I have a lot to say about FETC...stay with me.
I know everyone goes crazy for ISTE. It's thought to be "THE" conference for all things educational technology, and it is an awesome conference. However, for my money, I would go back to FETC every...single...year.
My first career was in the business world, mostly in the areas of Marketing. I had a minor in Marketing in undergrad and I have always found it so interesting. I am at heart a primary researcher...I like to get others opinions and file it away. In the end, I make my own decisions, but I have found over the years when you keep hearing something over and over again, there is generally legitimacy to the comments. FETC was one of the conferences people kept saying they preferred to ISTE and I see now why.
First, I arrived earlier than I thought the day before the conference started, so I decided to go to the convention center, figure out the bus system and get registered. In about 20 minutes flat, I had accomplished those 3 goals. The bus transportation provided was free, fast, simple and NICE! But I digress.
Most of the sessions this day were paid pre-conference ones, but I did know that there were some Apple classes going on. I walked into the area and told them I hadn't registered, but wondered if there was space. They told me to stand in the "waiting" section with about 5 other people and that if there was space I was welcome to attend. That is something that would never happen at ISTE. You might get to wait, but you would never get into any session without a ticket. In about 5 minutes, I was ushered into the room sitting at a table with an iPad waiting for me. That afternoon, Apple was offering 3 sessions. All I had to do to attend was just get in line for the next class which was SO EASY! Again...at ISTE, you had to go to the convention center like 6:30am to get in line to hope for one....ONE ticket. That's all Apple would give because they had so much demand for their sessions and so many people at ISTE. By the end of that afternoon at FETC, I had attended three 45 minute classes on all things Apple and my conference hand't even started. SCORE FETC!
Their keynote speaker, Sir Ken Robinson was so much better (IMHO) than the one at ISTE. Sir Ken actually kept a coherent thought, was funny and spoke about education. I don't know what the ISTE organizers were thinking with their keynote this past year. Again, IMHO, he was all over the board and did not make any connections to education....he just didn't speak to me like Sir Ken did.
The keynotes each day were in the Exhibit Hall; poster sessions were there, and my favorite, the "STEM Theater Presentations"...all were in the exhibit hall. I actually had time to walk through and see most of the exhibits. Again, this is something I never got to more than about 15 minutes at ISTE. I got to meet the creators of ABCYa and even got a fuzz bug! Their story was fascinating. It was created by a teacher who wanted lessons to engage his students in a way they didn't realize they were learning. Their website keeps getting better and better. Their goal is to hopefully keep it free for teachers.
A note about the "STEM Theater Presentations". This was my favorite area. Every hour or so, a different school would present on how they were approaching STEM in their school. FETC gives STEM Excellence awards for every school level and the speakers were the finalists for these awards. On the last day of the conference, the winners are announced. I sat through so many of these talks. It was always the principals, teachers and usually librarians who were working to incorporate STEAM (STEM) in a seemless way throughout their schools.
My last picture is from a poster session. If you look closely, it is Eric Curts. Eric has a blog called, "Control Alt Achieve" that I really like. I find it easy to read and has a lot of useful information about technology in general. You can also follow him @ericcurts on Twitter. The poster sessions were not crammed together like at ISTE, you could actually walk around and talk to the presenters easily, without feeling like there were 20 people behind you ready to pounce.
The last day, I took a class called "Engineering is Elementary". I did pay for this one, which was not necessary. My registration fee included more than enough PD for one year, but this was an area that I am focusing on my sabbatical and I was really interested in attending. It was worth every penny. There was not on second wasted in this presentation. While we were finding our seats, they had a video playing showcasing their STEAM projects with students and displays of materials throughout the room.
I know I've said a lot about FETC, but I have one more thing to say. They had people scan my badge at every....single....event. If I am asked to provide evidence of the sessions I attended, it will be so easy....it was all documented. At ISTE, I ran around literally, like a headless chicken to attend as many sessions as possible. How do I prove that? I have no idea...the only thing ISTE does is keep a record of the schedule you create. Again, SCORE FETC!
In the end, I would say to anyone asking, go to FETC if you ever get a chance. ISTE is a great conference, but IMHO, it's FETC for the win.
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