What makes someone keep coming back to a conference?
I've been thinking about this question lately, since 2015 marks my 4th InstructureCon. I work in academic technology at a small public liberal arts college in the Northeast; and like the rest of us, I'm sure, I see plenty of different conferences throughout the year which I could attend. And I do attend others; yet I always reserve a week in June for The Con (and as a member of various geeky fandoms, I smile every time I refer to it as The Con... 🙂
Anyway, four years in, I have to ask myself: am I in a rut? am I getting complacent? is the lure of the familiar outweighing the chance to branch out?
I think I've figured out what keeps me coming back. It's a 3-tiered answer:
1. The foundation of everything that follows: Canvas is a great piece of software. Sure, I mix it up in the Canvas Community debating various features (and the lack of other features) just as much as anybody; but at the end of the day, I use Canvas daily as an admin, an instructional designer, and a faculty member. And on all three counts, Canvas rocks.
2. So we have this great software. That and $6.50 will get you a mocha at Starbucks, right? But the people at Instructure have fostered a community. Like, that's been part of their mission or something. And Canvas users grok that. There are few things as soul-sucking as wandering a conference in bleak anonymity. Now take a look around InstCon - not just the physical space, but the groups and conversations on social media. We've built a shared set of experiences that let us connect on a human level - a culture.
3. Not all cultures are the same, of course. The defining feature I see in Canvas culture: openness. I'm a mega fan of open/free (harking back to Richard Stallman), and it's gratifying to see "open [thing]" becoming mainstream in edu! Instructure made a conscious decision to make "open" a core part of their ethos, and this has attracted and encouraged many of us to take that standard as our default. The forthcoming Canvas Commons is just one (pretty awesome) example of this decision in action. But we don't stand around waiting for Instructure to open up resources: so many of us - IDs, faculty, admins - form our local networks of sharing, and these often blossom out and include the broader community.
So why do I come back? The great software is a solid foundation. What we (the good peeps at Instructure AND the users) have built on it is a human community, characterized by a commitment to open sharing and development. Whether you're a teacher or a techie, there's something about this that sets it apart from the generic "conference experience". And as many of us are making the case for connectedness and community as integral parts of education, it only makes sense that I'd keep coming back here. We need more of this. Being part of InstCon, and the crazy awesome Canvas community, is one way I can help.
Loved your blog post. And the fact that you used the word "community" 8 times (and the word "connectedness" in the same breath) equals happiness! #PandaDance 
