A Look Back at 40 Years of HECC

• Chantell

Welcome everyone to today’s episode of the K-12 Tech Podcast. I’m so excited to have here with me today my friend Brad Hagg. Brad has been a technology director here in Indiana at two different districts. He’s also been a long time HECC board member and he’s now at the Indiana Department of Education. And he has been doing a lot of research leading up to the 40th anniversary of HECC. And as a longtime board member, has some insider info. So we’re excited to hear all about the history of HECC and what to expect this year for the celebration. So, Brad, according to the HECC website, in 1986, a few people sat down on a bench at an ICE conference and decided that Indiana needed something that did not exist yet. So take us back there to those stories you’ve heard from those folks who started it up in 1986.

• Brad

Yeah, absolutely. The big conference back in 1986 was definitely the ICE conference. It was actually held at the Hoosier Dome and the Indiana Convention Center that was attached to the Hoosier Dome. And then we’re talking like 2,000 people would come every year at the dawn of technology and education. I mean, we were back to, you know, hitting Atari computers and Apple early computers on recess and just doing some really early things. The internet was a pipe dream of some people, but wasn’t reality yet. Just so many cool early days. And what happened was a bunch of folks showed up at the ICE conference for a session that was held by Tom Bauer, and Tom was a system admin for a school district. And this whole room where people that had been hired by their school districts to start putting into place technology and start to vision how it could be used for learning. And they didn’t have a clue what they were doing, and they were frustrated. They were like, there is nobody we can turn to for help. This is crazy. So the room was packed and they were all animated like, because they were so frustrated. So, by the end of that meeting, like a core group of people decided that this thing has a lot of legs, and we should probably try to do something about it specifically, and not just… You know, ICE was focused more on the teaching things and putting it in place in the classroom, but they really wanted kind of a special interest group that would support the admin side of it. So they formed their little core group. They actually passed the hat and took up a few dollars, because the only way to stay in contact with each other at that time was through mailings and newsletters, and they knew they were going to have postage costs and printing costs. So they gathered some funds and began the application process with ICE to establish that group. And so HECC began in 1986, going into 1987 as a special interest group of ICE back in that day. And they had an advisory group to help form it.

• Chantell

That’s such an awesome story. So, like, really, there was a problem of practice. Someone gave a session, was given a space to give the session, and then something still exists 40 years later and still exists to solve that problem. That’s such a great story. Brad, I gave you a little intro at the beginning about who you are, what you do, and how long you’ve served on the HECC board. But give us the full rundown. How long have you been in education technology and involved with HECC?

• Brad

Sure. My first job in educational technology was December of 1998. And I was at Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, as a tech director. And I was at Tippy Valley for 14 years and then went to Warsaw for another eight and a half, nine years. So about 23 years there. And then in 2021 I went to the Department of Education. So I’ve been there about five now. So altogether, I guess I’m about 28 years in. And of those years when I was both, since I’ve been back at the Department of Education, and when I was at those school districts, I served on the HECC board. I have served so far on the HECC board 15 out of their 40 years. So I was president in 2012 and my first term started in 2010 on the HECC board. Yeah. So it was a really good run.

• Chantell

Yeah. I would venture to guess that you’re one of the longest serving board members right now, and so that’s maybe why you were tasked with coming up with all the history.

• Brad

Yeah, I am the, if you count my DO years as DOE rep. I’m definitely the longest serving current HECC board member.

• Chantell

Awesome. And again, problem of practice still exists today. They didn’t know what they were doing. They needed guidance and they needed peers. They needed someone to talk to so they weren’t all reinventing the wheel. So you mentioned like who gave the session and then what kept the momentum going, do you think from all your research in those early years? Who deserves credit that nobody remembers?

