A Triple Helping of TeachMeets at BETT 2010?

During my visit to the Scottish Learning Festival I was aware that Martin Jack from Think Different Events was there. We had been in touch regarding Merlin John‘s piece about the TeachMeet community being offered 3 evening slots at the next BETT show. I thought it was important I took the opportunity to track him down.

Scanning the corridors of the SECC, ably assisted I might add by Con Morris, we were able to find Martin and although he was very busy he gave me a few minutes of his time to confirm some arrangements.

Martin explained that the offer from EMAP for the BETT show is:

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night use of the Apex room (FREE)
Security for each of those evenings (FREE)
AV and technical support for the three events (FREE)

It just so happened that whilst we were outside the SECC talking, we bumped into Keith Clifford the Marketing Director from EMAP in charge of BETT. He was in a hurry but quickly said hello and also confirmed the above arrangements.

Martin was keen to impress on me that if we were able to clearly state the default setting for the AV setup then it would be arranged for us and be ready for the event. This year we had a large screen and a smaller one to the side for the back channel. To take advantage of this, each event, each night will need to confirm the technical requirements well beforehand.

I think that it is a great offer from EMAP whatever occurs over the course of those three nights. TeachMeet at BETT this year was thronged and in my opinion 3 separate events gives scope for development, an opportunity for smaller more intimate events and illustrates how important TeachMeet CPD is.

What is missing? What will be needed? I questioned Martin about a few other arrangements just to be clear about what is on offer. The TeachMeet community will need to organise or through sponsorship arrange for:

The tables will not be in a cabaret style as they were this year. We will need to cover the costs of that switcheroo. Or pitch in ourselves!
Wi-fi was not covered in the above offer. I asked and it seems it will need to be paid for from sponsorship, but can be arranged with EMAP.
Food, nibbles and drinks will need to be covered as usual through sponsorship.

There it is. We have the APEX room for three nights if we want to use it. I think that as this is unprecedented territory for TeachMeet the sooner we begin to plan the better. That is the next question really and one which I now throw out to the TeachMeet community as a whole.

What would you like to do with three different TeachMeet style events?

Please feel free to cross post this and help to get the message out as much as possible so that the ball begins to roll and we can quickly decide upon on the nature of the 3 nights.

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This entry was posted by tombarrett on September 28, 2009 at 8:10 pm, and is filed under Teachmeet. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

Stuart Sutherland

Tom, thanks for raising these issues and pushing this forward. Here’s my 2pworth.

What has always been brilliant about TeachMeet is that it has a focus on tomorrow, on things you could do in your classroom tomorrow and I think there will always be a need and real interest in that formula.

This focus is also a limitation, of course … it limits the focus to the shorter term and the perhaps doesn’t allow for a broader perspective on, or a long-term view of, where we’re going in education. Personally, I’d like to see a strand within one of the nights, which still preserves some of the ‘rules’ about swift accessible presentations, where the focus is on where we could be in 5 or 10 years …. some provocative, stimulating, thought pieces from teachers AND others with an interesting contribution to make about where we’d like both practice and ‘the system’ to be and about what may be standing in the way of that progress.

Maybe that’d fit in with Drew Buddie’s TedEx idea above or Tony Sheppard’s R&D proposal?
http://www.grumbledook.com Tony Sheppard

TM at BETT was over-subscribed so spread it over a few days to allow people to attend – Win
TM at BETT had too many presenters so it gives a better chance for more people to showcase what they are doing – win

There are a few risks though … but it wouldn’t be a TeachMeet without them. Will it be spread too thin with too few people presenting or participating?
Will people go to the same night as others as a social thing rather than a CPD thing?
Do people want to see particular items or ideas and worry they might miss things?

A suggestion would be to introduce the Video presentation. Have a selection of 7 min videos which people who might not attend can pre-record and send in … it might be that a person presenting on Friday can actually also send in a clip so Wednesday’s attendees can benefit? I know it is sort of covered by the FlashMeeting re-run or the wonderful Leon does … but it could be another option.

Personally I would quite like a few more geeky sessions, not always related directly to classroom practice … more R&D stuff.
http://psycho65.blogspot.com/ psycho65

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity for a greater number of teachers to benefit from the TM’s – Will now be a problem which day I attend BETT next year.
http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk danny nicholson

thanks Tom for securing such a great offer – using that room for three nights is a great opportunity.

I did express concern when the idea of three bett teachmeets was first suggested. I’d be worried about diluting the specialness of Teachmeet. I’d support what Leon commented above about having three different themed events – amplified, tedex and culminating with the TeachMeet on the friday night. This would avoid teachmeet losing focus.

it’s still a fantastic opportunity – and thanks again for doing the groundwork in securing this.
http://www.classroomtm.co.uk Stephen Lockyer

TeachMeet three times? A fantastic opportunity, and one that, with the right set-up, could be exploited to the full. Speaking personally, I would only come to one, but would want to participate/watch the other two, as would many others, I’m sure. To that end, a really good quality live feed (video & audio), combined with several keen volunteers to narrate the flashmeet /hashtag update/ delicious upload would make it an event not to be missed, offline.
Steve Bunce

Well done, Tom, in getting things started.

I was keen to attend every night, but then thought, would it deny others the opportunity? I don’t know in the past, has TM been over-subscribed and enough that more than one event could be filled by two groups?

So, do we need to limit how many nights we attend?
Do we let everyone (who puts their names down) to present over the course of the nights or still use the lucky dip on one night?

Excitedly looking forward to whatever happens, Steve
http://www.L4L.co.uk Leon Cych

I think the trad TeachMeet on Friday. I’d like to see an Amplified Education event on Thursday and Drew Buddie has an idea for a TedEx type of event on Wed or Thurs…

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A Triple Helping of TeachMeets at BETT 2010?

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