UPDATE #2:
A day later. Just read Miguel's follow-up after the ISTE folks contacted him with a revised "code of conduct". Seems that a very solid/reasoned response came from the conference planning team thanks to what Wes and Miguel had to say, as well as the overall edu-blogger reaction on a wider scale. Thinking of going to NECC afterall. Kinda liking this grassroots activism leads to legit change for all's benefit gig!
UPDATE #1:
Intriguing time (no?) that the NECC "code of conduct" issue spoken about below is happening on the heels of the Associated Press vs. bloggers controversy, too.
***
Ever thrown a party...and nobody came?
- How about a conference?
- How about a really big conference that loves to be center stage for an entire industry?
- How about a really big conference that claims to have its fingers on the pulse of emerging technology and collaborative educational practices?
You see, I had this crazy, on the fly, learn-about-technology plan for the week of June 29th:
The kiddo/wife/I will be heading back from Santa Fe / Taos for our annual family adventure just in time for me to re-pack and make the 4+ hr drive from my home in Ft. Worth down to San Antonio to catch a bit of the NECC 2008 show.
Planned on hooking up with a host of well-known edu-bloggers/buddies flying in from all over, as well as seeing if anything new on the emerging technology horizon line caught my eye for next year's classroom/teaching journey.
Was going to be my first time at NECC.
Was actually pretty excited about it.
Suddenly, however, I'm not feeling so kosher about the NECC 2008 gig.
Why?
Wes Fryer puts it in pretty clear terms:
NO ONE is permitted to make a full-length audio recording for an online podcast of any NECC 2008 conference session without the explicit, written permission of BOTH the presenter and ISTE
Wes Fryer's post and Miguel Guhlin's follow-up post do really decent work explaining why a guy like me might is suddenly putting on the brakes with regards to this iron-wall conference, rallying the edu-troops to throw their voices (agree or disagree) out there in the days leading up to the big show in San Antonio, and showcasing the stunning display of too-good-to-be-true irony seemingly whittled on a legal stick down on the front lawn out in front of the NECC & ISTE conference planning tent as of late.
Check 'em both out.
You'll see what I mean when you spend some time with Wes and Miguel.
Seems my/our time might be better spent watching from afar the blog-post kindling under the feet of NECC & ISTE catch flame in the coming days as the edu-blogger world gathers froth in both corners of its chompers.
Or perhaps it'd be better spent by re-reading Atlas Shrugged, searching for something oddly ed-tech-conference prophetic in John Galt's infamous speech [mini-version for those short on time]. Short snippet here, although the larger context requires a much larger snippet:
To those of you who retain some remnant of dignity and the will to live your lives for yourselves, you have the chance to make the same choice. Examine your values and understand that you must choose one side or the other. Any compromise between good and evil only hurts the good and helps the evil.
Mmm, John Galt.
Sounds vaguely...ah...familiar in a post-modern meets pro-capitalism sort of way. Dang brain. Its just no good in the summer, now is it!
Hard to imagine many post-adolescents/undergrads (who read by choice/desire) who haven't at some point-n-time picked up a copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. And found a radical epiphany or two in John Galt's speech.
Who is John Galt? (you ask. you nod.)
Well, shy of offering a doctoral thesis on the main character of Rand's "Objectivist" magnum opus or sending you to Wikipedia to find out, one could answer in a more timely manner by saying:
Not a guy who'd show up for NECC 2008, one could say.
Or any of its year(s)-from-now conference descendents, me thinks.
'cept to kidnap a few of the "the men who made your [edu] happiness possible" in Galt-speak.
At least not if Galt was:
- an educator worth his emerging technology salt who was asked to present, host a workshop, keynote, or offer a poster-chat
- a blogger or podcaster or back channel champion hell-bent on broadcasting through finally-transparent conference walls
- a learner with any credibility on the digital frontier
How about you?
Where do you stand on these questions (all hypothetical, mind you)?
Does NECC / ISTE 's policy [see Wes Fryer's post to read in detail or jump to the NECC "video and audio recording Code of Conduct" page to see it from the source] make you re-think the value of attending traditional conferences of the likes of this that believe that they 'own' the intellectual property offered by presenters while simultaneously purporting to offer a front-row seat of the greatest boom in educational technology ever imagined?
Does it make those who attended EduCon 2.0 at SLA this past winter -- even those who plan on attending Alan November's annual summer Building Learning Communities conference (where opinion/idea-sharing back-channeling exploded last July) -- wonder if their plane tix and admission money might be better spent elsewhere, rather than funding the coffers of NECC / ISTE this/next summer?
