Reflections from OLC Accelerate 2019

I recently went to my first higher ed technology conference, the 2019 Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate conference which was held in Orlando, FL. It was my first national conference in several years, so I was excited in general to get back but this was also an opportunity for me to see how something more directly connected to my current work felt. I was not disappointed.

The conference was a decent size, with over 1,000 people on site (and more attending virtually, more on that later). It had people from all over the country and from all aspects of digital education.

Here are a few of my major takeaways:

Parity for All (Almost)

A big difference with this event than prior student affairs conferences I’ve been to (ACPA from 2013-15) is that there was a good mixture of those who worked on campuses and with them. It wasn’t just the vendors, it was those who were interested in connecting with other professionals from the vast ecosystem of digital education. I was one of those people. Our programs utilize a deep and diverse stack of tools to augment our student experience so it was great to be able to talk with folks from our current partners as well as meet with those from organizations we’re considering working with. I even got to see some of my campus based colleagues. Higher education is made up of partnerships with outside organizations in pretty much every functional area. Digital education programs have some of their own unique aspects in this regard, but we also touch every aspect of student support as well. The only thing that bummed me out was that OLC still does differentiate registration price between campus based professionals and those with companies. I’m looking forward to going to SXSW EDU next year which is one flat rate for all registrants, which is refreshing.

Sponsor/Vendor Presence

So following up on my prior point, there was a ubiquitous presence of sponsors and vendor set up at the conference looking to make connections and build their business. There was a lot of interesting tools and organizations to check out, and there was a deep integration of sponsors into socials, programming, and different raffles incentivizing engagement. I feel like higher ed can be a little resistant to stuff like this, but OLC feels like it thrives on making meaningful partnerships with these organizations that partner with campuses. Seeing that this was possible in this way reframed this for me. It really helped to have this funding since the whole conference experience benefitted. There were fun social events put on by vendors, awesome raffle prizes, and even monitors provided for their “discovery sessions” (basically poster sessions but with your computer) so that the audience could more easily view the content.

Live-streaming!

Something else that was refreshingly ubiquitous at this conference that I haven’t seen as much myself was the proliferation of live-streaming for sessions. I know more and more “virtual tickets” for conferences are popping up, but the way it was done for this conference was having people volunteer to be Session Chairs for each live-streamed presentation. They were able to manage the chat and relay questions live to the presenter(s). I imagine this is becoming more common, but seeing it firsthand was new for me, and I appreciated how they integrated this in for sessions and as a meaningful volunteering opportunity.

Overall Relaxed Vibe

As one might expect with a technology conference, this event had a laid back style and flow. There was a lot of different stuff going on at once and people tended to show up in more casual dress. They also served snacks and drinks throughout the time of the conference, which was a nice touch. Since it was held at a hotel near the Disney parks, they utilized those as an evening option for attendees to have fun and socialize after full days of educational content. I felt very at home with this overall experience, which I hadn’t really encountered at any conference before.

I’m very grateful I had the chance to attend this conference. I was also able to present a few discovery sessions in addition to the presentations I attended. I got a lot of helpful context and information to add to my ongoing development in this space. I look forward to hopefully attending again next year as I work to make OLC my new professional home!

#SAGeeks - A Story About San Diego Comic Con

The SAGeeks series is all about celebrating the geeky and nerdy sides of all of us working in higher education and student affairs. The series is edited by Jenn Osolinski and Lynne Meyer. Check out our resources page for more geeky goodness.

It started on social media.  Ryan McRae posted “anyone interested in free tickets to San Diego Comic Con (SDCC)?  Let me know!”  From that post a dream was realized.  Ryan worked at a university near San Diego.  He had reached out to SDCC for tickets as a prize for a “geek week” of programs he was hosting.  In talking to his contact, they mentioned they wanted to reach out to higher education people because they were trying to develop partnerships.  They were offering free tickets to San Diego Comic Con with very few strings attached.  This was six years ago.  My unofficial motto has always been “if it’s free, it’s me!”  So I contacted his person and was surprised how easy it was to get free Comic-Con tickets for me and my partner (and our two daughters).

As a thank you, our family took Ryan out to dinner at SDCC.  During dinner, Ryan and I discussed how we give presentations all the time.  We could totally do a panel at SDCC and talk about how being a geek works for us in our daily jobs.  After all, Ryan put together geek weeks for his job.  I had also begun to do some research on geek/nerd students myself.  We decided then and there that we were going to attempt a panel for 2011 at SDCC.

