The view from the rear of the building was just as captivating as the art in the front was.
I was impressed with the presenters at the sessions I chose to attend. My three favourites were Arjun Singh speaking on Civility and Citizenship: Talking About Community Issues Online; Darren Barefoot's Why We Live the Quantified Life (which I missed most of because we were late that day, but what I did hear was fantastic.); and Brad Ovenell-Carter's presentation on Twitter as a Note Taking Tool.
Brad is a teacher, and by the end of his presentation I daresay there wasn't a person in the room who didn't wish they could go back in time to be in his grade 11 "Theory of Knowledge" class. I can only hope that my daughters have a teacher in their school-careers who challenges them as much as Brad does his students. I wish his talk was available online so that I could watch it again, that is how good it was.
Sometimes a session will teach you something you weren't expecting. I attended one session which made me realize the kind of blogger I want to be, by showing me what I don't want to be. It was off-putting enough to send me home to my computer to remove the last little bits of advertising that I still had on my blog. I'm very conflicted about product endorsement and sponsored blog posts and have yet to figure out how to balance my desire to promote local community without moving into what I perceive to be a gray area (for me) of fee/freebies for services rendered.
I also found that a huge topic of discussion, both in sessions and during coffee breaks, was privacy, which if you are very active online like I am, is something that feels like a constant tightrope act. How much do you reveal? Does privacy even matter anymore?
On Friday there was a party after the conference in the Space Exhibit Cosmic Courtyard. By the time we got back to Jeanette's, we were beat, so we had some yummy East Indian take-out from a place on Commercial Drive and called it a night.
Saturday was jam packed with activities. After the conference we went to The Red Wagon for supper. I was excited to try their Pulled Pork Pancakes since I had seen them on Diners, Drive-in's and Dives. They were delicious.
Awesome street shots, Alison!
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos and report Alison! So great to meet you. Thanks for your kind words. Looking forward to our friendship!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what you had to say Arjun, particularly about dialogue versus debate. You have a refreshing attitude about maintaining civility online. It was so nice to speak with you.
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