My ISTE Day 1 Recap: Madness! Madness! Madness!

     Well, the first day of ISTE has come and gone, and the Madness has begun. The real nerd prom (sorry White House Correspondent Dinner) is here. The first day was awesome but it did have it's down points (Ashley Judd Anyone). So here is a list of my highs, lows, some where in betweens,  and what I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Everything that was AWESOME!!!
1. Registering- Gosh darn it, it is just a high to be there. There is tons of excitement, and the good folks at ISTE made it even better with a Peach Popsicle! Thanks Guys!
2. Meeting New People- Man I met all kinds of new people today, the real hashtag should be #edtechnerdfriends. I got to talk to a school board member, a ed non-profit employee, teachers, admin, tech coaches, and some of my favorite App teams. Even made some new edtech friends @misspelsor #skipping (yes this is an inside joke)
3.  Ignite Sessions- man that's a hard act to follow. You had some edtech rock stars rocking it like @MsMagiera. I am already filling the tool box with ideas from those sessions

4. Class Dojo- I got to meet the founder and one of his team members of my favorite apps! Even got to hang out and party with them for a few, and on top of that made some new friends from it. They are an awesome group with a team that listens

Things that SUCKED!

1. Hate to Say it, but Ashley Judd- I know she was a fill in for America Ferrera, but that did not excuse that talk. She was unprepared, did not get to her point, talked about things matter of factfactly that I did not want to hear, and frankly was just DEAD WRONG on some of her advice. Ms Judd, we as teachers have to report any abuse, it is our absolute job to listen, but we are not the ones to ask the questions. If we suspect, we report, and then we let TRAINED pros take it from there. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ISTE forget the big splash and use the ed tech rockstars that are already there. Most of us know them, and we will love them so much more.

2. Lines- Man, I am glad I did not try to go to the IGNITE session as those lines were a mess. I was just fine watching it on the TV. Next year, put the early ones in the same room as the Keynote. Also, please let us know there are arplenty of seats in the Keynote. Waiting in that line was a crazy, when we could have been doing better things like networking

Somewhere in Between

1. Global Ed Symposium- I love the concept, and got some good ideas. I think it could have been a little better organized before hand (I know things happen though), and they need a wider range of presenters

Things to Look Forward to Tomorrow

1. Coffee CUE- I love this concept so going to try to go, but looking at the time it is right now and realizing, I NEED TO GO TO BED!

2. Leslie Fisher Smack-down- It's at 8:30, but always a place to get some cool new tools. Plus she is one of my favorite speakers

3. Adam Bellow's first presentation- Great Speaker, Can't Wait

4. The Opening of the Expo- Very interesting place, but I am noticing many of my favorites are at the conference, but not on the floor. Hit them on Twitter

5. More networking and friends- What's the party tomorrow night?