• Brad

Yeah. Well, Tom definitely deserves credit. He was the lightning rod and he was doing the session and was willing to really kind of carry the water for this. Lee Wiggam joined, was on the park bench too. And was a key part of that early discussion. B.J. Eib. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of her, but she was an early pioneer in educational technology in Indiana. She ran a program called the LTTC, which I think was Leadership Training for Technology Coordinators. She was an employee of IU. Their education department. And she ran it out of there. And you’d actually go down and do a couple days of professional development about how to lead technology in a district. And it was really ahead of its time. And a great program. She was part of their early group as well, and really pushed for a lot of things. And then, Judy Hauth was another person that was there a lot early. And, there was a group of about another ten that came alongside pretty quickly. I think Dennis Bagley probably would be number five. And then, he was from around Kokomo, was the tech director from that area. And it just expanded out from there. There was a big group then, that just continued to expand. But Judy stayed around for a lot of local… A lot of the initial year board services for a few terms. And then it kind of transitioned to different board members as they got other folks involved and passed the torch. I know by like 1996, Don Chase was serving as a board member. And Don… I would call Don the original HECC historian. Don collected a lot of things on paper and digitally. And so we definitely want to give credit to Don. And I know that Dennis has really supported that process as well. So both of them have really done a lot of work, and I stand on their shoulders.

• Chantell

Awesome. So good to hear about like how it was able to continue and people were willing to step in and be part of the solution and to keep it going. So you mentioned that HECC originally started as a special interest group through ICE. So was that a strategy on purpose to be a special interest group instead of like, setting out to be your own group? Or what did that look like? And what did the first HECC gathering look like?

• Brad

Yeah. Well, ICE was so massive at the time that I don’t even think they had any clue of what it could grow to. Like, I think to them they were just looking for some recognition and looking for a framework that they could start having those collaborations and meetings. And ICE, since they already were incorporated and they already had 501 C3. I mean, they were just an automatic natural fit for them to kind of try to form underneath it and ICE had established the framework of having a special interest group, but I don’t think they’d ever have established one. I think the HECC application was the first case of somebody asking to be a special interest group. And I think even in those initial years, there were some questions about some of the people that were involved with ICE of, hey, is this something we should really do? Like, could this possibly create some competition? Is this, you know, good for us as an organization? And so it did take them a long time to review that application and actually approve it. I think it took like six months for them to give formal approval to establish it. But they did. And it gave HECC an opportunity to then to use their like tax exempt number. You know, they held all the funds for HECC and supported them in the early days and really gave them a stable place to get set up and going.

• Chantell

Yeah, so that makes sense. It gave them like some, some legs to stand on as they stood it up. And it was a little more informal that way. I also can understand, you know, there are a lot of states out there… Listeners might be thinking, well, we just have one organization that kind of handles that more classroom and instructionally focused things. And then the more network technician and director. A lot of states have a one stop shop and Indiana is a little unique in that we have separate organizations for each of these things, and we all work together.

• Brad

I’ve always appreciated it since I’ve been in educational technology. I really love all… I categorize it really in the three primary groups, which are, HECC is kind of the generalist and and more focused on kind of the techies overall. But caters to a lot of folks just because of the size that the conference has become. But I like the INCE is they’re focusing on teachers and how technology works in the classroom. And I love that the Indiana CTO Council is focused on leadership and growth of the primary leader in each district and the future leaders. And I love that each of them has their niche. And I think Indiana’s stronger because of it.

• Chantell

Yeah, I think we definitely support one another well, and even though there’s not really competition, but there’s a lot of, like, passing back and forth, right? Like, you come have a room in our conference because we want to make sure that your voice is heard as well. And I think that that makes us stronger too. So let’s move forward. It took 26 years for HECC to stay a special interest group of ICE and now INCE for 26 years. That’s a long time to kind of stay under the umbrella of the other organization. Why do you think that arrangement worked for so long? And what was the catalyst for finally incorporating as HECC as its own nonprofit?

