OLC Innovate 2020 - Conference Highlights

A Message from the Conference Co-Chairs: 

Move. Switch. Alter. Pivot. Transition. Adapt. Modify. Rethink. Change. Transform.

It’s that last word, transform, that sums up OLC Innovate 2020, OLC’s first fully all-virtual conference, held from June 15-26. 

Transform is the best way to describe what happened when the conference team and the OLC staff took a “mostly” face to face conference and turned it on its head to a fully online, two-week long, nearly 300 session-strong virtual conference with over 5,500 attendees.  No small feat, the conference surpassed all expectations and may have redefined how OLC approaches some of its conference events in the future, and particularly its virtual attendance opportunities. 

Here are some of our favorite moments and events:

• The creative ways our session presenters found to virtually engage attendees
• Happy Happy Hour
• Community College and HBCU Summits
• The Field Guide Program Power Hours and Slack Channel engagement
• Virtual Game Night
• Keynote speakers Maha Bali and Martin Waller
• The tunes of Rick Franklin throughout the different conference activities
• The Innovation Studio’s redesigned virtual presence
• OLC Live interviews and sessions that added a new level of engagement and connection for conference attendees
• The virtual expo hall!
• Clark Shah Nelson’s daily meditation sessions, coupled with the availability of a virtual serenity lounge
• The hundreds of volunteers and the amazing OLC staff for their work as virtual room hosts and session chairs 

We are grateful for your time and energy throughout the virtual conference and hope this year’s fully virtual conference showed we can build bridges even if we aren’t together in person. We heard over and over from first-time attendees that they had never been able to join us for our in-person conference and how grateful they were to participate. A special thanks to all of those who joined us for the first time, we hope that you felt embraced by the OLC community. 

We invite you to continue to engage with the OLC, the conference committee, and the attendees and presenters you connected with. We look forward to seeing you in Denver next spring for Innovate 2021!

Wishing you all the best,

Tina Rettler-Pagel	Janet Smith

Congratulations to these lucky winners and thank you to our generous sponsors!

Pre-Conference Workshop Happy Half Hour – Trivia $25 OLC Gift Card Winner:

• Whitney Zimmerman, Oregon State University

Community College Summit Happy Half Hour – Kahoot! Trivia $25 OLC Gift Card Winner:

• Carolyn Burbee, Central Methodist University

Session Evaluation $25 Amazon Gift Card Winners:

• Kekeli Nuviadenu, Bethune-Cookman University
• Hillary Blevins, Walden University
• Maryasha Katz, Palo Alto University
• Theresa Gaffney, Marymount University
• Melanie Howard, Fresno Pacific University

Evening Event: Musical Bingo Winners:

Name	University	Prize
Barbara Taylor Dominique Svarc Katie Schuster Becky Benkert Barb Sperling Brittni Racek Laura Harste Alana Baird	California State University – San Marcos Harper College OLC College of DuPage California State University – Chancellor’s Office Oregon State University Berkeley College-Woodland Park Appalachian State University	Starbucks – $10 Itunes – $10 Panera – $10 Cold Stone Creamery – $10 Barnes & Noble – $10 Barnes & Noble – $10 $25 Amazon $25 Amazon

 

Sponsor Scavenger Hunt Winners:

Name	University	Sponsor	Prize
Laura Sheehy Kim Vandervort Brahim Oulbeid Christy Heid Jung Oh Stephanie DeCicco Michelle Watson	The University of Texas at San Antonio Fullerton College University of Massachusetts-Amherst Strayer University-District of Columbia Kansas State University The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Washburn University	GoReact ProctorU D2L Mediasite Formstack Innovative Educators HHMI BioInteractive	Apple Air Pods $100 Amazon Gift Card D2L Swag Pack Gift Card Formstack Swag Basket IE webinar registration BioInteractive Prize Pack

Virtual Speed Networking Lounge: You Don’t Know Jack & Innovation Studio Session Winners:

Name	University	Prize
Ilse Wolf Diana Ruggiero Christine Carnes Becky Benker Beth Case Laura Harste Elissa Routh	The NROC Project University of Memphis Central Methodist University College of DuPage University of Louisville Berkeley College Central Methodist University	Panera – $10 Panera – $10 Panera – $10 Panera – $10 OLC Swag bag OLC – $25 OLC – $25

Closing Event Winner:

Name	University	Prize
Marc Lehmann	Haywood Community College	Unlimited Virtual Package for OLC Accelerate 2020

#IspyOLC Game Winners:

Prize	Winner	Sponsor
$25 Amazon Gift Card	Amy Pate	OLC
$25 Amazon Gift Card	Rolando Mendez	OLC
$50 Amazon Gift Card	Loretta Driskel	OLC
$50 Amazon Gift Card	Beth Case	MERLOT

 

Social Media Contest Winners:

Prize	Winner	Sponsor
$25 OLC Gift Card	Adam Croom	OLC
$25 OLC Gift Card	Wendy Torres	OLC
$25 OLC Gift Card	Elizabeth Barrow	OLC
$25 OLC Gift Card	S. Witherspoon, PhD	OLC
$25 OLC Gift Card	Dr. Rebecca Quintana	OLC
$25 Amazon Gift Card	Jasmina Najjar	OLC

Take a look at photos, videos, inspiring quotes, and more that were shared before, during, and after the conference by following the #OLCInnovate hashtag!

