» [Spring Workshop 2017] Summary Feedback

Feedback for the ETUG Spring Jam has come in and as is our practice we’d like to share the participant responses with everyone. 35 people (of 118) completed the survey to date. Here’s what they said:

Networking

This was a valuable networking opportunity.
54.3 % (19) Strongly Agree
40% (14) Agree
5.7% (2) Neither Agree nor Disagree

Value

This was good value for the registration fee.
42.9% (15) Strongly Agree
45.7% (16) Agree
11.4% (4) Neither Agree nor Disagree

Quality

This was a high quality learning/professional development experience for me.
25.7% (9) Strongly Agree
54.3% (19) Agree
17.1% (6) Neither Agree nor Disagree
2.9% Disagree (1)

Return

I would attend this in the future.
57.1% (20) Strongly Agree
28.6% (10) Agree
(1) Neither Agree nor Disagree
(2) Disagree

Satisfaction

Overall, I’m satisfied with my experience.
48.6% (17) Strongly Agree
40% (14) Agree
8.6% (3) Neither Agree nor Disagree

What factors influence your satisfaction rating?

The food was good, the program was full and the social events were fun and good for networking and community building. The keynote was exceptional, very engaging.
The people who attend each year and seeing the projects they are all working on.
Quality of sessions, session topics, keynote, venue
Well organized
The people
Fact that I felt very out of place and overwhelmed
Interactions, sessions, venue, timing
This was my first ETUG jam and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it was very friendly, hands-on and useful for my teaching practice.
As a faculty member, it might be nice to know what sessions are more geared towards educational design and what sessions are built for instruction. I found the rating system unclear in this regard.
I would have liked a more structured networking event or activity. It is challenging for me reach out to folks without an icebreaker because I’m quite new to this group. Everyone was very friendly, and I did get a chance to meet a lot of people, but structured time would have made that experience even better.
Organization of the event, Knowledge and expertise of the participants
The networking with so many people in the field was great and the opportunity to talk to them. The sessions were generally also well-done, with lots of new ideas. Having a 2 day conference is much better than a 1-day event as there’s more to take in and people to talk to – make the next ones 2 days as well. Kelowna was also a really nice place to have it! It feels like there’s a huge potential for growth in ETUG, and that it’s currently changing in that direction with more people from different fields (ie. instructors).
I love how etug is about people not vendors.
First time attending ETUG — was expecting a bit more emphasis on “technology”, but found there was more emphasis on instructional design? Many sessions involved participants splitting up into groups to discuss the session topic, which was a bit frustrating because (presumably) many participants were attending because they weren’t super familiar with the topic and wanted to learn more. Would’ve been more satisfied with more concrete, actionable, evidence-based sessions, fewer buzzwords.
some of speaking topics
It was nice to have the event in a location outside of the lower mainland. I also really enjoy the fact that there are no vendors or sale pitch type sessions.
Topics, speakers, schedule, venue
I felt some sessions were too participatory – important to learn from others sharing their projects and experiences rather than presenters just proposing questions or activities. Groups were often too diverse for conversations to be as productive as they could be.
The venue and types of workshops worked well and were useful.
Fantastic people, outstanding networking opportunities, great scheduling, friendly organizers and just all around a superb event! Kelowna was super nice to get out of the Vancouver area. Well done folks!
Some of the sessions were not organized well.
Because I was presenting, I had a different experience than a delegate, but I found it very rich both as a presenter and as an attendee
Networking, Overall content
Organization was great. Plenaries were excellent. Some talks were good, others weren’t exactly as advertised. But overall, enjoyed my first ETUG. Thank you!
The type of sessions that were presented play a huge part in my satisfaction rating, as well as the networking/social aspect of the conference. As a Senior Web Specialist (and not an ID or instructor), it would be nice if there were more tech development sessions or even creative exploratory sessions available.
It seems that when a large propportion of attendees travel to a location for ETUG we are more focused on the event with less distractions that compete for our attentions such as our work, families etc. I felt there was more socializing and camaraderie than in the Fall 2016 session which was in Vancouver. I’m not saying that all ETUG events should be in locations far away from the lower mainland because due to budgetary restraints many people can’t travel.
My role and experience level versus target audience
I found the keynote speaker to be excellent. For many of the other speakers’ sessions I felt like it was flipped classroom to the extreme…it seems like the whole session involved discussing issues in groups. However, I would have been interested to spend at least some time learning from the expertise and thoughts of the speaker.
Overall I would say it was a great conference for Instruction Designers; however, not overly helpful for faculty members (such as myself).
Consistent standard from all other ETUG workshops location, variety of topics and levels of knowledge building
The kind, inspiring, innovative colleagues who attend e-TUG help me grow as a teacher.
I value the opportunity to share, learn, and connect with colleagues from around the province.
Interesting sessions and a nice variety of them. I learned a great deal. I didn’t network as much as I could have but that’s on me for not trying as hard as I could have.
Looking for practical and inspiring idea
The whole dynamics the participants brought in

