Last year’s Tweet Suite was a huge success, and this year we are ready to take social media engagement at the International Literacy Association 2015 Conference to the next level—and that means throwing more fun opportunities to connect into the mix. The ILA 2015 Engagement Stations will give attendees the chance to make new friends, stay in touch with peers, and share their ILA experience through our Twitter and Instagram walls, a photo booth, video booth, and a photo op wall where you can choose your own background. You’ll find the majority of these opportunities in our Age of Literacy Exhibit (Booth 309) in the Exhibit Hall, which has always been a conference hot spot.
Whether you are a social media veteran or a newbie, the opportunities to share exchanges online can enhance the conference experience. Our Twitter and Instagram walls will alternate between displaying tweets from attendees and photos shared on Instagram, allowing the chance to share posts on a live-streaming monitor. Also in the exhibit, you’ll find the “selfie station,” where you can choose your own background (like the Gateway Arch), or take advantage of our Shuttergram printer and print your #ILA15 Instagram shots instantly—for free.
On Saturday and Sunday only, the exhibit will also feature the ILA video booth, where you can record your thoughts on literacy and have the chance to win prizes—including free registration to ILA 2016!
Staff will be stationed at both the video booth and selfie station for assistance.
With more than 6,000 educators from around the world in attendance, we want to provide as many social engagement and professional development opportunities as possible. Accordingly, there will be an additional Twitter and Instagram wall stationed just outside ILA Central, located in Plaza Lobby. That’s also where you’ll find the photo booth, sponsored by our friends at Booksource, a local, family-owned company that has served the St. Louis area for 40 years.
No matter where you are, you will never be far from an Engagement Station. It is our hope that these stations will encourage the sharing of knowledge and experiences among literacy leaders and build connections that will transcend ILA 2015.
The ILA 2015 Conference will be held July 18–20 in St. Louis, MO, for educators ready to transform their practice. Key topics affecting literacy featured at the conference include content literacy, children’s literature, classroom engagement, and professional development. In addition to conference favorites, including a revamped Teaching Edge series and the Putting Books to Work panels, more than 120 exhibitors will be on hand with new tools and technologies for all manners of literacy education.
Learn more about the conference programs at ilaconference.org or register today!
Olivia Duke is International Literacy Association’s communications intern.