“When you stop growing, you stop being” | Badge Summit Preview with Meenoo Rami
2019 Badge Summit is June 22nd at Temple University in Philadephia
Conference organizers are obsessed with offering attendees powerful learning and amazing experiences. The choice of keynote speaker is an important decision because of the out-sized impact they will have on both.
The search can be arduous and the rejected invitations humbling. These did not come into play in the case of the 2019 Badge Summit keynote speaker however, as Meenoo Rami approached me with an unsolicited offer to bring her out-sized impact to our conference.
I pretty much died right then.
If you’ve been following Meenoo on Twitter, read her book Thrive, or had a conversation with her, you know why I’m so excited for her Badge Summit keynote. She has a special way of showing up and touching everyone around her.
I caught up with Meenoo to ask about her motivations and to learn more about what we can expect from her talk.
In my version of the movie, dark clouds parted, ominous background music gave way to a harmonious choir that sounded exactly like the light beam looked as it struck the ground in front of me and you suddenly appeared with an invitation for me to accept you as the keynote speaker of this year’s Badge Summit. What is your version of how we got here?
I was lucky enough to get a last minute invite to last year’s badge summit via Participate learning, I was so moved by the keynote and the entire day’s experience that I wanted to return and perhaps have an opportunity to share my own thoughts on how we define and measure learning would be an interesting challenge to take on.
You’re well-known for your advocacy of Growth Mindset and your promotion of Lifelong Learning. How do you see those important themes tying in with digital badges and credentials?
I think the way we think of learning is already changing, in my current role at Microsoft, I am constantly learning about new approaches, new business strategies, and new execution levers to reach our goals. We betray our students and educators if we don’t embrace the ethos of lifelong learning that is required in all of us. When you stop growing, you stop being.
What takeaways and impacts do you hope to see for Badge Summit attendees?
I hope that this summit becomes the place to start thoughtful conversations at ISTE, I hope it draws people from differing experiences and opinions together so that we can tackle ideas such as how do we define and recognize learning for all.
Your experience teaching in the classroom was in Philadelphia. Is it still special when you have the opportunity to come back to a place that was home in order to share your message?
Yes, absolutely, I actually got my teaching cert and Master’s from Temple University so it is a special honor for me to return to the same campus for this keynote. I love many cities but because I taught students of Philly, it will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you again for this invite and I am so excited to kick this summit off.
Registration for the 2019 Badge Summit is live at bit.ly.badgesummit, where you can also get more information about the conference and see content from previous years. If you’ve got awesome work to share, please do click on the Present tab and lets us know about it so we can give you space to amplify how you too are changing the world!
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