• Brad

Yeah, it definitely did work fairly well for a long time. Created a lot of stability. Underneath the surface, there was always kind of some animosity bubbling there. The two organizations didn’t work as closely together as they would have probably both liked to, just because there was some almost competition from the early days. There was a major event that happened for ICE that really caused them to suffer as an organization. And that certainly was the big ice storm that occurred that caused them to cancel their conference in Indianapolis. And it took a few years to recover from that because, it wasn’t clear if the hotel was going to refund their money or make them pay for all their obligations. The insurance wasn’t necessarily paying like it was supposed to. It was very murky for a few years there as they tried to work out the ramifications of that cancellation and, even through, you know, 2010, 2011, they were still just struggling to get back on their feet after that event. And so shift to 2012, HECC was really strong. HECC’s conference had grown to a thousand attendees. We were having great success in putting our events together. They were getting more and more popular. We were, you know, building up a cash balance. And there started to become some rumors about a potential that ICE may go ahead and fold, like and their bylaws said that if they no longer continued as an organization, that all of their assets would be divided up and given to other not for profits. Well, we weren’t a not for profit. We were a part of them. And if they did go bankrupt or decide to close their doors, our funds would be included in those assets. That would be distributed to other organizations. And so it was really kind of a strategic threat to the organization. And as I’d said, you know, we weren’t working very well together anyway. So I was president of HECC in 2012. So I made a ten point plan of how we could work together more effectively with ICE and build a relationship going forward, offer some things to them as ongoing services as they were trying to, increase the size of their conference and grow. You know, have members on each other’s boards. Just build some partnerships, but do it as equals instead of us being part of them. And then also, you know, get our own 501 C3 status. Incorporate. Move the funds over into our own organization so that we knew that they were secure and just plan for the future and long range. So we made that ten point plan and put it into place. I actually went to the ICE board and presented it and they actually had me conduct the vote to establish HECC as its own organization and spin it off. And the board unanimously approved it. And I took that information back. And in November of 2012 the HECC treasurer, Dean Schipp and I walked over to the chase building on the capital circle there. And, we transferred all the money from the ICE accounts to the HECC accounts and we became our own organization on that conference day. So pretty awesome.

• Chantell

That is pretty awesome. And what a great story that you came with a plan to work more closely together and to support one another because you saw a problem again, a problem of practice. Like we’re not maybe working together as closely as we should. And, you know, it’s trying to recover from a natural disaster strategically. What’s best to make sure that we both keep going forward? Just really great teamwork by the Indiana crew in educational technology. 

• Brad

I have a ton of respect for the ICE INCE organization and I always have. And that was the first conference that I went to after I got my job in technology. I went to HECC later that next year. But my first conference really was the ICE conference down at the Hoosier Dome. So, you know, I had all the respect in the world for them and knew that they were doing great work and just wanted to try to bring everybody together, because I’ve always had that belief about the strength of all the organizations in the state.

• Chantell

Yeah, the ICE conference was my first EdTech conference as well here in Indiana when I came to teach here. And then, you know, the rich conference history we had with the summer of e-learning, you know, those site based conferences. Kind of along that same vein of, you know, what does technology look like in the classroom? What are teachers doing? How can we help teachers do that better? Which was largely supported by, you know, HECC and ICE members and the teachers who attended those conferences.

• Brad

Absolutely.

• Chantell

So Brad, if anyone’s been to the HECC conference or heard of the HECC conference, they know that one of the like most fun things, one of the most anxiously awaited announcements every year is what the HECC conference tool will be right? That’s just like we are waiting to hear. So every attendee, if you don’t know this, listeners, every attendee if you’re there for two or all three of the days of the HECC conference, you go home with some sort of technology tool and there’s usually a big reveal about it. So, Brad, do you know, when did that tradition start and whose idea was it? The website list starts in 2004.

• Brad

And that’s exactly when it started. It was Todd Whitlock. He was the conference coordinator and president that year and he came up with the idea. I think it was… Was it the iPaq that first year? 

• Chantell

Yeah, the HP iPaq.

• Brad

They had to manually load all those from scratch. So they picked a very difficult tool. To start with. And it was incredibly popular. So they had a lot of them to load. So I’ve heard the stories of them being locked in a room for days before the conference start trying to get them all set up and ready to go. But yeah, it was Todd’s idea, I think. And the board agreed that it could work financially and so they started doing it.

• Chantell

So what’s the process? How does the HECC board choose which tool will be the conference tool that year?

• Brad

Yeah, sure. They have a budget that they set. That they’re going to most likely spend to acquire the tool. And then there’s actually a committee that begins the work of researching things, and usually nowadays they put out a Google form for the rest of the board to give input. But we’ve got about 25 board members serving. At any time, if you take any consideration, the ex-officio members that are serving in some long time roles and the newly elected board members, it’s about 25 folks altogether. So, we fill out the form, make any suggestions, and just talk about it over the course of the year about what’s most popular or looks to be most viable. A lot of the times there’s some really great tools that we’ve considered that would have been amazingly innovative, but the manufacturer didn’t have the capacity to sell that many, or they couldn’t get the price point down to where our budget was. So that’s all a consideration. But there is one person that leads it up and does the price negotiations and then brings back to us what the final options are. And then usually by the summertime, we usually try to get one selected and get it ordered so that we can get that in.

