Denmark. It has also taken time away form writing more than 140 characters at a time.
I feel better now that I have fessed up and put it down on virtual paper. Time to head to work now-through the bottle necked toll booth and across the bridge where there is no delay. Maybe I will take an alternate route.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
August Adventures
I am sitting in a hotel room two thirds of the way through a Microsoft Teacher Education 3 day workshop. So far I give the experience a B. It is kinda cool hanging out on the 6th floor of the Microsoft training facility-all green and orange and red-I promise to take a picture of the server room before I leave- So far the best part of the workshop has been connecting with the head of education marketing (well, he's probably not the head of marketing-but he is in the marketing department.)
It is a small group of teachers form Maine, Massachusetts and NH-and every one of us is committed to helping other teachers discover ways to engage students and using technology to do it.
Some observations. It is really quiet-carpeted hallways, dimly lit, lined with classrooms filled with laptops. The sign is obscure-tiny letters, no real signage once you enter the building, except for standing signs directing us to the West Elevators.
Laptops have been rented and images loaded-tech support has been contracted-a young man sits at his laptop, bored to tears, waiting for something to break. The Internet connection has been slow and there have been some server issues (but it looks so nice behind the glass wall!)
There has been interesting conversation-differences of opinion-different ways of doing business. The Microsoft teacher trainers have been engaging, interested and sincere in their desire to make things better for teachers. But they have a long way to go. Microsoft is no longer the Prom Queen. They are not the Yankees. They are not Goliath any more-and it is increasingly obvious they face stiff competition from all sides. But competition is good for everyone, and we are hoping it will be good for education.
We can only hope. Tomorrow we spend the morning creating an action plan-for the future. How will we use what we learned to impact education for kids? My thoughts were reinforced once again-that it is not about the technology-it is about the teaching. Great technology is not going to make great teaching. But great teaching will be impacted exponentially by the use of great technology. But in order to be great-it must be easy to access, easy to use, and able to be seamlessly integrated into those great lessons.
It is a small group of teachers form Maine, Massachusetts and NH-and every one of us is committed to helping other teachers discover ways to engage students and using technology to do it.
Some observations. It is really quiet-carpeted hallways, dimly lit, lined with classrooms filled with laptops. The sign is obscure-tiny letters, no real signage once you enter the building, except for standing signs directing us to the West Elevators.
Laptops have been rented and images loaded-tech support has been contracted-a young man sits at his laptop, bored to tears, waiting for something to break. The Internet connection has been slow and there have been some server issues (but it looks so nice behind the glass wall!)
There has been interesting conversation-differences of opinion-different ways of doing business. The Microsoft teacher trainers have been engaging, interested and sincere in their desire to make things better for teachers. But they have a long way to go. Microsoft is no longer the Prom Queen. They are not the Yankees. They are not Goliath any more-and it is increasingly obvious they face stiff competition from all sides. But competition is good for everyone, and we are hoping it will be good for education.
We can only hope. Tomorrow we spend the morning creating an action plan-for the future. How will we use what we learned to impact education for kids? My thoughts were reinforced once again-that it is not about the technology-it is about the teaching. Great technology is not going to make great teaching. But great teaching will be impacted exponentially by the use of great technology. But in order to be great-it must be easy to access, easy to use, and able to be seamlessly integrated into those great lessons.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Lost
Not the television show. Maps are good, but only if you look at them. A GPS is good if you have one, and Google Maps is good if you believe it and can follow directions. Looking back at the route I took to get from Somersworth to Concord, it is easy to see where I went wrong.
I thought Concord was north. more north than it was. So I traveled west, then north and ended up way north of Concord. From Rochester I followed 202A into Strafford-lovely country, not many houses. I got concerned when I started going up a mountain and there were hills around me. Concord is flat. I thought to myself- if I am climbing, I am somehow going to have to get back down again-which could take awhile. So I'll take a left-head west-and cut through the hills.
I had my trusted Blackberry with Google Mobile Maps, and it is like a GPS. Open the app and it picks up your location-then you type in an end point and get directions. Except the street (.2 miles ahead on the left)it told me to take was nowhere to be found. That' s okay, I kept driving, knowing I had traveled further than two tenths of a mile. Should I take Bow Village Road? How about the next left? So up I continued to climb, taking the next left. I was confident my left hand turn would lead me to some main road,like route 202 or rout 4 or route 9.
