Behold, the Hall of Education! Go forth and learn!
OK, that sounds corny. No, I wouldn't use that introduction for . . well anything . . . but that's what I've christened an professional-geek oriented Idea I want to suggest for your conventions.
The Hall of Education (come on work with me here).
I'm a big booster of inviting educational institutions to conventions. You've heard my praise their presence in dealers rooms. You've seen me write about using them as panel resources. You're going to see me go on about them in the future, so get the heck used to it.
So I want to propose an idea – if there are Artist's Alleys, Dealers rooms, and so on? Why not have a Hall of Education (you know but with a better name – when you come up with one let me know). Why not have a place to put all the educational institutions you've invited?
I see it working like this:
- First, this would be a place to put all the educational institutions that are coming to recruit and promote. Sure they might compete, but that could be even more interesting. This gives them one place to set up, and one place for you to provide resources.
- Second, you want to have it adjacent to other areas so it gets traffic – say, on the way to a dealer's room, next to the Artist's Alley, or what have you. People might not go into an educational area on their own, so subtly encourage it.
- Third, you want to make sure that you make efforts to attract people – giveaways, contests, tours, debates, etc. Maybe do panels nearby. Draw people into this special area.
- Fourth, remember that your institutions may have limited time – they might only make it for one day. Having one central location makes it easier to use space.
The advantages?
- You have a one stop shop for educational information.
- You have a place where you can coordinate events to promote education.
- You can meet specific needs of educational groups.
- You'll impress the institutions in question by being so organized.
Go forth and open the Hall of Education at your convention!
. . . but please come up with a better name and tell me.