@wmchamberlain just tweeted me about #Edcamp KC! Finally an un-conference type of event for the Midwest! According the wiki these are popping up all over the country this year.
@kylepace seems to be the instigator, I mean organizer of this event and he needs our help. Please join the wiki and the discussion about this exciting event. Below I am copy and pasting the sample “press release” so you can understand what this event is.
“edcamp Philly: Education ‘Unconference’ Comes to Drexel University in May 2010edcamp Philly, a free conference for teachers, administrators and anyone involved in education comes to Drexel University on May 22, 2010(Philadelphia, PA) March 25th, 2010 — edcamp Philly (http://www.edcampphilly.org), an education conference like no other, will be held at Drexel University on Satruday, May 22nd. The structure of the conference is very informal, with attendees signing up to run sessions first thing in the morning.
The conference will be free from corporate vendors and booths, with the focus being solely on conversations about education. Attendees will come from all over the East Coast and will range from classroom teachers to administrators to coaches and school board members. There will be time for attendees to gather informally to share ideas as well as a variety of sessions for them to attend, run by their colleagues and fellow educators.
This inaugural event is based on the barcamp model, also known as an unconference (http://barcamp.org). An unconference is:
- an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment; and
- a conversational event featuring discussions, demos and interactions between participants, rather than a group of people listening to a particular speaker.
The organizers of edcamp Philly met at BarCamp Philly (http://www.barcampphilly.org) in November 2009, ran a session together and fell in love with the model and its potential for teacher professional development. They immediately began pulling together ideas for their own, education-centered barcamp conference. They dropped the ‘bar’ wording (which refers to computer programming language) and replaced it with ‘ed,’ referring to the event’s K-12 education focus.
As with all barcamps, edcamp Philly is completely free, with all refreshments and other amenities provided solely through sponsorship. With the possibility of up to 300 attendees, the organizers are looking for local businesses who may be interested in being featured in the conference literature. Those interested in being a sponsor can make donations and/or contact the organizers on the website (http://www.edcampphilly.org/?page_id=51).
The organizers are excited to start what will hopefully be an annual gathering of forward-thinking, innovative and engaging education professionals in the greater Philadelphia area.For additional information about this event, contact Mary Beth Hertz or visit http://www.edcampphilly.org.About edcamp Philly:
The first of its kind, edcamp Philly is a free, informal education conference to be held at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA.Contact:
Mary Beth Hertz, co-organizer(267) 507-4033http://www.edcampphilly.orgemail: organizers@edcampphilly.org”
