NECC 2009, Day 1 was a day for getting oriented. We are staying at the Capitol Hilton on the corner of 16th and K in Washington, DC. When we got here, it was apparent that something more high-powered than educators interested in technology was happening at the hotel. Lots of suits milling around carrying expensive looking portfolios and talking on their cell phones. Turns out the Democratic National Committee i
s meeting in our hotel, too as you can see by the sign. If we catch any of them unaware, we have a few things to say to them about staking out a real American agenda, creating a substantive educational agenda, re-working NCLB, strengthening IDEA, investing in infrastructure and technology, keeping the Obama promises about gay rights, greening, health care, and so forth as well as keeping their collective noses out of everybody else's business, their fingers out of the till, their naughty parts carefully zipped, shuttered, and/or dormant, and their gossipy parts shut. But I digress. If I lay eyes on Tim Kaine, I'll let you know.
NECC 2009 is being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (WWCC) about nine blocks away at 7th and L. We took the conference shuttle from the hotel to the WWCC to pick up registration materials and be among the first visitors to ISTE Central. 
We did the Lashley thing--bought five books so we can talk like we know what we are doing and the obligatory conference shirt so we could look like we belong here. We reconnoitered the Convention Center to get ready for the big day tomorrow. The shuttle driver had been evry good about showing us the route and the shortcuts back to the hotel, and so we decided to walk back and stop for lunch along the way. Good decision. We saw some interesting stuff.
This is a sculpture that celebrates Samuel Gompers, the American labor organizer and founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). As it happens, I remember reading a biography of Gompers in the fourth grade. The sculpture is located at 11th and Massachusetts, nearby (in an incongruous twist) to the headquarters of the Cato Institute which we did not see a sign for and wouldn't have taken a picture of anyway.
A little further up L, we came upon a statue of one of the forefathers of traditionalist conservativism, Edmund Burke.
Burke is perhaps best known for being the person to whom the phrase "the wisdom of our ancestors" has been attributed. In another deja vu sort of experience, happening upon Burke reminded me of my political theory mentor at WVU, Jim Whisker, who was an avid conservative and under whose guidance I read Burke. That sent me off on a Google hunt for Dr. Whisker who has apparently retired. My favorite nugget though is one in which a colleague said of Jim Whisker, "Jim even voted with his right hand."
There were two other points of interest along the walk back to the hotel. One was something we don't see very much anymore--an elementary school more than one story high. 
This is Strong John Thomson Elementary School, which is at 1200 L Street.
The second point of interest was the office of the world's greatest newspaper, the Washington Post. Below is a picture of me taking a picture of the sign on the building.
And just in case you think the editors of the Post don't understand
that news in Washington is about politics, check out the statuary in
front of the building.
Well, that's about it for the travelogue for the first day. More about the technology in the next Carlitude post.
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