A mile later I was travelling into a densley wooded area and the road turned to dirt. Hmmm....this is not a good sign. I was not immediately worried because I had a full tank of gas and I was very early, with plenty of time to get to my destination. My only fear was that after 10 minutes of driving, the road would turn out to be a dead end. But the road kept going, past fields, and trees, and farms. And the I came to a clearing and passed a large body of water on my left. Finally, the road came to an end and I needed to make a choice: left or right? I chose left-and continued winding and bumping my way along. The good news was I was no longer climbing. The bad news was I had no cell phone service. And my Google Maps changed my location, but I was so far away from Concord, I could not tell if the green blinking dot was actually moving north, south, east or west. I assumed southwest, so I kept driving.
When I came to a Boy Scout Reservation and saw cars parked I thought, "This is a good sign! Civilization!" I tried a shout out- like Cash Cab- to phone a friend for a landmark-but no service. So I kept driving. I passed another body of water on the right, and when I came to the next fork in the road, I went left again, and eventually (an hour and a half later) I found my way to route 4 in Northwood. I was quite satisfied with myself that I found my way out of the woods- although if i had been hiking, I would have been In serious trouble.
How could I have got so turned around? Looking back at Google Maps from my desktop the next day, it was easy to see where I went wrong. Be careful when you rely on GPS or Google Maps. It takes some common sense and a sense of where you are in the world to navigate shortcuts.
But as usual, I try to take the good with the bad-and I ended up seeing places I had never seen before. I am now familiar with a whole new tract of land between route 202A and Route 4. And the next time I think I know where I'm going, I will look at a map BEFORE I leave. I di dget lost a few times in DC, I just didn' t tell anybody. Darn.
I thought Concord was north. more north than it was. So I traveled west, then north and ended up way north of Concord. From Rochester I followed 202A into Strafford-lovely country, not many houses. I got concerned when I started going up a mountain and there were hills around me. Concord is flat. I thought to myself- if I am climbing, I am somehow going to have to get back down again-which could take awhile. So I'll take a left-head west-and cut through the hills.
I had my trusted Blackberry with Google Mobile Maps, and it is like a GPS. Open the app and it picks up your location-then you type in an end point and get directions. Except the street (.2 miles ahead on the left)it told me to take was nowhere to be found. That' s okay, I kept driving, knowing I had traveled further than two tenths of a mile. Should I take Bow Village Road? How about the next left? So up I continued to climb, taking the next left. I was confident my left hand turn would lead me to some main road,like route 202 or rout 4 or route 9.
A mile later I was travelling into a densley wooded area and the road turned to dirt. Hmmm....this is not a good sign. I was not immediately worried because I had a full tank of gas and I was very early, with plenty of time to get to my destination. My only fear was that after 10 minutes of driving, the road would turn out to be a dead end. But the road kept going, past fields, and trees, and farms. And the I came to a clearing and passed a large body of water on my left. Finally, the road came to an end and I needed to make a choice: left or right? I chose left-and continued winding and bumping my way along. The good news was I was no longer climbing. The bad news was I had no cell phone service. And my Google Maps changed my location, but I was so far away from Concord, I could not tell if the green blinking dot was actually moving north, south, east or west. I assumed southwest, so I kept driving.
When I came to a Boy Scout Reservation and saw cars parked I thought, "This is a good sign! Civilization!" I tried a shout out- like Cash Cab- to phone a friend for a landmark-but no service. So I kept driving. I passed another body of water on the right, and when I came to the next fork in the road, I went left again, and eventually (an hour and a half later) I found my way to route 4 in Northwood. I was quite satisfied with myself that I found my way out of the woods- although if i had been hiking, I would have been In serious trouble.
How could I have got so turned around? Looking back at Google Maps from my desktop the next day, it was easy to see where I went wrong. Be careful when you rely on GPS or Google Maps. It takes some common sense and a sense of where you are in the world to navigate shortcuts.
But as usual, I try to take the good with the bad-and I ended up seeing places I had never seen before. I am now familiar with a whole new tract of land between route 202A and Route 4. And the next time I think I know where I'm going, I will look at a map BEFORE I leave. I di dget lost a few times in DC, I just didn' t tell anybody. Darn.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Golfing in the Rain
Not Singing in the Rain. I bought rain gear...just to have in my bag, just in case. But I do not golf in the rain. I am a fair weather golfer-I have a hard enough time playing well in nice conditions, why would I want to battle the elements, too? Earlier this week I had a tee time with my husband and his friend. The day dawned-not bright and sunny, but overcast and a little muggy-but not rainy. I played well in Ladie's League Monday night, so I was pumped to play well.
No more tennis elbow in my left arm, I now have it in my right arm. But nothing a little ibuprofen and brace can't help. I was looking forward to walking 18 holes of golf for the first time in over a month.(It has rained 40 days and 40 nights since the end of May, here.)
