We aren’t freaking out — we are FREAKING EXCITED!!! The first xAPI Camp at DevLearn, the first of four events we’re putting on hosted by The eLearning Guild, is nigh upon us. The Guild helped us launch xAPI at mLearnCon back in 2012 and they have been a steadfast supporter of xAPI. Last year was the first year there was an official xAPI Track at DevLearn and, together, we are upping that ante again (…in Vegas).
The eLearning Guild is a terrific host and partner in making xAPI Camp available to attendees as a pre-conference event. We have had so much incredible support from the community, I’d like to take a moment to let you know who’s really helping make xAPI Camp possible.
Partnering Organizations
With the Guild, we at MakingBetter have three other partners we’re super happy to work with.
- Riptide Software has been a big supporter of every xAPI Camp with really compelling cases studies and incredible enthusiasm over the mission of getting people into the conversations they need to have around xAPI. They don’t have a booth at DevLearn, but Nick Washburn, the Director of Riptide’s Learning Division, will be with us on Tuesday and you should definitely give him a high-five.
- Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) continues to be a huge supporter of the community as the current stewards of the spec itself. We are so happy that Andy Johnson and Craig Wiggins will be with us on Tuesday and throughout the week at DevLearn. We may even be doing karaoke Tuesday night, after xAPI Camp, because that is how we roll.
- Learning Analytics Community Exchange (LACE) is a European Union (as in EU-funded) project involving nine partners across Europe. They are passionate about the opportunities afforded by current and future views of learning analytics and educational data mining. We could not be more ecstatic about their partnership. Fabrizio Cardinali will be there Tuesday and all week.
Our Sponsors
Organizing events like xAPI Camp take an incredible amount of work, especially in the context of a major industry event like DevLearn. We are so thankful our sponsors make it possible to produce an event that is high quality and super valuable for its participants. Everyone involved agrees to put the bigger goals for xAPI above pitching products and services, which is a big reason why they’re growing. Not just anyone gets to sponsor — we accept sponsorship from vendors and organizations that are really the best-of-breed when it comes to xAPI. And for DevLearn, we have a great list:
- Brightwave is out of the UK. In August, CTO Jonathan Archibald and I had a great chat about xAPI. While they don’t have a booth, their Project Account Manager, Colin Welch, will be out and about at DevLearn all week.
- Cognitive Advisors is among the first wave of adopters of xAPI. My wise friend Marty Rosenheck will be joining us on Tuesday. He and Colleen Enghauser will be at their booth in the Expo Hall all week, #238.
- HT2 is out of the UK. Always pushing us to be more creative and innovative, CEO Dr. Ben Betts and James Mullaney will be around on Tuesday and all week. They have a booth at DevLearn’s Expo Hall, Booth 414.
- OnPoint Digital has people around the world, in beautiful Savannah, Georgia and Middle Earth… I mean, New Zealand. They have a long history pioneering work in mobile learning and are among the first to adopt xAPI. Mike Palmer and Robert Gadd are likely to be around Tuesday and all throughout the week. OnPoint has a booth at the Expo Hall, Booth 113.
- RISC Inc., really gets high stake compliance and advance xAPI and, notably, CMI5. Art Werkenthin will definitely be with us on Tuesday, and you can find him, Duncan Welder and Jon Campbell all week at Booth 412.
- Rustici Software almost needs no introduction as they prototyped and developed innovative work that eventually became xAPI. Continuing to support the community, you’ll find TJ Seabrooks with us on Tuesday.
- Skillaware leverages a few interesting specs and standards, like BPML, DITA and xAPI, in compelling ways. Based out of Italy, you’ll find Fabrizio Cardinali of LACE with us on Tuesday and at the Skillaware booth, #214.
- TorranceLearning won the Hyperdrive at last year’s DevLearn event with an impressive case study, merging xAPI with RFID at a Hands-on Museum. You’ll find Megan Torrance at her own workshop on Tuesday, sneaking in to speak with us. She’ll also be at her booth all wee, #416.
- Trivantis, providers of Lectora, are the first Authoring Tool vendor to support xAPI Camps and we are very happy to have them join us. CTO John Blackmon will be with us on Tuesday and at their booth all week in the Expo Hall, #239.
- Training Evidence Systems (TES) is out of Australia and has interesting work around mobile and performance coaching with xAPI. They can’t make it to DevLearn this year, but you should definitely reach out to Nick Stephenson on Twitter.
What’s Coming at xAPI Camp?
You can check out the agenda and the speakers here. We have a few surprises we’re going to share tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure some of the participants have some surprises to announce, too. Stay tuned — follow along with the hashtag #xAPIcamp.