Love Technology Style

Last weekend I attended a wedding, and it provoked a little thought. I found myself comparing the changes in love, marriage and of course, life in general with the addition of the internet and especially social media. I had never really pondered the implications in this context. I was fortunate enough to know my great-grandparents but never got to ask alot about them, which as an adult I truly regret. But my guess is they were much like other young loves back in those days. You knew the families in your town, if you were a guy, you found the farmer (within wagon distance) with several daughters and picked the one that appealed to you. She might not be the cutest one by our standards today but I'm sure she was greatly valued by her work ethic and broad hips.





Then your brother picked her sister and there was a town gathering and a picnic. You stayed married because that's what you did. Love? who knows, but commitment, yes.

Next generation, my grandparents.......the war, trains, and the postal service and the circle of possibility got a bit larger. Some met at colleges, and some when the boy came to a college town  and met a local girl, or when he went in to the service. The corresponded via snail mail and eventually they settled somewhere together. The focus shifted a bit to more of an emotional attraction rather than utilitarian companionship. And the commitment continued.

Fast forward a bit to my parents, again, many men went into the military or worked in their home towns, or as before went away to college. Many, as my parents, married before entry into the military, and I believe some of the reasoning was to know they had something at home while they were away. Stress factors increased and with the introduction of women's lib and the diminishing stigma on divorce, marriages started to deteriorate, all of the sudden women saw a chance to test their own wings and did. They were able to travel and meet people from many different places, they went out into the work force and suddenly found themselves spending more time with others than at home, heads turned, marriages crumbled. There was also a better way of communicating—the telephone.

Now to today, wow, what a change, you can go anywhere in person and if you can't go, you just get on the internet. Chat rooms abound on any and every subject. Or you meet someone getting on plane, before the internet, it would be a lovely meeting and a nice memory, and if you didn't get an address or phone number, it was done. Now you can take that tidbit of information, race home and look them up, within minutes you probably have a way to contact them again. You can find them on facebook and manufacture "chance" meetings. In a way we are finding ways to manipulate fate, kismet, chance, serendipity, whatever you want to call it. There is also the whole other side of meeting and connecting via dating sites, letting a service match do the legwork and find your soul-mate, whether it be across the street or across the Atlantic.

Social media allows you to find that cute guy you pined over from the 8th grade on Facebook. Or you google your child's teacher you secretly had a crush on and find she/he has a blog and become a follower. And no wonder marriages are under such stress, now we not only imagine the grass is greener, we read about it on other's pages. There is also the whole other side of meeting and connecting via dating sites.

But the wedding I attended gave me hope, hope that maybe true love will win, the connection of the heart will prevail. That maybe we have turned the corner and are finding ways to use technology to become more connected to our love in the beginning and in turn, once again, remain connected and committed for life.

10 Things I Love About Podstock

Well the time is fast approaching for us to put on our saddle shoes, poodle skirts and bebop on down to the diner for the Podstock conference, or un-conference. As we've talked about in the past our theme this year is the Fabulous 50's! So we're going to turn the Hotel at Old Town into the Podstock Diner. I've been busy putting the finishing touches on some items to make the whole thing just a hoot and half. So I thought I'd give you a sneak peek.

First we have our conference session guide, designed to look like an old fashioned diner menu.....makes sense, right, ordering up what is just right for you from a selection of scrumptious choices. Yummy....It's all good. Inside there is some pull-away sheets with complete descriptions of each day's "specials". Next we have the name tags, what could be better than an order of .......YOU! so it's written on a guest check, crazy, huh? One of Podstock's goals is to share info about companies real educators are using in their real classrooms (and beyond) so we've decorated up our placemat to give notice to those products we in which we see real, usable technology. Now, we couldn't have a placemat without a plate, right? so what is more appropriate then a plate of bacon and eggs - makes me wanna scream, "Order Up!" Moving along, the fake napkin and silverware (some of our people- not naming names, cough, cough, wyckoff- have that nasty injunction thing about possessing sharp objects, so paper is good), anyway, on the back we pay respect and thanks to our wonderful sponsors which make it all possible. Each participant also gets their own diner cook hat (or soda jerk hat, if you must) so everyone is cooking up ways to use technology in the classroom. We are planning on having baskets of 50's brand candy on the tables but in my pic the basket is filled with foam french fries. Our conference bag to cart home all your freebies (of which we have some great surprises!) is naturally a .........wait for it.................carry out bag! And of course everyone will be trying to score this year's guitar pick.

This is the time of year I love, we've been thinking and planning and now the boxes are coming in and after some more proofing and some final touches, we can start cutting, laminating and assembling. YAYYYYYY! So ready for it to get here, are YOU?

And in case you are counting, because I know even though most of you ooze creativity, some are that pesky type A, yes, there are only 9 things listed but the 10th is the super secret item we're working on so stay tuned, maybe I'll spill the beans closer to time...

And a few of my favorite pics from this year

Hey Man, it's Podstock time again.......

What is Podstock 2010?

It’s a conference. It’s a conversation. It’s family.

It's for educators who want to share technology integration strategies, explore social media tools and strengthen established learning networks. We're going into our second year and growing fast.

But we don’t want Podstock to be just about the latest gadget or the coolest software. We want it to be about creativity, about inspiration, about what’s good for kids. Our formal and informal conversations, both face to face and virtually, will help change how we do school.

I have been working on the materials for the conference. Last year I had such a blast and got so many compliments, I knew to even come close to that success was going to be a challenge. I have been thinking on the concept for this year, well, as soon as last year wrapped up. The theme of Podstock came last year, since it was the anniversary of woodstock, we kind of modeled after that. And with the boom of podcasting and technology, Podstock seemed a natural fit for the name. 


Last year was classic Podstock, 60's themed, alot of Peace signs, hippie motif, and of course the VW Hippie van. Our conference folder was crafted to look like an old time album.....(kids ask your parents - think of a vinyl CD).....ahhh, hint of nostalgia.........but anyway...the cover was printed to look well worn, because seriously, what record album in this day and age doesn't look worn? Pull out that old Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix album and check it out yourself. The "album" opened up and on the inside was the listing of the presentations and inside the "sleeve" had the lyrics or presenter bios. The record itself had a listing of web 2.0 resources. All very fun.

This year I decided to go more of an electric guitar, 70's feel. So the folder will be a guitar case, - ala, classic Fender case. It has velcro fasteners for the latches and inside a guitar with the 2.0 resources printed on the back. Inside the "satin" lined case pocket is the "song book" with the presentation description listed.
Although it doesn't quite trip my trigger as much as last year's, I am still very excited about the whole thing.

I am very excited for this year's event, which will be held at the Hotel at Old Town in Wichita, KS. Always a good time, including our vendor showcase reception with lots of cold beverages and snacks and a Second Life Dance Party. We've had many conferences throughout the years and we always have a blast at these things. The presentation line up is going to be great as always. For a full schedule and further information go to the Podstock website. So, don't be a drag man, join us for a groovy time, July 16 & 17, 2010.