What did surprise me was that I had a really good time. I was able to meet several educators that were new to me and have some really great conversations. There was no pressure to 'keep moving' in the overcrowded hallways because they weren't overcrowded. There were no huge tables of swag with crowds hovering around. Even though the welcome was done with a microphone, it surely wasn't needed. As a person who has lots of trouble being comfortable in large crowds, I felt really comfortable.
I discovered that one of the major (percieved) negatives of a small edcamp, the much fewer number of sessions to choose from, was actually a real positive. It was much easier to choose a session to attend and the one time there wasn't a session I really wanted to attend I picked one anyway (a session on applications which I would almost never go to) and was able to share a few really great apps, as well as hear the teachers talk about how they used their apps with their students. There is real value in hearing that.
I have attended many large edcamps over the last few years including #EdCampStL which had over 500 attendees. While I will still continue to go to them, they are a great place to meet up with my friends, I will honestly be looking at attended more of the smaller edcamps. I think maybe you should too.
We had Edcamp Memphis the same day you had #EdcampSTL. It was our first attempt at hosting an Edcamp. We had a small gathering of 50 or so people, BUT we had a wonderful day! I liked that it was a small group and I believe people shared that normally wouldn't have in a large group. I agree. Let's have more small Edcamps!
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