• Chantell

Well that’s just amazing. And all of the thought that goes into that. And if you read through the list on the HECC website, it’s like reading a history of the field of educational technology, right? iPads, PSPs, LiveScribe Pens, Chromebooks, Spheros, Amazon Echos, VR headsets, the 3D printers, drones. Out of all of those tools, which one do you think the board got the most right?

• Brad

The one I got most excited about I think, was the year that we did the HTC Droid Incredible phone. It came with a year, I think, of internet service and cell service through Verizon. And it was the first time that I could walk around with a device that could be hot spotted and was like portable and had the internet on it. And just the concept of that fact that you can, you know, carry the internet with you wherever you go was so innovative at the time. I just thought it was an incredible tool and I was so excited about it. Ironically, you know, we got ours before the conference’s board members so we could play with it and get to know how it works. That’s how it always happens. We always have them before the conference so that we can answer questions about them and just help serve everybody, and provide guidance as people get to know their device. So I had gotten mine early, and I showed up at the conference with it, and I was walking down the sidewalk one night, like the first night of the conference, or maybe even the night before the conference started, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and face planted on the sidewalk and broke my screen on my Droid Incredible. So they had extras. They went ahead and replaced it. No problem. They were so kind about it. But, yeah, I almost lost mine before the conference even started.

• Chantell

Oh man, what a story. And how devastating. Right? Oh, no. But yeah, I totally agree. Like, the idea of having like, the internet as something you can carry around with you was like, game changing for like, how we live. And now I laugh and I think about my kids like, what do you mean there’s no WiFi here? Like when before they had like their, you know, the older ones, had phones of their own. Like, what do you mean there’s no WiFi here? They just think it’s everywhere.

• Brad

I will say I was always impressed with Todd because, you know, Todd picked some devices that were definitely gaming devices. There’s no question about it. There was a year we did the PSP. There was, you know, the iPod, different versions of the iPod we did a couple of times. And he got a lot of heat. Like people were like, you’re just buying that so people have a gaming device or… But the board always worked really hard to show how, that you could load educational things onto those devices and really use them educationally. And they’d have sessions about it. And it was really well done. I was always really impressed at how well they blended that, and really created a lot of hype around the fact that you could really get a talented teacher that was doing great things instructionally and knew where they wanted to take their students and had those relationships. You can use a whole range of devices to accelerate learning for them. And that’s what that kind of really stood out and said.

• Chantell

Yeah, I totally agree. And I always appreciate that the HECC conference has those sessions where you can unbox that tool and get some hands on time with it, with someone who has had that, you know, chance to play around with it beforehand. I know the year that we did the drones… That we all got the drones. I thought, well, if I wouldn’t have had that conference session and a chance to get it out of the box and play with that a little bit, that’s when I might have taken home and just not found the time to get out of the box. Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to, but, you know, working as a Director of Technology, having children of my own, and all of the things like I just might not have gotten that out. So my next question is, which one of all of the tools throughout the years do you think HECC got the most wrong? Which one did you hand out that you think never really got opened or never really got used to its full potential?

• Brad

Oh, that’s really easy. There was a year that we did a handheld video camera and it was a great concept, but when we actually got the device in and started using it, it was very cheaply made, poorly made. And whenever you would try to record a video, it like… The internal mechanisms would click. So we called it the clicky camera in years following. But you didn’t get a good quality video because the entire time you’re using the video camera, it was sitting there going click, click, click click click click click click click click. And so everybody was like, this is a bunch of trash. And so some people didn’t even take theirs home that year. Like they threw them into the dumpster before they even left the conference. So that was definitely a major fail and probably led to us then a few years later doing a GoPro camera, or there was actually it was a USB attached camera that was a little bit better quality. So we had to redeem ourselves a little bit on that one.

• Chantell

Sure. And I’ll say, you know, having attended the last two years, the tools seem to be very practical and not flashy. They definitely weren’t gaming I think. We had a portable monitor one year which was, I think every technology person was like, thank you, I love this game changer! Especially if they didn’t already have one. And I know a Skylight Calendar was, I believe last year that hangs in my kitchen and my whole family uses that every single day. Do you think that something changed and how the tools have been chosen the last couple of years? Or do you think that we’re just finally like, dialing it in and getting it right?

