I'm immersed in the Second Life Conference in Chicago. Because of the high attendance for the education track, they moved us across the hall. There was more room but no accessibility to my broadband connection. It's tough to hear about new ideas and not be able to explore them while multi-tasking.
At lunch, I had the opportunity to meet Michael Donnelly who joined Coke a year or so ago and turned a YouTube video that Coke didn't like into a marketing positive. He now takes these "innovators" to YouTube meet-ups around the country. This Wired article gives more info. He mentioned that he has to begin each presentation with an explanation of this initially bad publicity for how Coke responded to the online videos. He has clearly embraced them.
Last night I arrived just in time to go to an Argentinian steakhouse with a large group of educators, including KJ Hax (Kevin Jarrett) whose blog is The Story of My Second Life. He was one of my initial contacts in SL along with Existential Paine who appears to have moved onto other virtual explorations.
I heard Sarah Intelligirl Robbins earlier this afternoon. She conveyed a convincing message about how we as educators have the opportunity to shape this future (Second Life) versus having it forced on us as many educational reforms/movements are usually implemented from the top down.
Not going to the fetish ball tonight - a little too out there for me. Plus there is plenty to do in Chicago and I haven't had a chance to explore much given I've been here less than 24 hours. I did, however, experience Chicago rush hour. It was a reminder that it's a good thing when we bring our teachers to have them out by Midway airport and not have to worry about downtown transportation.
Welcome to Chicago!
It is too bad the Chicago Cubs are out of town but at least the Bears were here :-)
I hope you enjoyed Chicago. The rush hour is crazy but I've found that podcasts in the car have been my saving grace :-)
Posted by: Ryan Bretag | August 26, 2007 at 07:37 AM