- They started coming about 7:45. Up until that time, I still had the "pre-party jitters": What if nobody comes? By 7:50, I didn't have to worry about that any more; instead I had to go find more people to work the registration desk.
- This was our second EdCamp and easier by FAR to put together than the first one. We probably did about a quarter of the work this year as compared to the previous year. Which makes sense, since we were really feeling our way along last year, with no one in the group who had put on an EdCamp before. By this year, we were seasoned veterans. We had set up a Google+ community to organize our resources and discussions. We had a total of two Hangouts to discuss planning; most of the discussion happened in the G+ community.
- We also had control of our own website this year, which saved some work. Jo-Ann had experience with Eventbrite, as well, making that part easier. And we were more confident about attendance (or lack thereof) than we were last year. In 2013, we were very conservative about the signup page, because we did not want to exceed the capacity of our venue. This year, we knew that we wouldn't get more than 50% attendance (if even that), so we just put out 300 invites at the beginning and didn't worry about it. All 300 were taken by a few days before the event; we ended up with about 130 people actually attending.
- I would very much like to know how many people who attended this year had also been there last year. I think we should include that in our pre-survey in the future.
- Our session board went well. I liked having two colors of cards, one for "What I want to learn" and one for "What I want to lead". How I think we handle it next year is to NOT put the "learn" cards on the session board, but instead put them off to the side. The idea would be that people could read the "learn" cards, pick what they might be able to "lead", and then put that on the board. By putting the "learn" cards on the board directly, it was a little confusing, and I think may have discouraged some people from putting their own sessions up, as the board appeared to fill up.
- I didn't get to see the introductory session, but I heard that Jo-Ann and Jeff did a great job. This is the second year I've missed the intro session, because I've been entering session descriptions into the website and mobile app so they're ready for session 1. I'd love to think of a better way to do that, but haven't been able to come up with one yet.
- During session 1, I finished entering session descriptions into the mobile app while Leigh Murrell helped me out by doing the web side of the task. Then I dropped in to a few sessions and took some pictures. Everything seemed to be going well, and I noticed what seemed like a better balance in session turnout than last year. In 2013, it seemed like there were some sessions that were packed, and others with only 2 or 3 people in them. I didn't see anything like that this year; most sessions (that I saw) were well attended but not overcrowded.
- In session 2, I spent most of my time in the ToSAs brainstorming session. I went to that room only intending to stay for a few minutes, but got drawn in to the discussion and didn't leave until I had to go check on the lunch trucks. It was really interesting to hear different districts' models for ToSAs, and the various responsibilities. I offered an invite for our ToSAs Unite Google+ community before I had to leave.
- Lunch trucks should have been a great idea. Apparently, it was more difficult than it needed to be. Joe Hartmann was our lunch truck wrangler, and he's already called "not it!" for next year. We were concerned about timing: could everyone get their food in the hour that we had set aside for lunch? To help with that, we tried to take "pre-orders": when you check in, look at the menu and write down what you want on an index card. According to the lunch truck workers, that didn't really help at all. In any case, there did not seem to be any problem with timing. We had 3 trucks to feed 130 attendees, some of whom either brought their own lunch or had already left, so let's say around 100 people purchasing from trucks. I get the sense that we're kind of on the low end of the numbers these trucks want in order to make it worth their time to show up. Maybe next year we only get two trucks? Or maybe we go back to the "donated pizza" model. We'll have to see.
- In session 3, Krystle Miller and I led a session on professional development. It turned out to be more popular than I thought it would be (probably 25 people or so), and an easier topic to discuss than I was afraid of. Krystle had said that the ideal EdCamp session leader introduces the topic and then doesn't talk at all for the rest of the session. That's exactly what happened in our session, so I think we have to count it as a success!
- For the last session, I was in the Board Room helping Jo-Ann and Krystle get ready for the prize giveaways. Jo-Ann had suggested (based on seeing it at a different EdCamp) that we do the raffle tickets differently than we had in the past. Instead of one big bin that everyone puts their ticket in, getting selected for a random prize, we had individual containers labeled for each prize. Attendees got to pick which prize they wanted and put their ticket in that bin. That way, no one would get a prize they really didn't want. It seemed to work very well, and quickly, which is important for the closing session at an EdCamp.
I absolutely loved getting to see my friends and colleagues from other districts, as well as getting to meet many of them face-to-face for the first time. Every time I go to an EdCamp, whether or not I'm one of the organizers, I meet more great educators, get more great ideas, and become a better professional. Thanks to everyone for helping to make EdCamp San Diego 2014 a success!
UPDATE Oct 24: Apparently, our attendance was closer to 150 than 130. Great to hear!