Does it at least cause a single conference presenter to mull over the premise that they will refuse to offer hand-outs, web links, digital resources, business cards, blog URLs, PowerPoint slide decks, or anything that even resembles intellectual property unless the conference planners/sponsors pony up a bit of funding to off-set the expenses?
Does it spark even more edu-blogger meet-up's to take place 'down the street' from the 'big show' itself, sort of a "build it and they will come" un-conference held on a much larger scale...with much bigger reach when Google Juice gets a hold of those who Twitter their way towards the more innovative option?
Does it make a larger group of presenters wonder -- over time with a little Wiki planning session thrown in -- what would happen if they created an 'un-union' reaction to traditional conference workshops/presentations such as those held by NECC / ISTE year after year, refusing to speak en masse unless they were paid for their services -- both in terms of free conference admission, hotel/travel, stipend, etc. -- at any conference that fosters a profit for the sponsoring organization along the way?
'cause I'm just curious.
After all, wouldn't it be interesting if they hosted a really 'cool' ed-tech party...and no speakers came?
At least John Galt would appreciate the irony.
***
If you've made it this far, I'd love to share with you a lot less snarky (I admit it, OK?) of a thinking process that looks at the 'intellectual property' issue a bit more gracefully. Here's what Wes said:
This entire conversation over intellectual property issues and new media recording/sharing is both important and very interesting. This is similar to the conversations (and arguments) which took place at the university where I worked on staff for five years, over “who owns” the distance learning courses and course content created by faculty. This issue is still unresolved at some universities, but many have adopted policies which basically say ownership is “shared” by both the professor and the institution.
In the case of an educational conference like NECC, which is not paying “regular” session presenters anything to share their content, I question the legal basis for ISTE requiring written permission for anyone to record and share a conference session, when that recording and session is done on a non-commercial basis. In the case of a university and a professor who is developing a distance learning course, that academic professional in that case is receiving monetary compensation from the university, and as such their “work for hire” can arguably be co-owned by the paying institution as well as the educator. The situation with an academic conference is different, however. If keynote presenters and others are receiving financial compensation for their sessions, then perhaps the organization hosting the conference could lay claim to the intellectual property shared at their conference. That could be up for a lot of debate, however. I’d think the contracts keynote and spotlight speakers sign for conferences should address these issues. I may ask someone I know at EFF to share this with their lawyers and see if there are precedents to follow and know about in other conference contexts.
Again, I think this issue should be addressed directly in the call for proposals for academic conferences, where presenters are able to directly select a Creative Commons license for their conference presentation and UP FRONT specify the terms under which they are willing to allow or not allow others to record and share their work.
If this line of thinking impressed you as much as it did me, head over to Wes' blog and add a comment there. He certainly deserves feedback!
Interesting take on it Christian. But I have to say the best part is NOT necessarily what happens in the sessions, but rather the conversations and impromptu show-n-tells that pop up all around NECC. Those will be the viral podcasts and UStreams I predict. And there is no controlling them. I cant wait to see responses here.
Posted by: Cathy Nelson | June 19, 2008 at 09:03 PM
We've gotta remember we're in the midst of big change here, and change is coming about through conversations..... This is not just going to be an interesting situation to watch, it's going to be interesting to PARTICIPATE in... I agree with Cathy that the networking opportunities which NECC provides between sessions, in the evenings, and in the edu-blogger lounge are GREAT. Many of the sessions are great too... The best sessions are offered by practitioners... you know that, I know... Sounds like you have a great family time lined up in NM. We were just there 2 weeks ago and it was FANTASTIC. Even snowed on us.
If you can tho, I would encourage you to be at NECC. Whatever ISTE's policies are, there are definitely going to be GREAT conversations going on, and it would be super to have you there F2F! :-)
Posted by: Wesley Fryer | June 19, 2008 at 11:01 PM
I know where I stand. I was going to help webcast many things....now I have left the NECC ning and taken down all but one flake on the Pageflakes. Tyranny is not popular in eastern europe either.
Posted by: mrsdurff | June 19, 2008 at 11:11 PM
I know where I stand. I was going to help webcast many things....now I have left the NECC ning and taken down all but one flake on the Pageflakes. Tyranny is not popular in eastern europe either.
Posted by: mrsdurff | June 19, 2008 at 11:12 PM
I know where I stand. I was going to help webcast many things....now I have left the NECC ning and taken down all but one flake on the Pageflakes. Tyranny is not popular in eastern europe either.
Posted by: mrsdurff | June 19, 2008 at 11:12 PM