The top 4 ways respondents found out about the conference. AERO Email AERO Newsletter AERO Social Media Word of Mouth
90% rated the conference as excellent or above average. 6% rated it as average. “No words can describe how amazing it was”
89% found the conference site to be very helpful or extremely helpful
The largest number of respondents are from Northeast – US, Followed by Southwest – US, Canada, and Asia
91% of respondents found the price of the conference to be reasonable to very reasonable. 2% found it somewhat reasonable.
52% attended the AERO conference for the first time.
96% indicated they would attend this event again. 2% indicated they would not. 2% were undecided
90% said indicated they would attend a similar/smaller event sometime in February 2021. 3% indicated they would not. 7% were undecided
Over 80% felt that they had enough time to network. “I had enough time to network but could always use more”
85% felt that they had enough ways to network.
About 80% attended popup sessions. Most felt that popup sessions went well or were OK
Some suggestions on how to improve the conference :
Maybe have a one day break for people to do networking, and to take a breathe, and declutter all the information in the head then return to conference activities with a non overwhelmed energy. Then a month out have another check in on networking and connections to keep momentum up.
I was pleased and impressed by all of the effort put forth by the organizers and presenters. It was a marvelous experience. I would have liked to have to have had the opportunity to attend a workshop on issues of privilege and access in SDE. Some of the docs did present those ideas though, so I am glad that was addressed during the weekend.
More student talks and Q&As, so that we know what they think. And, more parents to share how they make a living while committing into homeschooling.
Every AERO conference should have offerings about race/accessibility/diversity/inclusion issues and make space for people to discuss and learn about this. I know it’s a really tricky subject. I hope AERO does NOT take the same approach as ASDE (cancel culture, white apologism, etc.) but rather opens space for dialogue and how we can all be better around this topic.
Absolutely love the hybrid idea, running on alternate week-ends through the summer, and the aerox which i haven’t attended yet but absolutely will given the smashing success of this aero conference.
More youth speakers and activists
More speakers from marginalized backgrounds and workshops and discussions surrounding this topic as it relates to self-directed learning and alternative education.
I think it was a really good conference at a very challenging time. I appreciate being able to have the recordings to listen to afterwards for the sessions I missed. I wish we could have addressed racial inequity more directly and especially had some POC youth –that would have been very powerful. Perhaps for the next conference.
Other comments
I was so happy to be there! The USA EDT start time allowed me to take my time in the morning, eat a little something, and easily get to the room before/at start time. I realize not everybody had that luxury! Grateful.
Thank you all for efforts in organizing and hosting this conference. I can only imagine the logistical/technical hurdles you had to work through. Well done.
Thanks for putting this together and providing so much support with the prices to make it super affordable.
Please do not consider turning AERO into a digital conference once the world has returned to normal. I really cannot connect with people over video conferencing. I ended up not attending most of the sessions, despite the conference being one of the things I was looking forward to this summer. It was very well done and organized, but I really need the in-person interaction and place to focus.
Virtual conference a wave of the future
You provide such an incredible and important service with AERO the org and the conference. I love how people from all over the world attend. I think it’s important that you stay neutral and welcoming of different pedagogies.
