Wow. That probably sums up the experience I have had the last week. As I'm sitting in Berlin Schönefeld Airport, heavily sleep deprived, I thought I would write down some of my thoughts about the crazy week that is Polyglot Gathering Berlin 2014.
First of all I must try and verbalise an incredibly congratulations to the main organizers: Judith, Martin and Chuck. Leaning on experience of Esperanto events and also the polyglot conference in Berlin these great people took it upon themselves to organise a Berlin gathering, and save for a few technical problems here and there the event was masterfully and professionally done.
WiFi in the Hotel
The wifi was crap, so that meant I could not do the livestream I had promised. I'm terribly sorry. At times it was even hard to check email and facebook messages, so i wasn't able to update the blog saying the live stream was not happening, I do apologize.
Meeting people
I immediately need to thank also everyone who attended the conference, I think by the end of it I spoke to most at least briefly. It is wonderful to meet the real people behind the avatars you have seen online and interacted with in various ways. In the same breath I must also apologise to the people I did not meet, but I guess at the end of the day there is only so many hours and opportunities in the day to interact and with over 200 people participating it can be confusing to figure out.
Those that I did meet were amazing, so thank you guys for the positive experiences.
Talks
There were many really great talks, and although I attended way fewer than I would have liked, those that I did attend were really great. I particularly enjoyed talks that had actionable tips on how I can overcome my problems regarding making time, minimalism (Benny's Talk was GREAT for this) and also grammar. You will be able to see many of the talks on YouTube later, when the organizers have had a good rest and begin to upload them.
Inspiration and Motivation
One HUGE advantage of attending the conference is the huge boost to motivation you get. When you hang around people who are doing what you are doing, only better you get really motivated to work harder and to improve more. Add on top of that the actual tips and helpful advice people gave out during the week and I'm just buzzing to get back and to get working.
Really soon I will write a lengthier trip report and begin to edit and upload the interviews I did with: Lauren/Benny, Richard Simcott, Niels Iversen, Andrew Williams, Gavan Phantom and last but definitely not least Robert Bigler. I'd like to thank these people specifically for taking the time and sharing their wisdom with me and you out there.
Kris is the founder of Actual Fluency, and has spent the last 8 years becoming an expert in language learning software, methods, and techniques.
He lives in Denmark and speaks 5+ languages at varying levels. His other interests are Wine, Online Marketing, and Travelling.