Okay, I promised Jordan I would try and spend time in community spaces, so even though I am a bit wiped out, here goes:
First, lots of comparisons with past instructurecons. Things change, Canvas grows, so you have to let each Instructurecon be it's own Instructurecon.
Second, don't mean to get semi-mental here, but really believe Canvas is the best thing that has happened to education in the US in decades. Instructure had cracked open the edu tech market in a serious way and has done so much to bring some needed light into what had become a dark space. Thanks for caring enough to try.
Big wins:
- entertainment - always something new and interesting.
- food and copious coffee!
- keynotes. Going to use a slinky in my classes! KEYNOTE: DEREK MULLER (instcon15)
- The reduced volume of schwag was balanced out by quality. Loved the hats and those jackets are nice!
- Instructure staff, simply the best people around and I would extend that to the Canyons people, super helpful and nice.
- I had some great takeaways from sessions and met a lot of great folks from all over. Big shout out to Shannon Hight - and the Tacoma Community College crew, always awesome!
- Portable charger for presenters was the best and most useful schwag ever! I already used it!
And many thanks to those who came to my last day, last session, presentation Always On: Transmediating the University Course. What a great crowd!
"issues":
- Many venues were overly packed and often SRO.
- Glossy schedule looked great (graphics amazing overall) but people like to make notes in the schedule and the black background was not helpful here. Yes, Jordan and his crew had the awesome app, but sometimes analog is best...
- Session descriptions need work. Heard from many people that they wound up in sessions that turned out to be out of their league or simply not what they expected. Brevity is great, but missed the notations on what tracks sessions were in. I think the submission process needs some work, perhaps a form where would-be presenters can add in some information such as the target audience, intended takeaways, and complexity level. This would make the selection process more satisfying.
- Missed the lightening rounds.
Still a bit blown-out (in a good way) - will post more if I think of anything.
Ditto the comments on the black background schedule. I did not use that at all because i forgot my silver or bronze Sharpies. 
This was #instcon number four for me and I loved it! Here are a few of the things I loved the most:
- Unconference- Basically we had an EdCamp at instcon 2015 but didn't call it that. @seanmichaelmorr and Chris Friend did a great job getting this together and making it happen. This was the most authentic, student-centered learning experience of the whole conference. In fact, if I only got to go to the unconference, I'd leave the conference more than satisfied. The best part about the uncon was it was active and connected learning at its best. I've always said the best part of any conference is the people who come to the conference, and in these sessions we got to take our learning back. This was truly learning of the people, by the people and for the people! No slides, no pre-canned content, no spectating. Truly everyone played a part and were authentically engaged. awilliams facilitated a great session on Active Listening and Rapid Integration and it was great to hear some many people share their experiences, ideas and different perspectives and that was just session #1. I could probably write an entire blog post on this, but I stop here. Hats of to Instructure for taking a risk and trying something new, hopefully this will grow and become a staple at future Instructure conferences.
- Sessions- Most people come to a conference to learn something in the sessions they attend and I think every session I went to was well prepared, organized and right on the mark! Not only that, I thought the tips, tricks, content and pedagogy was deeper than any of the other instructure cons. Yes, I got to stand outside of the doorways some of them were so packed, but I've seen this at other big conferences like CUE and I actually liked standing for a couple of sessions. (too much sitting, makes me disengage and uncomfortable)
- Keynotes- I loved all of them! I always like hearing from Josh and he was such a good sport to indulge us with a #JoshCoates Keynote Bingo win, but more than that his point of being empathetic and using that to be a better person and designer was heartfelt and smart. I have caught myself more than a couple of times already (not being empathetic) and it's something I will be working on. I also loved the MIMI ITO (instcon15) keynote! She had lots of relevant data to show us and her challenge to connect students to learning mentors is spot on. Lastly KEYNOTE: DEREK MULLER (instcon15) was awesome! Being a high school physics teacher for 18 years, his message resonated with me and of course he is one of my learning heroes! I could write a whole blog post on that keynote as well and I think his point may be the toughest one of all. It is really harder to unlearn than to learn and in most cases we don't address that with students or teachers (professional development). Watch The Backwards Brain Bicycle for further food for thought here.
- Product- I am liking what I've seen from the product group. The new UX looks pretty good, I'm not a fan of the colored squares and wish it looked more like what @GideonWilliams posted in his comments here. I think Speedgrader 2.0 and the new Gradebook Features are shaping up nicely and will be well received! Overall, I think things are headed in the right direction and I like the vision on enhancing core quality!
- People- Saving the best for last! The best thing about instcon was connecting with and getting to know some of the amazing people at the conference! This includes the employees and attendees. This could be another post
. Another kudos to Instructure for organizing a game night! When you have an employee like Canvas Guides specialist Deactivated user drive an hour just to come to game night and stay to the very end (well past midnight) that redefines the adage of going the extra mile! I'm afraid I'm going to leave someone out but I'll give it a shot. Here's a special shout-out to some of the people I was able to connect with at instcon15 @kona @James_Kocher_UF @kenneth_larsen @travis_thurston @scottdennis @Renee_Carney awilliams @seanmichaelmorr @G_Petruzella @mjennings @racquelnedden @mloble Deactivated user Deactivated user Deactivated user @shauna_vorkink Deactivated user Deactivated user Deactivated user Deactivated user @James @mlattke sara.chai @canvas_admin Deactivated user Deactivated user Deactivated user @klundstrum
Recommendations for Next TIme:
- Use something like sched.org to run the scheduling part of the event. I realize we want people in the new community but I just don't think Jive is optimal for this task. Sched.org is super easy both on admin and users and has more than enoguh features to make a big impact. You could also try to address the room problem by having people pick their sessions early (maybe a badge for that) then reallocate rooms based on this.
- Make a Q&A convo with the keynote speakers a session that starts in the first session breakout right after the keynote.
- Give a little more love to the unconference : )
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