ISTE 2010 Kickoff

This is the second time I have attend an ISTE conference, the first time it was called NECC and was in D.C. The first time I went for 1 day because that was all I could attend and loved it so much. This time I was here for the pre-conference and just attended the kick-off.

I have attend two workshops one on using Google Earth and Sketch Up, the other workshop focused on using clickers in the classroom. I gained information from both that I will use for presentation for my school and county. However, the kick-off event was definitely the most exciting thing so far. It was presented with such excitement (even without the iPAD give away) that I just want to go back to my school today start the school year.

I know the conference has just begun and there is still so much to learn in sessions but I do have one concern. During the kick-off event the keynote, Mario Armstrong, stated that "connecting to people" is how you can truly make this conference valuable. I am active on twitter (more reading than posting) but I am unsure how to connect to these people I follow on regular basis. I will be attending the tweetup in the social butterfly lounge at 4:30 but what do I go from there?