It's a one-hour flight to Las Vegas from my home in Northern California. I packed a few clothes, a laptop, an iPad, and a webcam into a small backpack. Drove to the airport early in the morning and watched the sun rise over the Richmond bridge. I haven't traveled in a plane since before the pandemic three years ago.
I was still in Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport when I remembered how much I disliked Vegas. The smoke, the gambling, the artificial environment, yuck.
But I wasn't there for that; I was there for DevLearn.
I was at the first DevLearn, way back in 2005. In fact, I was working for The eLearning Guild. Has it been 17 years since that first one? Here, I have pictures.
So that was 2005. It was in San Francisco back when dot-com was still a thing. There were no iPhones yet. We were on dial-up modems and I used to process registrations that came in by fax.
I worked another nine DevLearns before I moved on from the Guild. And I had no doubt 2022 DevLearn would not disappoint.
I loved it.
And I've been thinking about that. Because I don't love Las Vegas. I don't like the exclusivity, the logistics, and for lack of a better word, the wrapper that the conference is in. I used to. I remember the first Las Vegas DevLearn I was a part of and I was ecstatic. Not anymore.
But here's why I loved DevLearn 2022 and why I've always loved Guild events and L&D.
The people.
Back in 2005, I remember working registration and noticing the lone conference attendees. They often lingered near the registration area watching others arrive, probably because they had nowhere else to be. And those were the folks I would approach and chat with and get to know. And it's why I'm here, why I do what I do, and why I love conferences like DevLearn. It's good people. GREAT people.
And I can't properly articulate my 2022 DevLearn experience. I can tell you I walked a lot. I talked until I was hoarse. I wished I was in different places at once. I sat on a bench for a long time and watched people walk by and loved every moment of it. I had some sad conversations and some joyous ones. And I barely slept thinking about all of it.
And so it was a great privilege for me to sit at a round table with these wonderful people below and ask them questions about DevLearn. The video snippets that follow were a part of a livestream I attempted at the expo. I'm not sure I would ordinarily share media like this because it's not great.
But here's the thing: I love these people. And DevLearn was worth the effort because they were there and I got to be with them.
The expo was loud but we had fun gathering, chatting, and sharing ideas. Hopefully some of the dialogue is helpful to you.
The links below will take you to short video clips of each guest that was at the table. We were passing around a laptop, so please excuse the rawness of it all!
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE EVENT SO FAR?
WHAT HAS STOOD OUT TO YOU IN THE CONFERENCE SESSIONS?
WHAT'S BAD ABOUT THE CONFERENCE?
WHAT ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THIS CONFERENCE?
HOW HAS THE SPEAKER PROCESS BEEN FOR YOU?
FOR ANYBODY COMING TO THE EVENT NEXT YEAR, DO YOU HAVE ADVICE?
COMPARE THIS YEAR (2022) TO 2019
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANYBODY CONSIDERING COMING NEXT YEAR?
DID YOU PROMOTE YOUR SESSION ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
WHAT HAVE YOU TAKEN AWAY FROM THE EVENT SO FAR?
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED AT THE EVENT SO FAR?
WHAT ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THIS EVENT?
WHAT'S BAD ABOUT THE CONFERENCE?
WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN OUT OF THE EVENT?
WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU LIKED ABOUT THE CONFERENCE?
So congrats to The Learning Guild for continuing DevLearn's success! The event is definitely a spectacle to see. And I'm sure it will continue to be an industry staple --- if you keep the love in it!
