One of the things I have enjoyed the most about my work at Ed-Fi is helping to build the Ed-Fi Community by bringing people together through our events program. In previous years, we had a good cadence going between the Tech Congress in the Spring and the Summit in the Fall.
Obviously, 2020 threw a huge wrench into my previously perfect plans!
We had to cancel both the Tech Congress and the Summit. Thankfully we still managed to bring our community together for a much-needed opportunity to reconnect and just to see everyone’s smiling faces during Ed-Fi’s first virtual event; Exchange Live!
We didn’t know exactly what to expect when we hosted Exchange Live last November, but I can share that the responses both through survey data and from anecdotal feedback were overwhelmingly positive. Attendees loved the content, the keynotes, the user-experience with our online portal and the ability to connect with others via social posts.
So, I am thrilled to announce today, that we are building on the success of last year and will be hosting Exchange Live 2021 on June 9 & 10! Each day will kick off at 10am CT and feature a keynote address, followed by session blocks and networking, concluding around 3pm CT. Like last year, we do plan to have a small registration fee to offset costs….and, yes of course, registrants will receive the beloved Ed-Fi event t-shirt! Mark these dates off on your calendars now and look for registration information next week.
Wait, what about Summit and Tech Congress!?
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about those events.
First, our plan to is to host a hybrid Summit this Fall, here in Austin, Texas. The event will be a mix between in-person and virtual events. The programming, registration fees and daily agenda will be similar to previous years’ Summit experiences. However, this year we do know that many of our core Community members might not be able to travel to Texas for any number of reasons, so we are planning to have a virtual component to the Summit. We will be announcing those dates in the coming month, stay tuned!
Now for you long-term planners out there, I have great news to share about Tech Congress.
We are planning for a mostly in-person event to be held in San Diego, CA on April 6-8, 2022. More details will be coming as we approach these dates in 2022.
If you’re looking for a more constant and casual connection point with Ed-Fi staff and the Community, the Ed-Fi Tech Team has developed an ongoing meet up called “In the Weeds with the Ed-Fi Tech Team”. These meetings are designed to provide a consistent forum for technical community members to share feedback, to discuss new developments and even just to say, “Hello”!
As always, we’ll be participating and supporting a number of our partners’ events throughout the year and hosting webinars. You can find the latest information on our Events Page.
We are looking forward to connecting with you again at Exchange Live and our other event opportunities. We applaud you for the important work you are doing to support students and educators and we’re here to help! Reach out anytime at caroline.kazmierski@ed-fi.org
