NECC 2007 Atlanta GA

Well, here I am in Atlanta. Yes, I realize this is a new blog. Edublogs has been making me angry.

Here is a picture of the plane that I took out of Harrisburg. I left Saturday morning and had a layover in Charlotte. From there, I landed in Atlanta. They didn't have any of the baggage claims checked as to having our luggage, but I was able to pick it up from the US Airways luggage area. I then took MARTA up into the city, and my hotel is right next to the Peachtree Center stop, which is nice.

I liked getting into the city early, as I was able to get my bearings. I had never been to Atlanta, so I wanted to know where everything was. They have shuttles running all the time, but the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) is only a 12 minute walk, while it took 10 minutes to return on the shuttle yesterday, and that was with Sunday traffic. Although, I do have to say, the traffic here does not seem that bad. I think there's more traffic in Harrisburg.

As I walked around, I saw the Georgia Aquarium (they have two whale sharks in there), Coca-Cola World, CNN Center, Phillips Arena, and the Georgia Dome. They're all right next to the GWCC. It's my hope to be able to blog about the sessions I am going to. Hopefully the wireless network doesn't get overwhelmed by all of us trying to log on to it like at PETE&C. I know that eventually we'll figure out how to get a strong enough network.

Yesterday, we had a CFF meeting. I sat with Kim Prevost from Moon Area School District. We sat and talked about different ways to incorporate technology into math classrooms, as that seems to be where most of us are having trouble. I showed her how I am using blogs and how podcasts can be helpful. We ended up talking about things until about 4:30. Then, at 5:30, we had the opening keynote, which started out with the Atlanta Drum Corps. It was enjoyable. Then ISTE's president Trina Davis spoke about where we are in tech ed today and where we're moving, including the unveiling of the new NETS-S today, with NETS-T and NETS-A coming out each of the next two year. Then Andrew Zolli spoke. He was an interesting speaker, and he talked a lot about trends and where they were taking us. He had some interesting information, but truth be told, he lost my attention in the last 10 minutes. It's not that he wasn't an engaging speaker, it was just that my brain was done with that session at that point. Had he gone before Trina, it may have been different.

Today begins my first NECC experience in kind. I have sessions lined up, an exhibit hall that is the size of five football field to explore, and many people to talk with. I am excited about learning about new things and becoming more familiar with those I have already been working with.

One thing the PA people have done for us is to have a wiki page to keep track of things. And the NECC veterans gave us some advice about having exhibitors mail stuff to us at school, or to mail stuff back home to ourselves, as they have often received A LOT of stuff from vendors in the past. We were also told that we would be tapped for info for the next time NECC is in Philly (2011).

Check out my Flickr page for photos from NECC and Atlanta.