It’s worth six hours in a tin can to trek to this event, and not just because of the lovely weather in San Diego or the trippy corridors at Chicago’s O’Hare airport (above). No other meeting has been as catalytic and inspiring for me as the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. The meeting this year promises to be the best yet. Lunch with Alan Kay? I’m there, friends.

This year’s UMW team once again includes faculty and staff from both campuses. I’m especially thrilled that Steve Greenlaw, one of last year’s team members, is a presenter at this year’s meeting–and he’s brought two recently graduated students with him as co-presenters. It’s been an honor and a privilege to see the way my colleagues have been energized by the ELI. That energy has already made a difference at UMW. I’m sure this year’s team will only add to that energy.

I reflect on what ELI has meant to me in terms of knowledge gained and shared; friendships and enthusiasms kindled; passion, inspiration, and vision nurtured. I’m humbled. At the 2004 meeting in San Diego, I came by myself to scout out the territory. This year as I checked into the conference hotel, the same one we used two years ago, I felt an enormous sense of gratitude as I thought about how quickly my initial solitude was transformed into community at that first meeting. In the two years since then, that community has grown deeper, more extensive, and in truth more precious to me than I ever could have imagined. I talk a lot on this blog about what I call “real school.” ELI keeps that vision alive for me. There’s no end to wondering.

Kickoff for me is this afternoon: I’m in an e-portfolio pre-conference workshop. Then it’s newcomer orientation, the welcome reception, and another luminous San Diego evening. Bring it on!