My first adventure in liveblogging from a conference is now behind me. While it was fun — and challenging — to try to capture the immediacy of presentations in real time, it was also stressful. It didn’t allow me to soak up some of the knowledge that was shared, and since I couldn’t be at all of the sessions, the dispatches from Philly gave an incomplete picture about the conference.
(Also, for this old-school reporter used to scribbling down notes and quotes in a reporter’s notebook, trying to compose on-the-fly blog posts on the laptop wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it’d be.)
I hope the nuggets that I and Karine Joly passed along from the conference sessions were of some value to our readers who could not attend in person. Of course, there’s nothing like being there, and I would encourage anyone who missed this year’s conference to make plans now to attend next year’s.
This also was my first experience co-chairing a national-level conference for CASE. This, too, was a rewarding experience, because I got to work with and get acquainted with so many terrific folks in the advancement field. My conference co-chair, Lynette Brown-Sow of the Community College of Philadelphia, helped keep the energy level high throughout the conference (even as she had to deal with some brushfires — or maybe they were wildfires? — back on campus). Lisa Schooley, the educational programs manager for CASE, kept everything organized and on track, and was always, somehow, at the right place at the right time. Our faculty — the aforementioned Karine Joly, Joe Hice, Kathi Swanson, Larry Lauer, bloggers Dave and Dan, Rae Goldsmith from CASE, and all the rest — were top-notch. It was great, too, meeting so many of the conference attendees. I learned much from them in personal conversations and small groups. (I ‘ll stop now, before this post starts sounding too much like an acceptance speech.)
A request for input
To those who read this blog during the conference, and to those who attended the conference live, I would like to ask for some input, either in the comments to this post or via email (andrew DOT careaga AT gmail DOT com).
- For the readers: How beneficial was this little three-day experiment in sharing information from the conference? Was there enough information? Too little? Too much? Was it relevant? Irrelevant?
- For conference attendees: What did you like best about the conference? What suggestions do you have for improving this annual meeting?
I’ll be certain to share your thoughts with the folks at CASE. (Unless you request otherwise. Of course, if you post on this blog, then anyone who reads will see your comments. That’s one of the beautiful things about the blogosphere.)
Thanks for reading, and for sharing.
Andrew Careaga 