The first few holes were passable-not great, but my chipping and putting looked fabulous! The first nine holes were relatively dry-n the air anyways. Of course int he fairway we were playing puddle golf-dunk and splash. But by the time we were on the 12th hole, we were playing in the rain. It was a light drizzle to start, and we actually thought it was mist coming in off the Bay as the tide rolled in. But mist turned to drizzle, and drizzle turned to a light, wind driven rain.
"I don't play golf in the rain" I said as we headed out toward the farthest point on the course. If we walk in now we have to walk past 5 holes- we might as well keep playing. So I golfed in the rain. Slippery, wet, puddly, leaky, soaking wet feet but not freezing cold, rain. I survived, and it was not all that bad. Of course I was glad when it was over, and my score was pretty bad, but as it turned out-it was actually my low score for the week.
Two more sun drenched rounds later, I have discovered I am auditorily distracted- and as soon as the sun came out, so did the lawnmowers and tractors-en masse. Tractor traffic everywhere-following me, cutting me off, distracting me-trying to mow and mow and mow while the sun is shining and the course is drying out.
So I will golf in the rain because it is quiet. And that golf umbrella I was looking at just a day earlier when I declared-"I don't golf in the rain!" Guess what- I'm buying it.
No more tennis elbow in my left arm, I now have it in my right arm. But nothing a little ibuprofen and brace can't help. I was looking forward to walking 18 holes of golf for the first time in over a month.(It has rained 40 days and 40 nights since the end of May, here.)
The first few holes were passable-not great, but my chipping and putting looked fabulous! The first nine holes were relatively dry-n the air anyways. Of course int he fairway we were playing puddle golf-dunk and splash. But by the time we were on the 12th hole, we were playing in the rain. It was a light drizzle to start, and we actually thought it was mist coming in off the Bay as the tide rolled in. But mist turned to drizzle, and drizzle turned to a light, wind driven rain.
"I don't play golf in the rain" I said as we headed out toward the farthest point on the course. If we walk in now we have to walk past 5 holes- we might as well keep playing. So I golfed in the rain. Slippery, wet, puddly, leaky, soaking wet feet but not freezing cold, rain. I survived, and it was not all that bad. Of course I was glad when it was over, and my score was pretty bad, but as it turned out-it was actually my low score for the week.
Two more sun drenched rounds later, I have discovered I am auditorily distracted- and as soon as the sun came out, so did the lawnmowers and tractors-en masse. Tractor traffic everywhere-following me, cutting me off, distracting me-trying to mow and mow and mow while the sun is shining and the course is drying out.
So I will golf in the rain because it is quiet. And that golf umbrella I was looking at just a day earlier when I declared-"I don't golf in the rain!" Guess what- I'm buying it.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The rain has ended, vacation has begun, kind of...
I just returned from Washington, DC after attending a Technology in Education conference. It was a great time. I had the opportunity to meet people, network, and go exploring. The only thing I lost was myself-momentarily. I was surprisingly calm, unfrazzled, and relaxed. I made the conscious decision not to try to do everything and be everywhere. I gave myself permission to take time off, to clear my head, and to take risks. It was well worth it.
Here are some observations about the Capitol city itself, however, as compared to other places I've been.
The Cross Walk Game- alternating between pedestrian lights, walkers criss-cross their way throughout the city without missing a beat. Unlike New York, where people walk out into traffic, and different from NH where drivers are legally obliged to stop for pedestrians on the crosswalk-here in DC, you better get out of the way-especially for drivers turning right!
Power Dressing: Yep, I can never figure out why anyone would want to bring business suits and heels to a summer conference-but I was in the minority in my pedal pushers and cardigan. I guess the J Crew look is fine for the shore, but not for the power meeting. I will give a shout out for my birkies- I walked for miles without a foot ache or a back ache.
iphone Madness- I know it's very cool-but not everyone owns an iphone...yet. If it wasn't tied up with AT&T alot more people would have one..but it was annoying for technology presenters to make the assumption that we all had the toy. This conference was all about the iphone.
On Getting lost: 2 friends, 2 iphones, 2 friends lost-they used their app-they just couldn't read the map. iphone app vs. phone call or text or asking a stranger on the sidewalk?
Doubledecker Tour: A group of guy got on board and came up with a great idea! Serve beer! The tour guide recommended Georgetown, so they got off for a pint and caught the next tour bus that went by.
Record Number of Potties: Seriously-in preparation of July 4th? Or does the Mall always have hundreds of portable toilets lined up ready for action. I counted 2 sets of fifty. I could see several more. Yipes!
The year of the Tweet: It was all about twitter-I missed the tweet-ups where tweeters could meet each other face to face. I almost met a follower, but my tour was running late, so never happened. There were a die hard group of conference tweeters, and it was quite interesting to follow. 36 more followers during the conference...
