E-Learning events in Australia in 2013

2013 has well and truly arrived. That means it’s time to plan your next round of professional development events to attend.

If you’ll be down under over the next 12 months, may I draw your attention to the following…

ACE2013 – Australasian Computing Education Conference
• Where: Adelaide
• When: 29 January – 1 February 2013
• More info: ACE2013

Australian eLearning Congress
• Where: Melbourne
• When: 6-8 February 2013
• More info: Ark Group

Learning Cafe Unconference
• Where: Sydney
• When: 21 February 2013
• More info: Learning Cafe

E-Learning Summit
• Where: Melbourne
• When: 6-7 March 2013
• More info: Informa Network

iDesignX – Australian Instructional Design Conference
• Where: Melbourne
• When: 14 March 2013
• More info: LearnX Foundation

Simulation-Based Training
• Where: Sydney
• When: 19-20 March 2013
• More info: Liquid Learning

Enterprise Learning Innovation Summit
• Where: Sydney
• When: 19-20 March 2013
• More info: Liquid Learning

THETA – The Higher Education Technology Agenda
• Where: Hobart
• When: 7-10 April 2013
• More info: THETA

AITD National Conference
• Where: Melbourne
• When: 10-11 April 2013
• More info: AITD

iMoot 2013
• Where: Online (via Perth)
• When: 23-27 May 2013
• More info: iMoot

CeBIT Australia
• Where: Sydney
• When: 28-30 May 2013
• More info: CeBIT Australia

EduTECH 2013
• Where: Brisbane
• When: 3-5 June 2013
• More info: EduTECH

Amplify Festival
• Where: Sydney
• When: 3-7 June 2013
• More info: Amplify Festival

Australian Government Online Learning Toolkit
• Where: Canberra
• When: 19-20 June 2013
• More info: Ark Group

National Interactive Teaching and Learning Conference
• Where: Gold Coast
• When: 9-10 August 2013
• More info: IWBNet

LearnX Asia Pacific
• Where: Sydney
• When: 10-11 September 2013
• More info: LearnX

SimHealth 2013
• Where: Brisbane
• When: 10-13 September 2013
• More info: Australian Society for Simulation in Healthcare

SimTecT2013 – Asia-Pacific Simulation Training Conference
• Where: Brisbane
• When: 16-19 September 2013
• More info: Simulation Australia

conVerge13
• Where: TBA
• When: November 2013
• More info: eWorks

ASCILITE 2013
• Where: Sydney
• When: 1-4 December 2013
• More info: ASCILITE

This list is by no means exhaustive!

If you are aware of any other big e-learning events in sunny Oz, please let me know…

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Porn, weed and fireworks

Last weekend I was privileged to contribute to the Human Brochure – a world first initiative by Australian Capital Tourism to promote the nation’s capital city, Canberra.

When I told my friends that I was going down to Canberra for the weekend, they invariably asked: “Why..?”

You see, Canberra has a reputation among Australians as being boring. As the home of yawners such as Parliament and the High Court, Canberra is associated with porky politicians and pompous legal types.

Paradoxically, Canberra is also notorious well-known for its sale of X-rated erotica, its decriminalisation of cannabis, and its availability of pyrotechnics. Yep, our very own Amsterdam.

But like most places where people haven’t actually been, its reputation is about 20 years out of date.

And the Human Brochure set out to prove it.

The idea of the Human Brochure was to invite 250 social media-savvy people to Canberra; feed them; shelter them; and cart them around to several major tourist attractions. In return, we were asked to “spread the word online” about “all the great things” we got up to.

I joined the Arts & Culture stream. We were treated to national treasures such as the Australian War Memorial, the National Museum of Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive, the Australian National Botanic Gardens and Canberra Glassworks – not to mention lunch at Two Before Ten, dinner at Mezzalira and z’s at the Diamant Hotel.

That may sound excessive (and yes, we were spoiled out of our minds) but it all boils down to how much you value word-of-mouth marketing. The point of the exercise was for us to share our thoughts, opinions and experiences with our followers on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

Sure, Australian Capital Tourism could have pumped the money into yet another traditional advertising campaign, but we all know how they’ve been tracking. Instead, they tapped into the power of personal influence.

Here are a few of my tweets…

One of a fine collection of old fighter planes @AWMemorial #HumanBrochure twitpic.com/b7mylc

—
Ryan Tracey (@ryantracey) October 26, 2012

A real convict shirt from 1820 @Nat_Museum_Aust #HumanBrochure twitpic.com/b7o6nu

—
Ryan Tracey (@ryantracey) October 27, 2012

Walkman eat your heart out. Here's a portable record player from the '60s @NFSAonline #HumanBrochure twitpic.com/b7qnjf

—
Ryan Tracey (@ryantracey) October 27, 2012

The @ANBG contains a third of all known Australian plant species. #HumanBrochure twitpic.com/b806t3

—
Ryan Tracey (@ryantracey) October 28, 2012

Glass making demo at the Canberra Glassworks #HumanBrochure twitpic.com/b81aae

—
Ryan Tracey (@ryantracey) October 28, 2012

I was mindful not to sound like an over zealous salesman. I endeavoured to present only genuine thoughts and share only real experiences. Luckily that was easy to do because I thoroughly enjoyed just about everything!

I did provide some constructive feedback to the National Museum (it conspicuously omits Parramatta, one of Australia’s most important historical places), and I suggested the NFSA play more of its precious footage to visitors (they have since pointed me to their excellent YouTube channel).

But miniscule gripes aside, I expect the Human Brochure will prove to be a roaring success. Not only was the glory of Canberra amplified throughout the social media metasphere, but the initiative itself was the subject of interstate media attention.

Time will tell whether ROI is achieved. My prediction is that other tourism boards will copy the Human Brochure concept, and that will be the ultimate endorsement.

Regardless, I can say hand on heart, I had a wonderful time in Canberra.

Even without the porn, weed and fireworks.