OLC Accelerate is coming up in a little over a month, and this year’s Engagement Team has a lot up their sleeves! Read on to find out more about how we’ll build community centered on learning and fun – and what that means for you in October!

OLC Accelerate is designed as a catalyst: an experience that will help you level up your skills, explore solutions to challenges, and find inspiration in new ideas and connections. Each year, a team of volunteers comes together to design activities and experiences that compliment the rich conference program.

“We fundamentally believe that engagement is programming and that programming should be engaging,” explains Maddie Shellgren, OLC’s Director of Community Strategy and Engagement. This year’s team – led by co-Chairs Carmen Beck and Laura Geringer, as well as Maddie Shellgren – has designed a suite of complementary activities around learning, community, and fun.

“Whether you’re attending virtually, onsite, or both, our team has crafted a series of activities designed to help you connect with colleagues, explore new ideas, and have fun,” explains co-chair Carmen Beck, an instructional designer with Academic Partnerships. “Each attendee may need something slightly different from this conference and so we’ve designed a broad menu of engagement activities, from quiet activities that allow you to recharge to lively, collaborative games and hands-on professional development, and more.”

Which Engagement Activities are Right for Me?

Engagement sessions are listed right alongside other sessions in the conference program so you can plan your conference experience all in one place. Check out the seven engagement areas below to get a quick sense of which one(s) are most relevant to you.

• Field Guides: How is one welcomed and invited into community?
• Innovation Crews: Find your people and do meaningful things together.
• Speed Networking: How are we coming together to connect?
• Technology Test Kitchen: A playful exploration of how EdTech can support your work.
• Block Party: A culminating experience that models and highlights engagement.
• OLC Live: Amplifying attendee voices and programming, live just-in-time, during the event.
• Community Facilitators: How do we come together to discuss what matters to us?

“We want you to leave the conference with new ideas and new energy, because of how as well as what you learned,” says Laura Geringer, graphic facilitator + project manager and owner of PumpkinBerry Consulting. “We’re here to help you have a great experience: make meaningful connections, explore relevant insights and hands-on learning, and recharge and play.”

We can’t wait to see you virtually and onsite in October! Check out the Engagement webpage for more information and stay tuned for session planning maps (a.k.a engagement maps) coming soon!