Just a little over a week ago I had the privilege of attending the annual MACUL conference down in Grand Rapids. You have likely already seen me write a couple of posts about Grand Rapids and this conference is the main reason I was there.
MACUL stands for Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning and it dates all the way back to 1975 when computers were just a blip on the radar of schools and education as a whole. It would take another five or six years before Apple IIe's would start to trickle into classrooms.
This conference is much different from the one I usually attend in the fall simply for the fact that it is mostly geared towards teachers. It still focuses heavily on technology, but the conference I attend in October each year has to do with switches and servers, this one is all about classroom tools.
For that reason, I generally don't attend this conference. I usually send teachers and deal with all of the emails I get after they return with all of these great tech ideas they want to suddenly implement in their classrooms. This year, I was given a scholarship to attend the conference for free, so I figured "why not". If I had known I would come home with strep throat, I might have reconsidered.
There was actually another conference happening the same time we had ours. It was a food and beverage conference and they mocked up the entrance to one of the exhibit halls with this faux storefront. It also included the car you see in the opening photo. It was meant to replicate the storefront of the Van Eerden Co. that used to be in Grand Rapids back in the day.
By the time we left on Friday, all of that had been cleared out to make way for a large women's conference that was happening. When visited our exhibit hall for the last time before heading home on Friday, there was a line of women snaking through the foyer waiting to get into their own event. I was going to take a photo, but large groups of people like that can get a little funny about people taking photos.
Every other year, the conference switches locations between Grand Rapids and Detroit, MI. I have attended the conference in both cities and I have to admit that I prefer it in Grand Rapids. As I have already stated though, Grand Rapids is one of my favorite larger cities in the state, so that probably isn't much of a surprise.
The architecture of DeVos Place where the event is held is pretty impressive with sweeping lines and lots of natural light coming in. On days like the one from these photos the effect can be quite dramatic.
This is a photo of the foyer I was talking about earlier. Just ahead to the right is the self serve registration stations for the conference and then beyond those is the exhibit hall. That's one of the main reasons a lot of people come to this conference. Being able to talk one on one with some of the vendors that we use on a daily basis is a huge draw.
In fact, I touched base with quite a few vendors and have some more meetings set up in the future thanks to this conference.
This photo really doesn't do it justice, but it kind of gives you an idea of just how large the exhibit hall is. In fact, behind me to the left is a full service food court in case you get hungry while you are browsing the vendors.
One thing which is a bummer about the vendor hall is the fact that we work for public school districts. Given that fact, vendors have very specific guidelines they need to adhere to when it comes to giving out free stuff. Back in the day you used to be able to clean up at places like this. These days, due to the $50 limit, the SWAG (stuff we all get) is reduced to pens, chapstick, and various other worthless items.
I did get a nice T-Shirt from one of the vendors I have a long standing relationship with though.
If you continue through the foyer, it takes you out to a nice riverside promenade and patio area where I believe they often hold outdoor events in the warmer months. Despite the sun being out in these photos, it was still quite chilly.
I'd never heard of William Alden Smith before, but he was a former US senator from Michigan. They have a statue of him on that back patio area.
Despite the size of DeVos Place, it still isn't big enough for the whole conference. The photo above shows one of the smaller conference rooms inside the facility. They actually have to split the thousands of educators between two separate buildings for the conference. Sessions are also held back at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel that I wrote a this post about.
Back at the Amway Grand, I got the chance to attend the administrators luncheon since I am technically an administrator at my school district. I felt a bit out of my element and I needed to draw from my "Pretty Woman" knowledge to remember which utensil to use when. I've never seen so many forks, knives, and spoons in one table setting before!
The food was really good, and overall it was a really nice time. I should have mentioned, DeVos Place also holds a large auditorium for guest speakers and in addition to that it is connected to an even larger performance hall and several other facilities. It's pretty impressive if you ever get the chance to visit I highly recommend it.
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or 