[Grassroots-l] Squeakfests were incredible (see for yourself)

[Timothy Falconer]

As I write this, I'm flying home from Squeakfest USA.  Sitting here,  
staring at my laptop, I'm completely unable to find appropriate words  
to describe the magic and friendship of the last few weeks.  So many  
passionate talks, so many stirring examples, so many last minute  
details and surprises.

I'm tired.  That much is clear.  Blame it on three conferences in four  
weeks and roughly fifteen thousand miles of travel in between.  Were  
it not for my many Squeaker traveling companions, I'd have curled up  
to hibernate long ago.  Truly the best part of the last month has been  
the company I've kept: Rita, Yoshiki, Marta, Kim, Scott, Alex, Bert,  
Ted, Bill, Randy, both Kathleens, Avigail, and Milan. Sharing the  
adventure with people of such talent and humor has truly been an  
embarrassment of riches.

As for the presentations, workshops, and hallway talks, there's just  
too much to say.  With dozens of sessions between the two Squeakfests,  
my mind's a blur with memories of enthusiasm and insight, along with  
strengthened motivation to support and expand our vibrant Etoys  
community.

Rather than summarize my recollections, I'll instead point you to the  
video on the Squeakland website (http://squeakland.org/resources/audioVisual/#cat865 
).  Scroll down to Squeakfest Brasil and Squeakfest USA.  We managed  
to capture nearly all of Squeakfest USA on our live webcast feed,  
though we lost the first half of the presentation from South Korea.   
Also, the final roundtable wasn't posted at the request of one of the  
participants. My apologies for the audio problems on the first  
morning.  If you start at the beginning, know that the sound does get  
better.  Also, if the video screen is at times too hard to read, the  
blame rests with the web stream, which reduced quality to improve  
bandwidth.  We will be posting better video from both events in the  
future, particularly of the children's workshop, so stay tuned.

I'd like to give a special thanks to Rita Freudenberg, our education  
director, who earned the "most traveled" award for her trips from  
Germany to both Brazil and Los Angeles.  When you total her air  
distance, she flew more than 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles), which  
means she effectively circled the globe for Squeakland in the last  
month.  Her insight, passion, and hard work in the last eight months  
were instrumental in both Squeakfests.  As with her husband Bert, her  
continuing efforts on behalf of the Etoys community are unparalleled.   
Also a big thanks to Marta, Bruno, Kim, and Kathryn for tending to the  
many details of both conferences.  Your hard work really showed.    
Most of all, I'd like to thank everyone at Viewpoints Research  
Institute for their time and talent in the last year.  Your guidance  
has greatly helped Squeakland Foundation as we take and carry the  
Etoys torch into the future.

Take care,
Timothy


Videos of both Squeakfests:
http://squeakland.org/resources/audioVisual/#cat865
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