What to expect for the 2008 eduWeb Conference in Atlantic City, NJ

The 2008 eduWeb Conference will take place July 21-23 in Atlantic City, NJ (Geez… in less than 2 weeks, I’d better wrap up my keynote speech soon ;-). Shelley Wetzel, the eduWeb conference founder and director, accepted to answer a few questions about this year’s conference (as she did in 2007, 2006 and 2005 – it’s kind of a tradition ;-).

1) Last year was the second edition of EduWeb, so how did it go?

It went very well. The conference doubled in attendance and exhibitors in two years; from 150 (2005 at Salisbury University) to 300 and from 12 exhibitors to 24! The conference seemed much more active with lots of networking going on, people enjoying the amenities (food and using the wireless internet at all times of the night) and all just having a good time. Granted, this was from my perspective as the Conference Director, so hearing feedback from others who attend is also very important.

2) What would you tell people who haven’t registered yet to convince them to come?

This year is better than ever! I had David Flanders, an HE Open Source developer, The Bloomsbury Colleges, University of London, and part of other Open Source Developers from Oxford, University of London, Southampton and Cambridge proposed a great idea of having a Developers Lounge. They are sponsoring the Lounge that is open throughout the conference and into the evening hours to facilitate … well, here it is in their own words:

The UK’s Joint Information System Committee will be hosting a “Developer Lounge” at this year’s conference for any and all who have a cutting edge idea that they feel should be implemented. Developers from Oxford, Cambridge, Southampton and University of London will be on hand to work with any and all in creating a rapid prototype of their idea so as to provide a glimpse of EduWeb future. The Developer Lounge will also be available for those informal chats you want to have with colleagues (you know the ones where the great ideas begin).

What a great addition to the conference that we hope will continue! They will be on the 4th floor, one level above the main activities of the conference and they’re in a great “lounge” room with TVs, comfy sofas and chairs and just a great hang-out place.

Also, this year, we’re in a new city… Atlantic City! What fun! I was just there on June 30th and July 1st to have meetings with the hotel staff and it’s an electrifying and fun place to be around; you can travel throughout the city on a jitney, which costs about $2.25 one way so you don’t ever have to drive somewhere else to experience the boardwalk, entertainment or really to leave the Trump Marina Hotel, our conference base, where there is already so much to do!

Then, don’t miss the 1st Annual eduStyle Higher-Ed Web Awards; Stewart Foss, founder of edustyle.net, will be hosting the ceremony during Tuesday’s lunch, July 22nd – over 30 winners from over 1,000 nominations that came in this year!

You can also meet attendees from around the world… no kidding! We have the largest international delegation this year … two ladies from New Zealand, 5 or 6 people from the UK, 7 or 8 from Canada, 2 from Hawaii (okay, they’re in the U.S., but never had anyone from that state before), 1 from Cairo, Egypt and the rest of us from the U.S. What a great way to learn from others and see if we share the same challenges.

Finally, and of course, the great program that we’re offering this year … chock full of wonderful content … from the pre-conference workshops (you can still sign up: http://www.eduwebconference.com/schedule/schedule.htm) to the Opening Keynote Speaker – Mark Greenfield, University at Buffalo to lots of 1 hour presentations ranging from “You Have Faculty Using Technology to Market? … Are You Kidding Me?” by Dr. Greg Williams, UMBC, to “Buzz, Brands and Babes: Finding Out How Your School’s REALLY Being Portrayed Online … and What to Do About It” by Sean Carton, idFive to “Using New Media Channels to Acquire Students” by Ron Hendricks, Datamark … to of course, our very own, Karine Joly’s Closing Keynote Speech. Along with all 30 1 hour presentations, there are 10 Topic Table (mini-presentations) during Tuesday morning’s Continental Breakfast and another 9 during Wednesday’s breakfast.

So come and join us at this year’s eduWeb Conference (we’re now at 320 registered participants! We even got 10 people sign up just yesterday)July 21-23, at the Trump Marina Hotel … rooms still available!

3) Once again, the conference program is packed with lots of presentations. If somebody can only attend 3 of these events, what should they be and why? In other words, what are your favorites?

Well, I explained some of it above, but I always recommend Sean Carton’s presentations; he’s an excellent speaker and he’s been to almost all of the conferences over the years … as either a keynote speaker or speaking during the conference. He’s speaking Tuesday from 9:45 – 10:45 am. I’m looking forward to hearing the two-part “Branding in the Wild Wild Web” by Ms. Akla Joshi and Shashi Naidu of Evergreen Valley College … and my last one, mainly because I love England (from my traveling there), I’m curious as to how higher ed, across the pond, tackle the same issues we do here. One presentation is from Pamela Michael, Imperial College (London), who is presenting “Listening to Our Users: How Imperial College London used ‘mental models’ to guide their redesign.”