My Day at the WVIZ Ideastream Conference

Tuesday, November 17, was an exciting day.  I battled morning traffic on 77 North to get to the PBS WVIZ Ideastream Conference, and I arrived early enough for a Starbucks treat. When I checked in at the registration table, the nice lady said, "Oh!  You're Stephani.  You need to go see that gentleman at the next table."  Worried that something was wrong, I introduced myself, and he told me to follow an intern.  Next thing I knew, I was in the television studio, the same television studio where I took my students to see Tom Hanks and John Lithgow.

The studio seats about 200 people.  Soon it would be packed!

This time, I would not only be lucky enough to sit in the front row, but I also was honored to present after the keynote speaker, Dr. Susan Finelli.  My name was on the web page and in the program!

There I am!

As I waited, a nice lady fitted me with a body microphone--how surreal is that?  Then we rehearsed until we broke the computer.  I blithely posted selfies while the tech people sweated bullets trying to figure out the problem.

Rehearsing for my PBS presentation. Computer already died. I swear it isn't my fault.

A photo posted by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Nov 17, 2015 at 5:36am PST

I took a selfie with Jay Wise, History teacher at Copley Middle School and fellow 2015 PBS Digital  Innovator.  The best part is that he is my daughter's teacher, so I texted the pic to her to freak her out.

Just 2 PBS Digital Innovators hanging out. You know. No biggie. #pbs @pbslearningmedia

A photo posted by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Nov 17, 2015 at 6:02am PST

 Then Jay and I received certificates for being 2015 PBS Digital Innovators, and I got a cool mini-guitar!





Let me say that it was difficult to follow such an interesting speaker (Dr. Finelli), but I breathed deeply and dove in.  Here is the link to my presentation on Community Service in Blended Learning.

I think it went well.

Later, Shannon Conley-Kurjian and I presented a session on using YouTube tools to explain complex concepts.

I attended some great sessions from Stephanie DeMichele, PBS' NewsDepth, and Ann Radefeld, who challenged us to beat some elementary school kids in a game of Mystery Hangout.  They kicked our butts.

After lunch I listened to IdeaTalks from Morgan Kolis ("How to Start a Maker's Club in Ten Steps"), Stephanie DeMichele ("If You're Going to Fail, Make It Epic"), and Eric Curts ("The Big Blank Wall").  The speakers from all of my sessions were so dynamic and so full of information that I felt like I could go back to my school with takeaways I could use immediately.  That doesn't always happen at a conference.

Thank you so much for an amazing day, WVIZ and PBS.  Your conference has inspired me to strive to hone my craft.  I will be back.

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!