Capitol Hill Luck: I met people I kind knew, before you knew it, we were off to Capitol Hill in a cab headed for the Library of Congress open house. There we met up with a couple of folks from Manitoba, and upon leaving (in the rain)we decided to grab a bite to eat. We wandered up the hill, and a lovely young teacher approached us and asked if we were looking for a place to eat! How fortuitous! We ended up at the Good Stuff Eatery where Michelle Obama likes her burger. What were the chances of us happening upon a personal restaurant guide on the streets of Capitol Hill at 9:00pm on a rainy Tuesday night!!
Presentation Supplies Needed: Kinkos across from the convention center was completely wiped out-my recommendation? Kinkos should stock up on presentation supplies whenever conferneces are scheduled. Who does the ordering there? You can't sell what you don't have. I woud have died for colored sticky tabs for my conference book.
Crackberry passes the test: I brought my laptop only to find that I, along with thousands of conference attendees could not connect due to a lack of IP addresses. So I ditched the laptop and used my Blackberry to connect, take notes, text and tweet. The only place it didn't work was the blogger's cafe in a world of Apple and iphones-could At & T have had something to do with that? I will continue to hold out for an iphone that does not come bundled with an AT & T contract...
So, Dc was a combination of Boston, Philly and NYC : Historical, metropolitan, multicultural, and artistic-and surprisingly inexpensive. I will go back again-but next time I will take the train and be sure to catch the Red Sox.
Here are some observations about the Capitol city itself, however, as compared to other places I've been.
The Cross Walk Game- alternating between pedestrian lights, walkers criss-cross their way throughout the city without missing a beat. Unlike New York, where people walk out into traffic, and different from NH where drivers are legally obliged to stop for pedestrians on the crosswalk-here in DC, you better get out of the way-especially for drivers turning right!
Power Dressing: Yep, I can never figure out why anyone would want to bring business suits and heels to a summer conference-but I was in the minority in my pedal pushers and cardigan. I guess the J Crew look is fine for the shore, but not for the power meeting. I will give a shout out for my birkies- I walked for miles without a foot ache or a back ache.
iphone Madness- I know it's very cool-but not everyone owns an iphone...yet. If it wasn't tied up with AT&T alot more people would have one..but it was annoying for technology presenters to make the assumption that we all had the toy. This conference was all about the iphone.
On Getting lost: 2 friends, 2 iphones, 2 friends lost-they used their app-they just couldn't read the map. iphone app vs. phone call or text or asking a stranger on the sidewalk?
Doubledecker Tour: A group of guy got on board and came up with a great idea! Serve beer! The tour guide recommended Georgetown, so they got off for a pint and caught the next tour bus that went by.
Record Number of Potties: Seriously-in preparation of July 4th? Or does the Mall always have hundreds of portable toilets lined up ready for action. I counted 2 sets of fifty. I could see several more. Yipes!
The year of the Tweet: It was all about twitter-I missed the tweet-ups where tweeters could meet each other face to face. I almost met a follower, but my tour was running late, so never happened. There were a die hard group of conference tweeters, and it was quite interesting to follow. 36 more followers during the conference...
Capitol Hill Luck: I met people I kind knew, before you knew it, we were off to Capitol Hill in a cab headed for the Library of Congress open house. There we met up with a couple of folks from Manitoba, and upon leaving (in the rain)we decided to grab a bite to eat. We wandered up the hill, and a lovely young teacher approached us and asked if we were looking for a place to eat! How fortuitous! We ended up at the Good Stuff Eatery where Michelle Obama likes her burger. What were the chances of us happening upon a personal restaurant guide on the streets of Capitol Hill at 9:00pm on a rainy Tuesday night!!
Presentation Supplies Needed: Kinkos across from the convention center was completely wiped out-my recommendation? Kinkos should stock up on presentation supplies whenever conferneces are scheduled. Who does the ordering there? You can't sell what you don't have. I woud have died for colored sticky tabs for my conference book.
Crackberry passes the test: I brought my laptop only to find that I, along with thousands of conference attendees could not connect due to a lack of IP addresses. So I ditched the laptop and used my Blackberry to connect, take notes, text and tweet. The only place it didn't work was the blogger's cafe in a world of Apple and iphones-could At & T have had something to do with that? I will continue to hold out for an iphone that does not come bundled with an AT & T contract...
So, Dc was a combination of Boston, Philly and NYC : Historical, metropolitan, multicultural, and artistic-and surprisingly inexpensive. I will go back again-but next time I will take the train and be sure to catch the Red Sox.
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