I’m beginning to think I’m not destined to be at this
conference. Qantas lost my luggage so I’ve been over a day now without my
clothes and other essentials. Caught the courtesy bus back from the conference
and the bus driver took me on a round trip of Shanghai which led back to the bus depot and
not my hotel. He didn’t realise I was still on the bus. Consequently, what was
a round the block trip took an hour and ten minutes. Arrived back at hotel to
discover still no luggage. They say it is on the road right now heading my way
but I’m not convinced.
*update – it’s here. Finally can feel like me with my own stuff.
Anyway, enough of the sad and sorrys. Today was a great day.
It began with Edubloggercon at Elements Fresh in Shanghai. A chance to meet some of the people
I read and learn from. I had to stop myself from doing the Oh My God routine as
I met people like Jeff Utecht , Clarence Fisher , David Warlick , David Jakes ,
Brian Crosby , Julie Lindsay , Kim Cofino and Alan Levine . Conversation was rich and flowed easily and I found I had something to
contribute. That’s been my biggest worry. Is my thinking where it should be? Can I contribute anything new? After today I think I can.
Why do I think that? Because today I realised that some of the biggest names in the blogosphere share my concerns about the difficulties that present themselves when we try to shift our schools. Why do I feel alright about where we are? Because we are at least being proactive and have ourselves involved in Powerful Learning Practice . We are going to be immersing our staff in a learning community, and community is going to be what drives change. It’s not a discussion about the latest Macbook Pro that is important. It is a discussion about the connective relationships our students can form and learn from that is going to be the tipping point for many of our schools.
Today finished with invited presenters delivering 10 minute inspirational presentations a la TED talks. It was good. For someone who is already immersed it was confirming. For those in the audience who dance on the fringes, I hope it was powerful enough to move their practice forward, or at least to get them thinking.
Looking forward to what tomorrow may bring. I’ll try and post to posterous throughout the day if everything goes well.
Lucacept - intercepting the Web 
The lost luggage and bus trip sound like a nightmare, Jenny, but I think it will pale in light of your experiences. Thanks for sharing your thoughts; I always look forward to your posts.
You certainly had plenty to share Jenny! And I think that’s the eye-opening thing about these face to face meetings. I felt the same way you did last year when I attended the first Learning 2.0 conference. It’s amazing when you realize that we are all struggling with the same things and all looking for the same guidance. What I love is when we have time to think and share our thoughts about these things together. Although I firmly believe in the power of the network, I find the face-to-face meetings help us cement those relationships, and make all that information we share so much more personal.