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Introduction:
Wowza! It's the Friday before InstructureCon, and I need to start thinking about packing. You see, I'm a remote employee, so packing all of my gear, clothes, gifts for friends, etc. is nothing short of trying to stack 650 hay bails in a loft that should only fit 600 (yes, I'm a country girl!). I'm excited to see all of my friends in the Community, but face-to-face is not part of my normal day; which is why I spent a little time talking with our Community team about how our distant, or remote (at Instructure we call ourselves #remotemafia), attendees can join in the party kumbayawesome.
Details:
Keynotes
In my 5 years of attending InstructureCons (3 as an LMS admin & 2 as an Instructure employee), I have yet to meet an attendee that does not anticipate shock and awe when it comes to the free spirited, yet thought provoking, style of a Josh Coates keynote. Not only do we have Josh again this year, but there are other great keynotes throughout the week! According to @scottdennis , Director of Community, we've made sure you won't miss out on these conference highlights! Scott states, "Keynotes, with the exception of Marc Pensky & Angela Maiers, will be streamed live." So, be sure to set a calendar alert & navigate to Keynote Streaming, when the keynotes begin! (Don't worry if you miss them, they're being recorded!)
EduCamp, Pre Conference, General Sessions, and more....
Whoah... Building an InstructureCon schedule leaves one tired before they even get there; so much to do! We don't have a virtual way for you to attend all of the scheduled sessions, but we've set up Letters Home (Blog Challenge) to encourage attendees to bring you in! Keep an eye on all of the blogs to catch all the adventures, epiphanies, and interesting people at Keystone! We also want to know what you're experiencing at your local, so please, join in and blog your experiences as well!
Also, all sessions have individual community events where you can comment and ask questions. Be sure to RSVP, or follow, the events if you want to be notified when the recordings are available (only general sessions are recorded).
Game Night, Course Hack Night, Hack Night....
Deactivated user, Community Manager, is one of the biggest fans I know when it comes to attending the late night parties community building and community learning sessions! Jordan will be following InstructureCon remotely this year, so you can bet that he wants remote attendees to find ways to join in. While we don't have official channels set up for virtual attendees, we encourage you to connect with an attendee and ask them to Periscope/FaceTime/Skype/FacebookLive you in! Jordan's already secured his plans for Game Night! "One of the beautiful things about iOS is that you can connect with people and play games (a)synchronously via Game Center." he said. He's planning to incorporate that somehow!
Badges & Points
Our gamification guru, and Community Manager, @biray , joins me in the remote employee ranks, and joins Jordan in the remote InstructureCon attendee ranks! She wisely structured the Community InstructureCon badges so that remote participants can earn almost all of them (exclusion = INSTRUCTURECON 16)! Find more information at DIGITAL MERIT BADGES (instcon16)
Partner Showcase
You may not be able to walk the rows and speak with our InstructureCon 16 Partners, but that shouldn't stop you from learning who they are, and discovering how they connect with Canvas! Jordan was excited to share that "Our Community connects you with all of our partners!" Find more information at Partnerships.
Photos and Fun
Finally, what's an InstructureCon without all of the memories and momentos? We have two great ways to participate in capturing a collection of InstructureCon cache: Pandámon Go and the Scenic Route: Photo Book! Pandámon Go is our camp version of a scavenger hunt (hide 'n seek + orienteering + geocaching + riddles + Pokémon GO + those crazy zoomed in pics in the newspaper that you have to identify a location). You can create a marker, or identify one! We look forward to you playing along!
We would also like to see how you InstCon16 at home or work! Share your photos, and selfies, that show you participating! Post them to The Scenic Route: Photo Book.
Conclusion:
So, as I said before, Wowza! We all have some busy days ahead of us, and now you have no excuse to not join in the party kumbayawesome! Well, time for me to start packing! I look forward to seeing you in the Community!