• Brad

I think it’s a blend. I think HECC is always wanting to be true to its roots, which is taking care of the techie people and getting them the quality professional development they need to support their districts. When we know budgets are never going to be rich enough to support the most dynamic technology training that they’re going to need to go find. So we do try to make sure we always have those good sessions for the techies and all the tech departments, and so we a lot of times try to honor them with our tools as well. There was a real desire this year. I think, to try to get back to a gaming device if we could do it. There was certainly one coming out on the market that was a pretty big name. And, it was just a situation where manufacturing wise and price point wise, we couldn’t get it where we wanted it to be. So the one we came up with is again, a more practical one. But I’ve been very impressed with playing with mine already and how it’s impacting the workflow and how it’s making, you know, things really work well for me as an individual. And I know everybody will be excited about it this year. 

• Chantell

Great. So I want to go back and talk just a little bit about the ice storm that nearly ended ICE back in the past and why HECC actually spun out and became its own nonprofit organization. And you know, that’s not the only time in recent years when something like this has happened. A lot of state and regional EdTech organizations didn’t come out of the pandemic, or at least didn’t come out of them as robust as they once were, some lost years of conferences and revenue. I would argue that HECC is stronger now than it was in 2019. Why do you think that’s so? What do you think is special about HECC?

• Brad

Well, it’s ironic because the church that I attend is the same way we actually came out of the pandemic with more people than we had before the pandemic. And I think a lot of it is… Several reasons. Number one, I think people came out of the pandemic really hungry for relationship and for being around folks and learning from them and just having that opportunity to enjoy that rich conversation. That informal professional development that occurs so organically at HECC in that historic area. And I think since that’s always been a strength, I think it just catered to exactly what people wanted coming out of it. They did try to do some things digitally during the pandemic. They tried to do some online content and tried to keep people connected. I think they had a listserv that certainly kept everybody thinking about HECC and the collaboration and the relationship there. So I think all of those things strategically really positioned them well. And then I don’t think we changed a ton of things when we did restart offering the physical conference. It was something familiar. People came back knowing what they expected, and they got it and they enjoyed it. And so then it just took right back off and shot right back up.

• Chantell

Yeah. I think you’re right that it was so familiar. I mean, I’ve heard people say, well, I think that was four HECCs ago. And you know, it’s like almost the way that we mark time like in the educational technology community. Like how many HECCs ago was that? So that’s kind of fun. And I think you’re right. So familiar and it feels right. Awesome. So we talked again about how the pandemic could have been that tipping point, but it wasn’t. Were there any moments in the 40 year history of HECC when you or other board members before you thought that maybe this thing might not make it?

• Brad

Well, there were some years where it almost didn’t. There was the early days, back in the 1990s, I think it was 1994? I think it was 1994. They had a failed conference. They had planned a conference. They were going to have vendors there. They were going to have a bunch of people there. And they did not have it. And it took the balance of the organization down to zero. And they had $3,000 of expenses left with no way to pay for it. So that was definitely 1994. And it was at the Marriott East. And yeah, it got canceled due to a lack of registration and vendors. And so, they were in big trouble. And they weren’t sure that they’d be able to continue in 1995. But here’s the hero story. ICE came in and swooped in and saved the day. They paid all their bills from the failed conference, which were like almost $2,900. And then they gave HECC another $2,500 in cash so that they could pay it forward and keep them going. So here we are today. We’ve built back from that. But if ICE hadn’t given them that loan and believed in their mission, it wouldn’t have happened.

• Chantell

Wow. I think a lot of people probably don’t know that story who weren’t there in 1994. You know, for people today, it seems like HECC and ICE, which is now INCE, have just always been there, right?

• Brad

Right.

• Chantell

So what a great story to share with the listeners. So that brings me to another question. You know, whether it’s HECC or Indiana CTO Council or INCE… We’re all volunteer run organizations, right? We all have our day jobs. So what do you think, what are some of the magic things that need to be in place that keep a volunteer run organization alive when that founding generation moves on, goes into retirement, and isn’t there to prop it up anymore?

• Brad

Yeah. I think every volunteer organization should have a really strong bylaws and kind of founding documents that really emphasize the key parts of what really make the organization unique and focuses the organization on what it’s true mission is. And if you’ve got those, if you’ve got those organizational documents right, you can change things over the years. And many organizations do. But when you have that core set of things well defined from the beginning, I think it really gives strong legs to build on going forward.

• Chantell

Sure.