Other Comments

Loved going to the Okanagan!
Seemed like a lot of pedagogy for an ed tech event, maybe more practical sessions in the future, like the production work being done at BCIT, live streaming and word press themes at TRU, interactive PDFs at JIBC
All good. Thanks for this experience.
The food was lacking in quality (powdered eggs, fake bacon, white bread sandwiches), and a couple of times the food ran out. I think a modest increase in registration fees to get better food and an adequate amount would go a long way (say, $20-$50 extra).
Scattered after-events further away made them harder to get to, so have them closer, if possible. Add some interactive activities at the pub night to get people meeting and talking to each other before the conference (ie. trivia contest, team games).
The closing keynote could also be added or improved. Go out with a bang on a high note. This year’s closing plenary was lacking in focus, aspiration or excitement. Maybe try and get a higher profile speaker?”
The vegetarian offerings (breakfast and lunch) were kinda borderline unpleasant; the sort of stuff I’d expect from a cheap hotel. Not sure if this was a limitation of the campus catering offerings, but just a heads up if it’s held at UBC-O again and other selections are available. As a comparison, I’ve found the catering at SFU Harbour Centre to be pretty good.
Set topic scope a bit more larger – Thanks
Great conference – kudos to the organizers.
The food was very disappointing. Used to better at ETUG.
Great conference, Thank you.
My only criticism was the catering provided for the two day conference. I feel like there could be improvements with the quality of food provided for breakfast and lunch, and even the mid-day snacks. The social event Thursday night had fantastic food provided, it was just the breakfast and wraps/sandwiches that left a lot to be desired.
The only thing I wish I knew ahead of time was how far out of town the campus was. We may have arranged our travel plans differently knowing this. Having said that we all got around and the event at the Rotary Club seemed to be well attended. Thanks for all your hard work, I’d say it was a very successful and fun ETUG!
Well organized, nice variety of workshops, welcoming group – great work!
1) While I understand that Kelowna is a small town and things are not as available than in lower mainland, the evening socials were a bit far from Campus. It would have been nice to have something a bit closer. But I know in this town there was nothing much could be done. 2) Food: The food quality was less than at the other events in the lower mainland. On the other hand, they did not stock enough. If we came back late for lunch or was a breakfast late they ran out. Breakfast they ran out of the potatoes and yet had three trays of the “”fake”” eggs. Lunch on the first day most of the wraps and sandwiches were gone. In addition, the coffee was in the other building and people thought there was none at lunch 3) Scheduling: on day two there were two big ticket presentations on emerging technology AR/VR. I attended a more academic session and it was really poorly attending and I felt bad for the presenters so perhaps if there are some possibly popular sessions can be spread out so all sessions get decent attendance. 4) Closing Plenary: Due to travel, it was really poorly attended and this is usually case for the final anyways. However it would have been better to have a keynote/talk rather than a presentation which to be honest after talking to other attendees, no one really understood what they were talking about. The presentation would have been better as a session than plenary.
Overall job well done. Great to see everyone again and a great attendance from lower mainland folks!”
Maybe include a session for decision makers (those with the money) ex: Enriching the educational experience with technology on a budget. Get out of Vancouver again; maybe a 2-3 year rotation to reach out to smaller communities.
Label/ identify the food for those with aversions to certain ingredients.”
I can’t wait till the next e-TUG conference.
Every year, etug never fails to be fantastic. Thank you!