Day 15 - Vancouver BC

first day of conference - academic blah blah ...

Got off to a good start by going running in the woods and managing not to get lost! I think my inner compass is now clicking in, but I am still confused about the traffic direction and the way in which water swirls down the. Think I'll make a movie clip to show you what I mean.

Full-on into conference mode today. Tony Bates gave the opening keynote to a well-attended plenary - there are over 450 delegates here. They have converted the student gymnasium which is about 3 basket ball courts for the big sessions. I had heard Tony before and unfortunatley he didn't really say anything new - but is was good to hear a clear, well-integrated picture of the issues in e-learning. Went to another session afterwards on the scholarship of teaching, and then also had a good meeting at lunch with Brian Lamb who I mentioned in yesterday's blog. So was able to combine the conference with more research (good you Stan!). Then took the afternoon off to finalise my presentation for tomorrow. Had to find a printer to get paper versions of handouts etc - it was all so hectic before I left that I didn't get this part together!

The conference banquet was a bit of a disappointment - we had to buy our own drinks again! You would think that at $500 per head registration fee they could have put a few bottles of wine on each table (450 x $500 - you do the math!). Anyway it kind of fizzled out early with only the conference organisers partying (perhaps they had the free wine?).

Did some research on where to watch the All Blacks vs England game tomorrow night - quite a challenge in North America! Although there is rugby here its not carried on the main TV channels, but apparently there are some sports bars that might show it (12 midnight Friday for 7pm kickoff in NZ on Saturday).

Posted: Thu - June 12, 2003 at 12:59 PM Stan's Travel Blog