Not at NECC09

Mulling over the many wonderful ideas I gleaned from NECC09. The sessions I attended were inspiring, as were the conversations I was able to take part in. "But you didn't go to NECC09 did you?" I hear someone say.

Well, in a way I did, virtually. For all you who were there in person I would like to say: Thanks for making my own experience so rich. Thanks to all who made their live-blogging accessible, thanks to those in the back channels and chat rooms who engaged in rich conversations and provided links to resources, and thanks to my Twitter friends who alerted me to the places where those online conversations and events were taking place.

Here are a few of the things I've gotten from NECC this year:

- from Tony Vincent's Learning in Hand iPod session - stay posted, he'll be adding his session as a series of podcasts from his blog.

- from someone's tweet - Leslie Fisher's handout on iPhone/iTouch application support

- many great session notes from Wesley Fryer on his Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog.

- Steve Dembo's Top 10 Web2.0

- Edublogger's Web 2 Smackdown session. With my favourite part being when Kevin Honeycutt skyped in to talk about how he uses keychains in training sessions from the train on his way into NECC.

So there you have it, my week at NECC. All sessions attended as I sat in my PJs in the still of the early morning before the rest of the family emerged. The time difference worked in my favour. I may have missed the face to face meetings but I took so much away to mull over and plan with for the coming year.

And I have to ask myself, which might have been the richer experience, attending in person or virtually? I had no jet lag to contend with. I was fresh each morning as I arose from a good night's sleep in my own bed. I may have missed the excitement of meeting twitter friends for the first time. There were sessions that provided no live streaming and therefore I could not attend.

It's something to think about.