• Brad

And I think it’s important to have some fresh blood coming in. I think too, an organization can get too static. And the founders can stay too long. And it doesn’t have a vibrancy to it because it’s just the same old people coming back doing the same old thing. So like the founders of HECC were emphatic about the fact that they were going to get out of it and that they were going to bring in fresh blood and keep things going. And they did. They stepped away and handed it to a next generation of leaders and slowly weaned away. And, it’s done really well with that model. And now, you know, when we first before I was president and before we became, you know, incorporated you could serve two terms, and they were two year terms. So it was really short. You’d serve two years, you’d be up for election, and then you could serve one more set, and then you had to sit off for a year. So, you know, that vibrancy is still alive. We made it one four year term instead. At some point after we reorganized. But, it’s still four years and it’s a year off, and then you come back, unless you stick around in a like a chair position or something, and the board wants to keep you in that position, so.

• Chantell

Sure. I think you’re right that leadership pipeline. Right? Like, not overstaying, like bringing in new ideas and helping things evolve with the times. And speaking of evolving with the times Brad, we know you weren’t there in 1986, but you’ve been in different districts. You’ve been on different boards, and now with the IDOE. So what do you think the district technology job requires now that it definitely didn’t require in 1986?

• Brad

Oh man. Right. That’s a huge question. I always say that like back when I first started, we put some technology solutions in place and we just hoped that people used it and they didn’t. Like for a while, it was like people didn’t even understand why you would ever touch technology. And then it got to the point where it was kind of like a torrent of people couldn’t get enough and we couldn’t keep up with all the demand because all of a sudden everybody wanted to use it, and they wanted every student to use it and they wanted everything to use it. And to the point where I remember when I came to Warsaw, Warsaw was kind of a late 1 to 1 program compared to a lot of other school districts, just because they couldn’t figure out how to financially swing it. And, when I came into the district and we started going 1 to 1 through some grant from the Department of Education that sprung it free, and then using our textbook rental system, you know, and the funds from that, to support it. I actually brought every teacher in for professional development before we rolled out the 1 to 1. And, I remember I would give every group that went through a speech and I would say, do not use this technology just to be glitzy. Don’t do it to put on a show. Don’t do it because you think there’s an administrator walking by. You’re the professional. You know when learning is best in the classroom. You decide when it’s best for your students to use the technology. And I don’t want anybody to tell you how often that is or what that looks like, because you’re the expert about when learning is best for your students. And that was a lesson that I kept trying to reinforce. And I think now here we’re back to kind of another shift where we’re getting some pushback from parents and some national organizations that are campaigning against the use of tech in schools, and maybe thinking that there’s too much screen time and not enough protections. And a lot of it’s built on fallacies, unfortunately. But the honest truth is we still should be asking that question. We should be using technology when it’s best for kids and the teachers are the ones that know that answer. And good teaching is still good teaching. And teachers that showed endless film strips and videotapes in the 80s are no different than teachers that put a student on a device all day and just let them browse. But those are personnel issues. Those are things the building administrators should be following up on. That’s not something we should be legislating or dictating to folks, because we really should honor the educators and do what’s right for education.

• Chantell

I couldn’t have said that better myself. You know, that’s definitely something that, like I’ve heard others describe, like couldn’t get people to touch the technology, then like the onslaught of everyone wants the technology and there’s got to be a balance in between there and it’s got to be in the hands of educators. Great advice Brad. So the conference is 40 years old. You’ve attended a lot of them. What still makes you want to go back year over year? What is it about HECC specifically?

• Brad

It’s the people. It’s just seeing all those friendly faces. My favorite job at HECC is standing at the door to the Grand Hall. On the early morning of each day of the conference and just opening the door for people and saying, you know, good morning and welcome and just seeing all the people. Indiana’s a special place. As I’ve gotten into this DOE role and have national groups that I’m part of, and I know you feel the same way you’ve been involved nationally with CoSN. You see a lot of different states and you see how a lot of different things operate. And we just stand on the shoulders of giants in this state. We stand on the shoulders of people who had positions at the DOE and at service centers that really believed in collaboration and bringing people together and to doing it together and doing it better. And I still feel it. Like this state is so special. And every time I get to see those people, it’s like, it’s the best thing in the world, because I know that they care and they’re doing the best that they can, and they just want to learn and get better. And so I’m happy to be part of that process.

