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Monday, October 26, 2009

Changes in Knowledge Work and Implications for Workplace Learning – The Keynote That Wasn't

I was supposed to be in Vancouver right now for the eLearn Conference.  The conference has a diverse attendee list and I was very much looking forward to my keynote presentation: Changes in Knowledge Work and Implications for Workplace Learning.

Unfortunately, some very sad news in my family as my wife's father, a man beloved by everyone who met him, passed away on Thursday.  So, I won't be able to go and make my keynote presentation.  I do want to thank the conference organizer, Gary Marks, for being incredibly understanding.  And if you've been a long-time reader, you know that I'm not particularly adept at things like What to Say When a Colleagues' Family Member Dies.  So, I'm not sure what to say or do in this situation either.

But I had to do something because I had scheduled a series of tweets to coincide with my keynote presentation time slot.  This is something I did before and it was both great as a planning tool and received great feedback from the audience (see Twitter Conference Ideas).  So what do I do with the tweets?

At first, I just planned to delete the tweets, but it seemed like a waste of the time I had spent.  But I also realized that if I didn't do anything then right during the replacement keynote, I would be sending out competing tweets – which would compound the problem I created for the conference.

So, with my mind admittedly operating at less than full capacity this Sunday morning, I decided to just choose a particular time on Monday and have the tweets come out at that point.  So, Monday, Oct. 26 at 12:30PM Pacific Time, all the tweets will fire off.  Each points to content that's relevant to what I'd be talking about during the presentation.  No idea if they will make sense without the context of the presentation.

I would very much welcome any thoughts or feedback on the content that is being referenced and the general themes.  Feel free to do it via twitter or comments or whatever is easiest for you.

I'll try later in the week to pull together any feedback and some more thoughts.

7 comments:

Harold Jarche said...

I'm very sorry to hear about your, and your wife's, great loss.

Thanks for sharing what you started and I look forward to watching and learning from the flow.

All the best;
Harold

Gary Wise said...

Sorry for your loss and for your wife and family, Tony. Not sure if there really are words that can fill such empty places left in the hearts of those left behind.

You are where you need to be though...and methinks there is another keynote or three in your future anyway. Take some time and embrace the family. We'll be here when you return!
G.

Bob Brogan said...

Tony,

My condolensces to your wife and family. Priorities at home always take precedence.

Look forward to your next communications.

Bob

Hilarie Sellers said...

Tony, I'm very sorry for you and your family.. I wish you all the best and hope you can deal with this together as a family with love and time... that's really all we can hope for.

Talk to you soon, take care,
Hilarie

test said...

Being close to your loved ones is important. Times like this reminds us all of what is truly important.

Tony Karrer said...

Harold, Gary, Bob, Hilarie and Ray - thanks for your condolences. Been a tough couple of days and I appreciate the kind words.

Praxis I tests said...

Sorry to hear about your father in law, but it is the ultimate where we are helpless. New technologies are widely used by young people for informal social interaction, video game-playing and giving voice to their views. Incorporation of these practices into the classroom has been fairly slow, despite their manifest potential for promoting agency and civic engagement.