Wow, what a day. Today was the EduBloggerCon, and it was an incredibly invigorating day. I think everyone there had the moment of "Hey, half my news aggregator is here!" And meeting folks like Tim Stamer, David Jakes, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Steve Dembo, Brian Crosby, Mark Wagner, Lucy Grey (and more) for the first time was amazing. (And my apologies if I left you off that list… I still haven’t caught up on sleep!)

The topics of conversation were wonderful, and I found the sessions really invigorating, but that was only part of what made today such an amazing day. There’s something incredibly powerful when a virtual community comes together face to face. The folks in the room represent a group of people who have been writing and thinking and working toward a different vision of schools than what currently exists in schools. These folks all have skin in the game, and being around a group of people who care so deeply, write so eloquently, and take part together in trying to make a difference in each other’s professional lives.

The ability to gather together, laugh together, compare notes and strategize about ideas we all care about is the kind creates the kind of energy that can energize everyone and convince us all that these ideas can change the world. And sometimes, given how hard we all work, having those moments were we can be optimistic — even while we’re talking about the difficult realities in front of us — sets us up with the energy we need to keep up the fight the rest of the year.

(More details about my impressions of specific sessions tomorrow, when I’m caught up on sleep.)