• Chantell

Absolutely. I tell people all the time the same thing. Indiana is such a special place to be in education technology and people really don’t know how good they have it here. But Brad, not every state has a HECC conference or an organization. Some have nothing or something that never really got off the ground. If five people in another state called you tomorrow and said they wanted to build something like this HECC conference, what should they do first?

• Brad

Yeah, they… Number one they should definitely do it 100%. Number two, they should figure out what’s unique about their state. What are the challenges? What are the biggest problems that need to be solved or addressed? And then they should make a plan that does that. And then I think they should build a method that they can communicate as a state. That serves the population that they’re targeting. And then they should build from that framework and begin operating as an organization that focuses to meet those needs. It’s not complex. It really does just take someone that stands out and says, let’s do it. And then it takes somebody that can be a collaborator and can reach across fences to bring people together. I think about Candice Dodson. Candice Dodson was one of those people. Candice was never afraid to go have a conversation with someone that she knew was going to be a little tough for them to hear. But she could say things in a way that they would listen. I remember when she was first trying to get rid of seat time in the classroom. Like that being the number one indicator of when learning was happening so that she could do some remote learning with students and things and digital learning days. And she went to the state attendance officer, and he was like, no, we’ve always done seat time. And she’s like, let me show you some videos of kids sleeping in class and you tell me how that’s instructional time. And you compare that with somebody online doing two way video, working with a teacher, that’s learning. And she won him over. He was like, yeah, I’ll support that. And that was the beginning of digital learning days in Indiana. But she was an expert at it. Like she knew really how to bring people together.

• Chantell

Absolutely. And anyone who ever talked with her just knew that she would find a way. So, Brad, what’s one mistake that you would tell those same five people in another state that you would tell them, avoid this at all costs? Maybe something that the HECC board learned the hard way?

• Brad

I would say don’t get stagnant. Don’t build the walls so strong that you can’t grow and change as the needs change. You can certainly have a framework. You can certainly build a good foundation, but be willing to shift as your members’ needs change. And as communication comes back that the landscape is changing and evolve with that and bring in fresh blood that will support that new point of view. And be diverse. Don’t just have one category of people, but bring in people from all parts of the population you’re serving.

• Chantell

Great advice and definitely things that you know, we catch ourselves in sometimes and come back around, you know, that’s why HECC has lasted for 40 years. All right, Brad, I’ve got the last little section here, every podcast I have a lightning round. Some like rapid fire questions and answers. Just to get to know you and the topic a little bit more. So don’t think too hard about it. Don’t feel like you have to give me like a full, you know, paragraph explanation. But let us know for fun.

• Brad

It’s almost always a paragraph answer, you know? Sorry about that.

• Chantell

No problem. Well, usually we love the paragraph answers. That’s why you’re a podcast guest.

• Brad

But I’m going to be lightning round. Here we go.

• Chantell

You’re going to be a lightening round. So tell me, what’s the first computer you ever used in a school?

• Brad

An Atari 400.

• Chantell

Okay. What’s the most overhyped technology of the last 40 years?

• Brad

Beta. Betamax. Instead of VHS.

• Chantell

Yeah. Maybe those Laserdiscs.

• Brad

Yeah.

• Chantell

What’s the best session you ever sat in at a HECC conference as an attendee? Not as a presenter.

• Brad

Julie Slavin’s law sessions were always my favorite.

• Chantell

Yes. You’ll learn a lot there.

• Brad

And get scared.

• Chantell

And get scared. Yes. Terrified, right? Like what do I, what do you mean I don’t know about my job that I should know? What about the acronym in education you are most tired of right now?

• Brad

AI probably.

• Chantell

It’s just everywhere.

• Brad

It’s everywhere.

• Chantell

And what’s… Final lightning round question here. What’s the thing you were sure would never catch on but it did?

• Brad

Probably 1 to 1 devices.

• Chantell

Yeah. It seemed like such a dream. And then, well, gosh darn it, we made it a reality.

• Brad

We did.

• Chantell

All right, so tomorrow morning, a technology leader is listening to this podcast, and they’re feeling like, I really wish I had a HECC in my professional life. What’s one thing that listeners should do tomorrow morning to be less alone on the job?

• Brad

Yeah. Be less alone. I would suggest that they reach out to someone they know and start with a lunch. Start with a gathering. Maybe even inside your county. Maybe it’s not even all education people. Maybe it’s folks from the city and the county and other organizations and just get together and talk about the challenges. That sharing and development process is what all organizations are built from.

