Jane Massy said it best. Online Educa is the global crossroads. It's where you come for meaningful conversation about learning and technology. This year's event, the tenth to meet in Berlin, drew 1700 delegates from 66 countries.

While Online Educa has surpassed TechLearn in attendance and influence, it is a different sort of event entirely. The ambience is more refined; the relationships, more sincere. It's not just the free-flowing wine and tasty appetizers (and noxious cigarette fumes). When you talk with IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and friends, it's collegial. It's you and me, not sales rep and prospect. Vendors are more likely to talk about how we can work together than about what they can sell me. Aretha put it succinctly: it's R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

A couple of years back, I lobbied the conference organizers to move to a larger venue. The Intercontinental Hotel just about bursts at the seams when Online Educa shows up. I assumed that bigger was better. Not so. Management fears that making Online Educa larger might destroy its intimacy and feeling of community. Rather than bloat Berlin, ICWE is expanding into other markets.

Soon you'll be able to download the conference report from the OE site, so I won't detail the content of the conference here.

The day before OE began, 130 delegates from 28 countries took part in the first Middle East E-Learning Forum. Next year, the Middle East Forum will be expanded. This is analogous to Latin Americans flocking to the annual ASTD Conference. It's easier to accomplish things on neutral ground -- and to piggyback on the main event. I liked this year's Middle East Forum and doubtless will return in 2005.

Americans were in short supply several years back, when Online Educa was more heavily academic (now it's balanced with corporate) and when it fell on Thanksgiving (next year, OE will again take place after Thanksgiving.) If you're interested in the world learning situation, I encourage you to scribble these dates in your calendar: November 30 - December 2, 2005.

If enough North Americans are interested, we might host a warm-up symposium, a meeting of Emergent Learning Forum, or perhaps a few walking tours of Berlin in conjuction with OE in 2005. It's a festive time of year in Berlin. Drop me a line if you have ideas or suggestions.


Christmas lights on the Ku'damm


The gate


Ancillary benefit