One week from today, we will all be gathered at the beautiful Hilton in downtown Austin and the energy will be electric! We already have more Summit registrants than ever before—we have officially sold out the Hilton! If last year’s stats hold up, around 40% of you will be new to the event and 60% will be Ed-Fi Summit alums. Whether new or returning, we will all be rejuvenated by these four days filled with thought leadership, collaboration, and hands-on learning, and we will all leave ready—equipped with valuable new knowledge and relationships—to expand our important work.
Below, I’ve listed three easy tasks for you to complete this week so you’re fully prepared and can make the most of the Summit. Some of you music fanatics might be attending Austin City Limits opening weekend in the days prior—even more reason to get organized in advance.
We greatly appreciate you reviewing this article in full. As always, feel free to email me at communications@ed-fi.org with any questions.
1. Download the CrowdCompass App and Configure Your Privacy Settings
We have received great feedback about the CrowdCompass app from last year; the app makes it easy to personalize your schedule, access all event-related updates; and connect with fellow attendees. If you already have the app downloaded from last year, you should have received an email with instructions directly within the app. If not, simply download the app in iTunes or Google Play, open it up, type “Ed-Fi Summit” into the search bar and select our event, and click “Download”. You will then have access to maps, speaker information, presentation slides, a list of attendees, and more.
Important Note: Your profile will be set to Private by default. To add yourself to the attendee list, please set yourself as Public when you create your profile.
2. Sign the Photo Release Form
The testimonials and candid moments we capture during this event are critical to telling the Ed-Fi story, sharing your success and promoting future Ed-Fi events. Please complete the photo release form now so you don’t forget; it only takes a second! We will have a photographer on site during the event as well as a video crew capturing parts of the event. You won’t want to be left out!
3. Log in to Review and Finalize Your Schedule
Many of you have already selected your sessions for the event, but some additions and changes have been made to the agenda so we ask that you log in here to review and make updates as needed.
You can view the full list of Summit sessions or filter for the Agenda at a Glance. Use the Schedule tab in the CrowdCompass app to select the sessions you want to attend and add them to your personalized schedule, just like a music festival!
Important Note: One change from last year is that the hands-on Bootcamp sessions will begin on Thursday afternoon and run for the second half of the Summit. We’ve flipped the order this year in hopes that attendees new to Ed-Fi will have ample time to ramp up before attending the more technical Bootcamp sessions.
Here’s the full four-day agenda at the highest level:
On behalf of the Ed-Fi team, we can’t wait to see you next week! If you have colleagues or friends who are deeply jealous that you’re attending and want to hop on board, let them know they can still register through Friday, October 5th. Happy prepping, and for all you commuters—safe travels to Austin!
