In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted lately, it’s because most of my blogging time has been taken up with EduCon 2.0 planning. The conference is really shaping up to be a pretty amazing experience. We’ve got around 50 sessions for the weekend, and it now looks like we will be kicking off Friday night with a reception and IMAX film at The Franklin Institute, SLA’s partner museum.

This feels a little like the planning year of SLA, when we had all these amazing ideas and we really couldn’t wait to see what they looked like in practice. With every ticket sale from someone whose more than a few miles away, I’m really excited and humbled by the prospect of what we’re about to pull off.

I’ve tried to figure out why there is as much excitement over EduCon, because really, when we came up with this, I was ready to assume we’d get 30-40 folks tops, not the 150 to 200 we’re now expecting. I think what this does speak to is this idea that we can do this ourselves. I think there’s a lot of excitement around the idea that we can talk about how our schools can and need to change… that we don’t need it to be sponsored, with an exhibit floor and with sessions that sell stuff. This is about educators coming together to talk to educators. That’s exciting.

I think those of us in the world of education spend a lot of time being told what our schools should be by a lot of people who don’t spend a great deal of time in schools. Maybe the excitement behind EduCon can be traced to the idea that this really is about a conversation, rather than a lecture… a chance to put our heads together collectively and agree to try to make our schools better tomorrow than they were yesterday, and a chance to celebrate the best of what we’re doing today too.

No matter what, I can’t wait.

(And if you haven’t checked out the latest update on the conference web site — go to http://educon20.wikispaces.com — it’s going to be an amazing weekend.)