Back at the Backchannel
One of the many strengths of the HighEdWeb (#heweb) Conference is our passionate, engaged community. As the core of HighEdWeb — presenters, organizers, and attendees — our community literally IS the conference: without each of you, HighEdWeb would simply not exist. It’s your dedication that brings us together to learn what’s new and exciting in our profession. It’s your knowledge that creates more than 65 outstanding conference presentations and workshops. And it’s your passion for the work and for the HighEdWeb experience that feeds the #heweb “backchannel,” where observations, ideas and feedback are generously shared. It seems most appropriate that cutting-edge higher education Web professionals have been the group to embrace and purpose Web-based tools like Twitter in this manner. lndeed, the backchannel has become an excellent resource, allowing Web professionals who are able to attend HighEdWeb as well as others viewing around the world to connect in virtual space, to learn from one another’s experiences, and to continue to advance our profession.
Of course, in addition to serving as a digital community hub, the backchannel can also tell us things that are very difficult to hear, and that was certainly the case with the Twitter conversation regarding one of HighEdWeb 09’s keynote presentations. The keynote was not well-received by the community, and the backchannel reflected that in no uncertain terms. In the weeks since the conference, this virtual, in-the-moment conversation has spawned a number of *additional,* longer-term discussions regarding topics such as what attendees expect from keynotes, to how to remain professional in backchannel communications, to what it means to embrace a truly free and open stream of communication in the digital age. All of these questions are important and, though the topics may have arisen from a less-than-optimal situation, we are glad to have the opportunity to have these conversations together.
In short, there’s been a lot to learn from the #heweb09 backchannel, for both the Association and attendees, and the conference committee is committed to applying these lessons to improve the conference for 2010 and beyond. We are very proud of the high quality of the HighEdWeb Conference, and remain dedicated to our core mission of advancing Web professionals, technologies, and standards in higher education. If you have suggestions or would like to join us in exploring these important issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to seeing you in Cincinnati for HighEdWeb 2010.
Colleen Brennan-Barry (@ColB) sits on the board of directors for the Higher Education Web Professionals Association, serves on the conference committee for the annual HighEdWeb conference, and is the Web communications manager at Monroe Community College.
Well said (with the post) and well done (with the conference).
The community will be stronger for all of this.
Amazing, really, how much your post sounds like Obama explaining why twitter might be okay to China.
Amen.