Carl Hooker
Event OrganizerCreate a unique festival of learning for your next event!
The traditional conference is a dinosaur. People attend events to learn, get inspired, and be motivated. If you are planning a large event and what some unique and innovative ways to engage your audience, bring in Carl. You won’t be disappointed!
My background in event organizing:
In 2012, I created the first ever “iPadpalooza” – a learning festival centered around the integration of iPads in education. That event was a massive success and created a movement of rethinking the traditional format of most conferences. The iPadpalooza events had thousands of attendees and had multiple spin-off events in various states and even Australia! In 2018, it was rebranded into “LearnFestATX”. While the name changed, the innovative ways to engage attendees did not. In addition to those events, I’ve worked with multiple companies on planning and MC’ing everything from multi-day conferences to evening events meant to entertain and engage a crowd.
My Beliefs Around Learning Events:
Learning is an active, team sport
Traditional “sit n’ get” trainings are centered around the idea that the trainer is the expert. In any learning event I’m a part of the experts are everyone in the room. You’ll often find team and individual challenges meant to drive attendees towards their own learning.
Having fun isn't a bad thing
We spend so much of our waking life working on putting out fires and sitting through mandatory meetings, attending a learning event shouldn’t feel like taking medicine. Live music, food trucks, competitions and more are just some of the ways I try make the audience feel important and involved.
Highly qualified & engaging speakers
Over the years, I’ve built up a large network of amazing and powerful speakers in just about every area of education. Having their voices at an event leave a lasting memory on all who get to experience their inspirational stories.
My Approach
I’ve attended and presented at multiple state, national, and global conferences from all over the world. Creating an experience for attendees is a lot harder than creating an app or a widget. You have to make an atmosphere that both excites and inspires those that attend. The best events I’ve ever been a part of include each of the following elements:
1. An opportunity to learn in a large group setting.
2. An opportunity to collaborate with a small group or team.
3. Time to reflect and participate as an individual.
Having these components along with an electric atmosphere make for memorable events that attendees will talk about what they learned for years to come.
Featured Publications On Learning Events
Articles & Videos
- It’s Time to Make Learning Fun Again…Even for Adults Edutopia
- 10 Demands for Summer Professional Learning Tech & Learning
- iPadpalooza Highlight Video – YouTube
- ISTE Ed Tech Poetry Slam Video – YouTube
Mobile Learning Mindset Book Series
- For Coaches – Tons of professional learning strategies that I employ in many of my sessions.
- For Teachers – Tools for teachers to use regardless of device or access to technology
- For District Leaders – Ideas for coordinating district vision and goals with professional learning.