InstCarn Recap: Day 1 - Reflections

[mjennings]

TL;DR

Instructure really out did themselves this year, but man those food lines in the conference center. 

Overall Impressions

I love Canvas and the wonderful community that is brought together each year at this conference. Seeing old friends (like  @kona ,  @scottdennis ,  @rseilham ,  @kenneth_rogers ,  @Renee_Carney  and even more than I can list) and meeting new ones like ( @BethCrook ‌, carroll-ccsd‌,  @victoria-maloy ‌). But I am getting head of myself. 

The opening Keynote by  @josh5 ‌ was fantastic as always. You can read my recap of that here - InstCarn Recap: Day 1 - PM Keynote 

Evening Activities

There was a lot of fun to be had at the Parade of Partners, but hopefully you were really hungry.  The lines for the food were insane and it was really hard to know exactly what you were in line for or if you were really in line at all.  Aside from that, the vendors were awesome as always and swag was plentiful. The award for the best stuff goes out to Knowbly with the carnival room filled with cotton candy, strong man challenge, air brush tattoos, plinko, soccer challenge and a (play money) cash grab.

Game Night

Game night is another highlight for me, although it is very different when you have your family there. My oldest son really wanted to play King of Tokyo so we grab it and got a quick intro by a helpful Canvas team member whose name I didn’t catch. While neither of my boys or I won, we still had a great time.  We also play a game of Blockus than my youngest wanted to play before calling it a night. 

Random Thoughts

Even with the chaos of the evening reception, this is still the greatest edtech conference in the world. Hands down. No question. No way to convince me otherwise.

Kudos to the Events Team that pulls this off each year.

*All of the content here is thoughts, opinions, musings and ramblings. It's like you just walked into my head.  Please excuse the mess. 

[kona]

 @mjennings , it was great seeing you again both at the beginning and ending of the conference! So glad you were able to attend the Unconference!

And truth about the food lines Tuesday night. I ended up never really eating “real” food and settled for a plate of all desserts - there was little to no line there! 😉

Kona

[laurakgibbs]

I had guacamole for dinner that night,  @kona ‌! Which is weird, but hey, how often do you get all the guac you want? I found a table that had guac and chips and salsa on it that seemed like it had been ignored somehow: so much guacamole! Yum!

 @mjennings ‌, I am sorry I didn't get to see your boys at Game Night! I showed up a bit late for that (I got to talking with people and didn't even notice the time!), but we rounded up enough people to play Carcassonne: South Seas.

THANK YOU to Deactivated user‌ for organizing Game Night: you did a fantastic job of figuring out how to make all that work!

[kenneth_rogers]

Oh,  @mjennings ‌...every year there is that one person you see everywhere. That person you can find in a sea of absolute craziness, long lines, and human cannonballs. This year, for me, it was you and your wonderful family! Whether I'd see you between sessions, your family at dinner, or your boys with GIANT stuffed animal things...y'all were everywhere. It's almost like the gold mine made it so! (For those that are wondering about the gold mine, check out Jennings' tweet!)

It is always an absolute pleasure, sir. I can't wait to see where this InstCon takes our conversations!

[carrie]

Glad you had fun,  @mjennings ‌! I think it was our Master of Canvas Data, Deactivated user,‌ who taught your kids how to SMASH!! in "King of Tokyo". 

Thanks for the shout-out, laurakgibbs‌!! I look forward to Game Night every year because of the people who enjoy it! 

[msmith]

Thank you for bringing your family to game night  @mjennings ‌. Watching your boys play and enjoy the game was a highlight for me as well.

[mjennings]

Deactivated user, thanks again for the help. I think my youngest was "SMASH"ing things all week.

[scottdennis]

It was a pleasure seeing you, as always, Mr. Jennings (no joke).

[rseilham]

 @mjennings ‌, 

It's always a pleasure to run into you so many times at #inston. I can't wait for you to share more in the community and be part of instcon 2019. You promise to be there, right? #canvasstrong

[mjennings]

If is was as simple as me promising, it would be a 100% certainty  @rseilham . Hopefully, the few ideas I already have cooking will bring me to Cali.