The Propeller

I was in Seattle at NAIS Thrive and nine days later on a flight to Austin for SXSWedu. Both gatherings were valuable. Both were about education. And yet, it felt like I was visiting different lands.

At NAIS Thrive everyone has something very clearly in common. In some ways, it’s like being at a well-curated dinner party with smart, interesting folks who will instantly find commonalities and plenty to discuss. SXSWedu is something a little different. The person next to you in a session might be a public school superintendent, an edtech founder, a policy wonk, a role play game designer, or someone building learning tools for career connected learning. It's louder, messier, and harder to navigate.

And that's where the value lives – in the friction and the mashup. Thinking about how a session topic or how a person sitting next to you connects to your work or to your life may not be as clear as quickly as it can be at NAIS, but I found immense value in learning from so many chance encounters.