I’ve attended mostly EdTech conferences, which tend to focus on mechanics rather than pedagogy. But the best moment from those trips would have to be an impromptu discussion started with somebody while we both rested in chairs halfway up a long staircase.

She was enthused about how well virtual reality was working with her students, so we started off there, but quickly we’d gathered a group of other attendees until there was around a dozen of us half-blocking the conference center stairway. Topics ranged all over the place, and if memory serves we ended up missing a keynote (but it was a corporate keynote, so not too important) because the discussion felt so rich.

Looking back at that across a span of years, I really don’t recall WHAT was said. But I certainly recall how I felt, and that I left that group feeling energized and… not alone. And that sort of gathering is only going to take place at a physical conference, with total strangers.

The technical stuff I learned that year, the “coming soon” that the company announced, certainly augmented the next couple of semesters of my professional development workshops. But that all faded away quickly, while the glow from that single discussion remained.

In July of 2016 I attended InstructureCon in Keystone, Colorado, and during the opening keynote the speaker suggested that attendees blow off the sessions, and instead go out and enjoy the resort area – ride bikes, hike trails, explore the lake in paddle boats. And, as startling as it was hearing that from the conference organizer, I see that he was absolutely right. The best benefit of conferences is really being herded into close proximity with others, in an environment where we will produce our own value.