Each year, we have the opportunity to attend and present at several conferences nationwide, showcasing our work and our Ed-Fi-enabled product stack. These events provide opportunities to engage with educators, administrators, district leaders, and fellow Ed Tech organizations, fostering collaboration and sharing insights. In 2024, we participated in the following conferences:
Here’s a brief recap of our key takeaways and lessons learned from the conferences we attended.
SXSW EDU 2024
In March 2024, several EA staff had the opportunity to attend and present at SXSW EDU in Austin, TX. CEO Andrew Rice and EA Board President Richard Bowman (Chief Information and Strategy Officer at Albuquerque Public Schools) presented the session, “Data Interoperability & AI: Veggies Before Dessert.” During this fireside chat, Andrew and Richard discussed how the K-12 education system can harness generative AI models in a private, secure, and ethical manner to create a more inclusive and effective learning ecosystem. You can watch Andrew and Richard’s full session on our YouTube channel.
Also in attendance at SXSW EDU was Director of Software Solutions Ben Dederich, Director of Brand & Communications Marlena Holden, and Chief of Staff Libby Pier. Reflecting on their time at SXSW EDU, Andrew, Ben, Libby, Marlena, and Richard wrote the blog, “Five Things We Learned at SXSW EDU,” highlighting their key takeaways from the conference.
AeriesCon
In March 2024, Vice President of Product Regan Vanden Boogard, Chief Solutions Officer Noah Bookman, and Vice President of Interoperability Rosh Dhanawade attended and presented at AeriesCon. Regan, Noah, and Rosh presented the session, “From Ed-Fi to Impact – The EA Modern Ed-Fi Data Stack and Story,” and Noah spoke on the panel discussion, “Using Interoperable Data to Accelerate State and Local Student Success Use Cases,” hosted by the Ed-Fi Alliance.
AeriesCon served as a great networking opportunity for our staff to connect with educators, administrators, district leaders, and IT professionals in California, and introduce them to our Ed-Fi-enabled product stack.
Ed-Fi Alliance Technical Congress
Every year the Ed-Fi Alliance hosts its Technical Congress to bring together individuals across the Ed Tech community, including data scientists, chief architects, IT application developers, software engineers, educational technology developers, and more. The goal of Tech Congress is to ensure that Ed Tech continues to have a positive impact on student and classroom outcomes through improving upon the Ed-Fi Technology Suite. This year, we had the amazing opportunity to send EA staff to Ed-Fi Tech Congress to connect with school districts, Ed Tech leaders, and current and potential partner organizations. We highlight key staff takeaways from Technical Congress in the blog, “Key Takeaways from Tech Congress 2024.”
Knowledge Alliance’s Fall Forum
EA is a long-time and proud member of the Knowledge Alliance (KA), a non-profit, non-partisan organization focused on dramatically improving K-12 public education by advocating for the widespread, effective use of research-based knowledge in policy and practices. In September 2024, EA’s CEO Andrew Rice and Chief of Staff and Chairperson of the KA Board Libby Pier attended the KA Fall Forum titled, “Education to Employment: Building Bridges from K-12 to Careers,” in Portland, OR. Libby wrote up a blog, “3 Takeaways from the Knowledge Alliance Fall Forum on K-12 to Career Pipeline Opportunities,” highlighting her experiences at the forum.
Ed-Fi Alliance Summit
Every fall, the Ed-Fi Alliance hosts its annual Ed-Fi Summit to bring together state and local educator leaders, Ed Tech providers, educators, and technical experts who use data to solve education’s most pressing issues. Several EA staff attended Ed-Fi Summit 2024 to connect, present, and learn. We highlight staff insights from Ed-Fi Summit in the blog, “Key Takeaways from Ed-Fi Summit 2024.”
During Summit 2024, we were also thrilled to share that EA had been recognized as a 2025 Ed-Fi Alliance Premier Partner for our impactful work to improve data use in K-12 education.
South Carolina Ed Tech Conference
Every fall, SC Ed Tech hosts South Carolina’s largest educational technology conference. The primary goal of the conference is to bring educators, administrators, technology professionals, college faculty and staff, public and academic librarians, business and industry trainers, industry representatives, and policy makers together to think, discuss, listen, and learn the best strategies to plan for and use educational technology in our schools. We had the amazing opportunity to send EA’s staff to South Carolina Ed Tech to connect with school districts, ed tech leaders, and current and potential partner organizations in South Carolina. In the blog, “Things We Learned at SC EdTech 2024,” EA staff share what they took away from their time at SC Ed Tech 2024.
FERA's 68th Annual Meeting
In November, Project Coordinator Ruth Brandvik, Principal Researcher Michael Christian, Research Scientist I Sara Hu, Partner Strategist Julie McLeod, and Senior Research Analyst Hayley Tymeson, attended and presented at the Florida Educational Research Association’s (FERA) annual meeting in Orlando, FL in November. Michael presented the session, “Measuring Growth in a FAST World,” (FAST is the new state assessment in Florida), and Hayley presented an engaging talk, “Predictive Analytics Using the Ed-Fi Data Standard.”
We are excited to build on these experiences and look forward to the connections we’ll make and the insights we’ll gain during the 2025 conference season!