CUE14: Finally Some Words

So annual CUE was like two and a half weeks ago. I haven't blogged about it. Still. In fact, I haven't written anything on my blog since February 19th. For shame!

Did the wifi suck? Yes. Royally. Were there like one million awesome people there? Yes. There were.

Highlights? Too many to list. Two stand out.

Getting to present with friends was TREMENDOUS. Thanks for including me Diane, John, Victoria, Lisa, JR, Megan, and Joe. It was an honor. (Presentation resources are here.)

Best conversation? Thanks for skipping that session with me Saturday, Moss and Kristen. The discussion about how to hack a conference, about how to make conference sessions more interactive was pure gold. It has given me a ton to think about moving forward.

As I read over other CUE blog posts, I was wondering what I had to say. On the plane home from spring break Sunday night, I was flipping through my photos and I figured out my CUE blog post. So here's my #CUE14 post: a collection of pictures.

Sam Patterson and Cheryl Morris in the registration line on Thursday morning. Yeah, that's Ellen Kraska too!

A Voxer channel I was in hatched the idea for #SelfiesWithSelak. This idea reached its apex when Bill got called onto stage to take a selfie with CUE director Mike Lawrence and keynote speaker LeVar Burton. Which was awesome. Here is my contribution.

My ninja buddy - and my edtech mentor - Diane Main and I being ridiculous. Because why not?

After separately meeting the elementary teacher wonder twins Elizabeth and Christina, I was struck by their energy for education and all things awesome. And they got to meet face to face at CUE!

The crew I was with decided to skip Dan Meyer's keynote to watch LeVar Burton get interviewed for the ITM show. There were about ten of us watching. It was awesome! Here Mark Hammons and Chris Fitz Walsh prep for the interview.

Victoria, Elizabeth, and Sara with LeVar. Homemade shark hoodie: yeah Sara!

My favorite shirt I got to sport at CUE - no one else had a #kyedchat shirt. Thanks Donnie!

The RockStar Manhattan Beach team: it's gonna be rad! Note: this was before we added Nancy Minicozzi to the staff. Need to photoshop her in!

Because when Jon Samuelson rolls into the session you're in, you've gotta take a photo! At least Jo-Ann Fox is dutifully taking notes, right?

I got to film a West Coast Beercast with Bill Selak featuring homebrew from Mark Hammons and myself. Good times were had by all. Here's my view from the taping: the peanut gallery.

The awesome folks I got to do a Google slam with. If you've got to present Saturday morning at 8:30, do it with JR, Lisa, Joe, Megan, and Diane. It was sooooo much fun.

I like this picture JR took from the Google slam. Thanks buddy!

Sherman's Deli - right next to the convention center in Palm Springs - has legendary slices of cake. This slice of coconut cake made the rounds at our table. Good friends and food: a CUE win for sure.

From Diane's Google drawing session. Comparative uses of Google drawings: annotating a picture of the Renaissance pool and creating a river map of British Columbia. Participants shall remain nameless.

Another Voxer channel united for Mexican food. I'll repeat myself: food and awesome educators - what's the downside?

My favorite pic from CUE. At the #caedchat meet-up, we gathered everyone who was there who was an edcamp organizer. (Yes, I love edcamp. This is well documented.) This is an awesome group of people. I'm honored to know them. 

Sunset from the last night I spent in Palm Springs.

To everyone I met or hung out with there: thanks. My first annual CUE conference was awesome. 

Now let's fix that wifi...