I did some research and realized how easy it was and how little work was needed to submit a proposal for SDCC.  I had done things for ACPA, ACUHO-I, WACUHO, etc. and this was so much easier.  Part of it asked who would be on our panel.  I reached out to 3-4 other colleagues who I knew were geeks like Ryan and I.  When I approached them and asked “Hey, would you be willing to be included in a panel proposal for San Diego Comic-Con?” They all basically reacted the same way – no chance this was going to happen, but sure, put my name down.  I submitted the proposal for a panel six months before SDCC.  And then forgot about it.

One night in June (about a month prior to SDCC) I received an email.  Our panel had been accepted!  I couldn’t believe it.  I reached out to our colleagues who all gave me their names and we all were just in shock.  We had a lot of work to do in a short period of time.  

We did our first panel in July of 2011.  We got a corporate sponsor to make us t-shirts.  It was amazing and epic.  We had about 150 people attend our first panel that year.  They lined up an hour before the panel just to hear us.  We were the last panel of the day, so we knew they weren’t waiting for anyone else.  At many regional conferences, 150 people would be a keynote.  For about four of our group, this was the first time they had ever been to SDCC.  Many of us had crossed this off our bucket list.  But what we discovered is how big a need it was.

When coming home to my campus, our VP of Student Affairs asked me about SDCC.  He had no clue.  When I explained attendance was 125,000 and explained our panel, he asked if I would do a training for SA professionals on our campus.  Other staff from our panel found connections across the country and continued building a network.  I encountered a student who attended our panel who was applying for an RA job on his campus because of our encouragement.  We had colleagues who felt freed up to pursue their geek identities on their campuses.  Geek Week programming exploded across the country.

We then took our group (called geekEd.) to ACPA where we received more feedback on just how “freeing” it was to encourage people in their love of pop culture.  We started doing more research, connecting with faculty, and the rest has been history. Since then, our group has had a panel each year.  SDCC is developing a Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians, and we have been a part of it.  Over the past 6 years, Ryan’s generosity and our dream has allowed almost 50-60 professionals and students to attend their first ever SDCC.  In addition, we have promoted a sense of belonging for geeks on our campuses, and campuses across the country. Students tell us how we gave them the freedom to pursue geek weeks, comic conventions, and other programming that speaks to them on their campuses.  We have engaged in social justice work through pop-culture and have opened doors around mental health and support because of our passion/obsessions.   There are so many more stories to tell, but for me, this is where it all began.

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Tyler Miller is an avid geek, with passions from Batman, Dr. Who, Stargate, Star Wars, Star Trek, the WWE, and Fantasy Football to name a few.  He is also proud of his geek family, consisting of his wife Kari, and five daughters; Eliana (9), Samara (6), Johana (4), Natana (3), Talyah (11 months).  Tyler has worked in college housing for the past 22 years, and loves the experience working with students and staff in college environments.  He is also the President-Elect for the Western Association of College and University Housing Officers (WACUHO).  

You can connect with Tyler via Twitter, @tmiller1212 or on Facebook.

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 03/13/15

Hey there! Here's what is going on in my world:

• Spring Break

This week has been Spring Break for my institution, which has meant having a quieter campus and more free time coming off the whirlwind weekend of ACPA. I've been able to sleep in a bit, catch up on work, and spend time with my partner. I appreciate this time before the race to the end of the semester in less than two months, which is wild. The end of my first academic year as a full-time professional is near!

• Lost

My partner and I have been watching this show (mostly) together. I've seen it all many times but she was watching the entire series for the first time. It's one of my favorite shows of all time and it's been really nice to share it with her. I can share something I'm passionate about with her and we can bond over the show, which is a huge thing for me. We'll have to start on another show here soon but in the meantime, we'll still have our other shows that are currently on the air like The Walking Dead, Agent Carter, and Agents of SHIELD.

• Reflections from ACPA 2015

I mentioned ACPA before, and while I've shared some thoughts on my podcast, I wanted to write some additional thoughts here. I'm planning on writing a more thorough post on conferences in general, but I'm still conflicted at times with how I feel about these big conferences. There is value in the connections and networking but the costs can be exorbitant for professionals and especially for students. It is hard to justify for me and maybe I'm just at a different point in my life having just started working full-time and not being willing to pay for a conference as I try to build a foundation for my life. I have a lot of other thoughts on this in relation to how sessions are handled for example. I look forward to getting that out for you all to read.

Thanks for stopping by!