Behind the scenes at #ISTE12

My two good buddies, who have to remain anonymous, and I decided when we all met on Friday to take a walk around to familiarize ourselves with the convention site and surrounding area. When we climbed the stairs (great for workouts!) we saw them setting up for ISTE. I thought I saw someone I knew in the hall but all the doors were locked.  However, we still managed to get in. On our way out of the San Diego Convention Center (SDCC) we were chased by a belligerent guard who kept yelling “How did you get in?”  All we did was walk the corridor to the other side and were just leaving when the guard tried to accost us.  It reminded me of the time I spent on guard duty in advanced training in the Army guarding the stockade with a loaded weapon in the middle of the night. 

On Sunday I was determined to meet my good Twitter friend Deborah Mersino who I had helped start the wonderful global #gtchat.  She did an outstanding job moderating that chat but left to assume a great position with ISTE.  The Press Room was locked at that time but the next room was open so I decided to wander in.  Little did I know it was the VIP Lounge.  I approached a gentleman who was extremely nice.  It turns out he was Don Knezek  the CEO of ISTE.  He took me to the main ISTE office and had them call for Deborah who was busy prepping one of the keynote addressees. 

After that experience I saw that there was a gathering on the rooftop and I managed to walk by a roped in area to get in.  After a short time as the event seemed to be wrapping up I left and was handed the book Goodnight iPad and thanked for coming.

My official ISTE Photo Shoot and Video sessions were for Monday morning.  I felt like a rock star as I met these and other luminaries there: Julie Lindsay, Vicky Davis & Holly Jobe.  Sure was a big change from taking photos at a photo booth!  My #sschat buddies will be proud of me as I chose to be photographed with a globe and the flags of countries.  I cannot wait to see those pictures.  I also enjoyed being interviewed as well.   

On Tuesday after I got a call from one of my really good Twitter friends that another of my great PLN members had lost his glasses. I immediately went on the hunt for them.  I had to jog back to the room where the session he was at was held.  Now, if you were at ISTE you know the convention center is seven blocks long.  Luckily I keep in good shape thanks to my Twitter Exercise Motivation Team (#temt) buddies.  I checked the area outside the room and peeked in as another session was taking place.  Needless to say someone in the room recognized me.  But, no glasses could be found.  Down the hall I spotted a security guard who went through a door.  I followed him but he evaded me.  This was really behind the scenes.  I did finally spot someone else and explained that I was looking for lost eye glasses.  He directed me to a huge freight elevator.  The first gate rose and then the upper gate came down and I descended into the depths of the convention center.  When I got out I almost got run over by a waiter with his cart.  I came across the laundry room and was directed to the security office.  The guard told me that the lost and found was in the Sails Pavilion.  He called them and yes they had the glasses but the woman said she was leaving in ten minutes.  The security guard told me I had to be escorted upstairs.  They took their time but finally a guard came out and took me to another freight elevator.  When the gates closed on the car nothing happened.  The elevator was stuck and the buttons did not work for a while.  Finally we got moving but the upper floor button did not work.  I rushed up a flight of stairs and found that I could not exit as the door had a code on it.  I yelled down and the security guard came upstairs to let me in. I literally ran to the Sails Pavilion.  It must have been quite a scene as I had my Cybrary Man cape on and I was running to the booth.  I could see that the lost and found person was laughing at this crazy scene.  She handed me the glasses after she calmed down and I was off to return them.

 Oh! Tell the security guards that we got into the convention center by pressing the handicap button!