What I Love About #DevLearn – Ben Carmel

The DevLearn Conference and Expo is one of the most popular events in the learning and performance field. Rather than tell you why that is, we’ve invited members of the Guild community to share what they love about DevLearn, and why they return to the conference year after year.

Today we welcome Ben Carmel, Online Learning Strategist at Education Northwest, as he shares his thoughts about the conference.

I could easily prepare a top-10 list, perhaps a top-20 list of reasons I love DevLearn. It is the one event on the calendar that I guard against all other intrusions.

At the top of my list, though, at the same dizzying heights as enjoying time with colleagues I only get to see but once a year, is the chance to jump start a year’s worth of sustaining synthesis.

DevLearn is a unique opportunity to pull together ideas from across the learning world. In the spirit of DIY and the “maker” movement, the opportunity allows us to take what we do, what we think we know, and what we plan to implement in the future, through a gauntlet of alternative ideas, creative discussions and new innovations.

As I settle into my plane seat I begin to draw connections, test what I’ve seen for plausibility for what I’m doing, and note the people with whom I’ll create new, ongoing conversations. The cross-pollination of three days at DevLearn carries me through the dreary winter months to follow. I can’t imagine what I’d be doing – or how I’d be doing it – without DevLearn. The combination, connection and refraction are an essential process for my work.

If you’re interested in contributing to the What I Love About #DevLearn blog series, please feel free to reach out to David Kelly for details.