• Chantell

Absolutely. And the 40th anniversary, as we said, is this year, November 11th through 13th in downtown Indianapolis. What should people expect?

• Brad

Well, first of all, those four people I mentioned early in our podcast are all coming back. Tom Bauer, Lee Wiggam, B.J. Eib, and Judy Hauth are all traveling from all over the country to be with us. And actually B.J.’s in British Vancouver, Canada. So they’ll actually be here for the conference. And they’re all speaking at the meeting on Thursday, from 3:30 to 4. And then they’re going to be around at the reception afterwards. And if that wasn’t enough, the founding group outside of them, like the initial board, the first like 10 to 15 people, a large number of them are coming all day on Thursday. So they’re going to come check in. They’re all going to have founder badges on, and they’re going to eat lunch on the hotel side in the Grand Central room at some tables that we’ll set up for them there. And then they’re just going to kind of like do teacher observations and pop in and see what the sessions are like. But at the annual meeting, those four particularly will speak and they’ll talk about how HECC was founded and the big things that happened. But then they’ll also talk about their impressions of what they’ve seen since they’ve gotten to walk around and see what the organization has become now. And I’m excited to hear what they have to say. Like, that’s what I’m most excited about. But beyond that, like, there is so many special events going on. We’re going to have a museum of all the tech devices from all the years. We’re going to have one of each device in a case that people can look at from all the HECC tools. We’re going to have special banners, we’re going to have swag every day. That special that goes to attendees that you’ll get that 40th anniversary related. Balloons, banners… We’re going all out. We got everything done but writing a book about HECC, which I’ve now decided that it’s better that we save that for the 50th anniversary anyway. So I’m going to try to write a book for the 50th anniversary about the history of HECC. So. But, yeah, a lot of great things that are definitely happening.

• Chantell

What a treat and a treasure for the people who will be able to be there in attendance. And can you tell us what’s that HECC tool? What’s that conference tool going to be this year in case someone hasn’t heard.

• Brad

I’ve got it right here. It’s an anchor power charging station. Really powerful. I mean, it’s just under the level that lets you take it on an airplane, but it is super awesome. Like, this will run my laptop for, like, 4 to 6 hours, and my phone. You know, I used it at a conference the other day, and it had everything going the entire time. And at the end of the conference at like 3:00, it was dead. But my laptop was at 100%. My phone was at 100%. That’s pretty awesome. And then it drops into a magnetic charging base to charge and you can charge everything while it’s plugged into that base, and then you can Bluetooth to it and watch the power utilization of your various devices. And it has a mode that’s adaptive. So it actually reads the health of the battery of the device that it’s charging and adjusts the voltage appropriately. It’s just amazing to watch. But what an incredible source. When you have no power, it provides it.

• Chantell

None of the HECC goers should be that person attached to the wall with a cord. After this HECC conference.

• Brad

We debated whether we should even run power in the classrooms because everybody should just be using their brick, right? Because, they really don’t need power strips anymore. So pretty cool.

• Chantell

How awesome. So, Brad, final question, where can people find HECC and get involved? Is there still time to register?

• Brad

Yeah. Definitely is. You go to hecc.k12.in.us and you can register for the conference there. If you’re on the listserv you should be getting the notices about nominations are currently open. If you’re interested in serving on the HECC board. We always elect one member from each area code band, one from the north, one from the central, one from the south area code bands. And then we do two At-Large members. So we bring on five new members every year for four year terms. So every four years, the board turns completely over. And we would love if some great new leaders to join us, or some up and coming leaders with great ideas to just keep making it better. So that’s a great way to get involved. And I know a lot of people have signed up to offer conferences this year or sessions and that’s great too. Like, it’s really vibrant.

• Chantell

Awesome. Well, you heard it from Brad, who has taken up the mantle of being the HECC historian. And we’re waiting for that 50th anniversary book in ten years Brad. But you can still register for the conference. We hope to see you there. It was going to be an amazing celebration of the history of educational technology here in Indiana and across the field. And I know that so many education leaders are looking to the HECC listserv every day, where education technology leaders just gather, share, and collaborate. We don’t even need a video conference and we’ve been doing it for a long time. So we’ll catch you next time on the K-12 Tech Podcast and make sure that you say hi in person at the HECC conference.