An IT conference that was completely unwired

I just got back from a national convention of IT Educators and whilst I enjoyed every minute of the trip (not exactly the convention), I had a difficult time connecting to the internet. For an IT convention, I expected the full presence of IT. Unfortunately, it was not the case.

First, the registration used dead-trees! Participants were asked to fill-up a piece of paper to register. I'd understand if it were a convention that is open to the public but most of the attendees were members of the society. That meant that they already have the names and contact details of these participants in a database somewhere. Unfortunately, it was not the case.

Second, I was expecting internet access during the convention. It would have been easier for these IT educators to collaborate using a wiki and/or use a back-channel such as Twitter. Unfortunately, none of them thought of that! Now I wonder if any of them knows how to use these tools for education at all!

The very presence of IT was in their Powerpoint presentations, which unfortunately was filled with paragraphs, and projectors. Heck, they did not even have a long VGA cable to connect a computer on stage to their projectors -- limiting participants from doing a real live demo from stage!

For an IT event, I had high expectations but was greatly disappointed. The content was a mixed bag -- the infusion of product pitches could have been limited to 10-15 minutes only but unfortunately, the presenters did not even know how to make their presentations relevant to the event. Oh well.



As a rather huge consolation, the JEDI Night celebration at the Dakak Resort saved the entire trip.