First off, the last of my VSTE photos have been posted here.  Enjoy!

Now. The final session. This is where Dan, VSTE’s executive director, takes the time thank everyone who came to the conference, and everyone who helped with the conference. The final session is also where everyone else shows up for a chance to win cool stuff (a $2000 Smartboard! A Best Buy gift card! A stuffed dog!)  Rich K. was one of six volunteers honored with a bag full of M&Ms (I still don’t know the story behind this. Someday, someone will tell me.)  Sara M. got a great t-shirt for being one of the handful of presenters who “wowed” people at her breakout session.

But, frankly, I have to admit, the one I was most envious of was Tom K. He was the one Virginia Beach attendee who actually had his ticket number called, and he got a basket loaded with software. Including Adobe Creative Suite CS3.  Yeah, that was my reaction, too. Tom, buddy, if you ever decide to “share the love”, remember, you got a whole basket of stuff. You wouldn’t miss one Adobe suite.

I was AMAZED at how quickly the Crystal Ballroom cleared out after they passed out the last gift.  Everyone made a rush for the doors, then the parking lots. Rich and I pulled out in a decent amount of time, but as we were waiting in a line on the street, we both heard a slight screech and a bang. We turned around in time to see an SUV in the opposite lane that had apparently been clipped, about 10 vehicles behind us.  The SUV had jumped the median, and looked like it might have collided with a semi that was also sitting still in the same line of traffic we were in. Fortunately, there were several people in the immediate area who rushed to see what had happened. We hope everything was okay.

We made it out of Roanoke and on the road in good time, not really running into any problems until we decided to eat dinner. (Hence the elusive Outback comment in the last post).

The only other hitch was the backed up traffic as we approached the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.  I thought backups like that only happened when I was in a hurry to get to Busch Gardens or Williamsburg…

And, as you now gather, the Roanoke Roadcrew is now home, safe, sound, and back at work.

I had a great time, I learned a lot, I laughed a lot, I walked a lot, and I got to spend quality time with my peers, who I consider my friends.  Thanks to Janene and Rich, who helped prod me into going this year, and to George MacKay, my principal, a prince of a pal, who had it possible for me to attend.

Next year, VSTE will be held in Virginia Beach, February 22-24, so make your plans now to attend!

Now, to think of some other things to write about. My current NETS-T Capstone course?

Nah.