The amount of planning that goes in to an event such as the phenomenal Northern Rocks that took place yesterday in Leeds is huge. Having organised a few myself I know what it takes, a dedicated and hard-working team of people. The fact that Debra contacted me back in September 2014 to ask about being involved is testament to the forethought and planning that goes in to something such as this.
I’m not going to give a full run-down of my day and how inspired I was by the various sessions or how humbling it was to see so many attend my session. I’m just going to write about my biggest take-away from the day.
It wasn’t the awesome (and difficult) choices to make in terms of who to see speak. It wasn’t the brilliant mini-edu conference in the car up other teachers although they play a part in the take-away. It was the chance to see, speak, connect and reconnect with so many switched-on, passionate and amazing educators. Yes, we all learned and shared so much, but the connections you make at events such as these are the things that linger; the reinforcement of that ever-so important network, your PLN.
We spend a lot of time talking on social media about education issues and sharing thoughts and ideas. It’s never as good as those face to face conversations over a coffee, burger, pint or packed lunch.
For me, my biggest take-away was the people. I didn’t count how many were there but it was easily 500 and more. It was amazing. The sense of camaraderie, solidarity, respectful challenge, fun, creativity, sharing and learning pervaded throughout the day.
Debra, Emma and everyone else who was involved in this great day didn’t just help us to learn. They helped us to develop relationships. Build bridges. Cement friendships. They did something truly special.
And so as @hugh correctly says below, the network definitely is more powerful than the node and those with the vision at #NRocks to bring us together did that with aplomb.
I cannot wait for next year!
Thank you.
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