Just taking a break after a full schedule of sessions and a reconnaissance of the exhibitor’s hall. The conference center is a very large venue, but somehow it doesn’t seem as hectic as some. It even seemed that the registration area was running smoothly. There are lots of places to sit and relax, plan a schedule, chat with friends (I ran into one of my professors from grad school here!), or grab a snack. We teachers are used to eating in 10 minutes!
One wonderful feature of the new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is that there is wireless service throughout the whole building! I was in a session earlier that mentioned a website, and right after the session I could take a look at it. The presenters, I’m sure, appreciated the fact that they did not have to pay extra for Internet access.
Another cool feature is NSTA’s Professional Development documentation project. Many conferences have agreements with local universities to provide graduate credit for conference attendance (as this conference does), but NSTA is providing another option for those who need to document their attendance. If attendees complete a session evaluation form and include their names and badge numbers, in a few weeks NSTA will have a “transcript” available online with the names of the sessions and the times. So we don’t have to keep a diary or try to remember what we did when we get home. By going to the NSTA website, attendees can get this documentation to share with their schools or for their personal records.