View Photo Gallery

Listen to OLC Live! Sessions & Maha Bali Keynote Address

During OLC Live daily sessions, select presenters and a variety of personalities from the OLC community shared colorful conversations. If you missed them live, you can still enjoy the recorded sessions. Of special note, check out these recordings: 

• Interview with Keynoter Maha Bali 
• Interview with Keynoter Martin Weller
• Keynote: Maha Bali – Centering A Critical Curriculum Of Care During Crises. 

 

“In a time when so many of us are forcibly engaged in online education, it was great to hear from those who specialize in – and enjoy! – different aspects of online learning and brand practices. The volunteers were positive and helpful, the topics were relevant and current, the presenters were knowledgeable and personable. Attending virtually was almost entirely painless and the entire program was well executed! It was great and I will continue to share my experiences so more people can collaborate with OLC! Thank you!”
Tia Swain
Administrative Assistant, Technical Communications
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis

 

“This was my first OLC conference and I was impressed by the breadth of topics available to attend. We purchased unlimited access so our entire Academic Affairs team could attend and from what I’ve heard so far, everyone got a lot out of attending. We are considering an institutional membership now as well to take advantage of other OLC offerings. We will certainly be attending future conferences offered by OLC!”
David Mannaioni
Dean of Academic Programs
College for Financial Planning

 

“I was disappointed that we had to move to a virtual format. However, after the wonderful and uplifting experiences and the ease of navigating the sessions, it was an amazing experience!”
Arletha McSwain, PhD
HR Senior Training Specialist-Educational Technology
Bethune Cookman University

 

“This conference was incredible – one of the best I’ve attended. It re-invigorated my love of online education and provided great ideas and inspiration I immediately implemented in my classroom.”
Cyndi Briggs, PhD
Core Faculty Member
Walden University

 

“What an incredible two weeks of opportunity to participate with more than 5,000 talented colleagues in hundreds of conference, workshop, discovery, and conversation sessions. The ability to engage ‘live’ and later review sessions of particular interest – or those missed – contributed to an incredibly worthwhile professional opportunity.”
Nancy Chapko
Instructional Design Strategist
Gateway Technical College

 

“This whole conference blew my mind. I was so impressed by how much work went into making my experience from afar seamless. The wealth of information is priceless. I can’t wait to dig back in and watch some of the sessions that I missed.”
Maryasha Katz
LCSW
Palo Alto University

 

“[OLC Innovate 2020] offered diversity in topics, speakers, presentations, and attendees. Connecting people in a time of distance and crisis. Thank you OLC for the opportunity to connect, share, and promote innovative educational solutions, research, and technologies.”
Araz Markosian
Librarian
American University of Armenia

 

“I had a great experience! I learned a lot and think you all did a good job creating an engaging virtual experience. The presenters in the sessions I attended did a good job using breakout rooms to make the sessions interactive. I wish I could have attended more sessions; during the second week I was too busy. Thankfully the sessions are recorded so I can watch sessions I missed later.”
Alana Baird
Lecturer
Appalachian State University

 

“The workshops provide a world of resources, existing as well as innovative ideas to assist faculty in becoming better educators. The experiences and genuine collaboration from the presenters made the OLC conference truly a great experience.”
Nisreen Hamarshah, M.S.
Lecturer in Biology
Indiana University Kokomo

 

“OLC Innovate is such an impactful and well-run conference. The fact that OLC could pivot the entire conference to fully online was not only impressive but extremely advantageous for our institution: Ten times as many of our faculty attended than would have been able to F2F.”
Sharon Gray
Director of Instructional Technology
Augustana University

Thank You, OLC Innovate Volunteers!

You may have noticed that in addition to our presenters, each session had a Zoom room manager and volunteer session chair helping manage this huge program. A special thanks to our session chair team!

Additionally, beyond the OLC and MERLOT staffs, there was a team of reviewers, track chairs, engagement, program and conference chairs, steering committee, Field Guides, Innovation Studio staff, etc. helping plan and implement the various aspects of the conference.  

Special thanks to the Innovate 2020 team, who ended up volunteering for an additional 3 months when the conference pivoted to an all-virtual event. If you are interested in becoming more involved, become part of our volunteer team.

“I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to volunteer as session chair during the Innovate conference. I also wanted to share faculty have provided very positive feedback on the conference and several have asked about the Accelerate conference virtual attendance. I look forward to future volunteer opportunities with OLC.”

Penny Kuckkahn
Director of Instructional Effectiveness and Flexible Learning
Nicolet Area Technical College