doug — off the record

It’s the summer time and one of the first things of note (to a Computer Science person, at least) is the annual CSTA Conference. This year, it’s in New Orleans.

I’m not going this year but I did take a peak at what was being offered, smiled, and then moved on. This post from Alfred Thompson made me smile again and take another look.

I’m starting to get excited about CSTA. This will probably be my last CSTA so in someways it is a farewell tour. I plan to make the most of it though. #CSTA #CSTA2026 #CSed blog.acthompson.net/2026/06/prev…

— Alfred Thompson (@alfredtwo.bsky.social) June 30, 2026 at 6:33 PM

Follow it through and there’s a post on his blog about it.

My involvement with the conference goes way, way back to when it was hosted by the ACM. (Association for Computer Machinery). That has to be the best name for a computing professional organization ever.

I knew nothing of the two groups until I received an invitation to serve on the conference committee from my friend Chris Stephenson. I missed the first conference but got on board with the second one in Chicago. For twenty years, it was the way I kicked off the summer. I saw a number of different locations throughout the United States as part of the conference committee and had the opportunity to chair the conference the year it was in Grapevine. At one time, it was a Computer Science and Information Technology Symposium and they gave the greatest thank you gifts.

It never was an issue getting to go – it was during summer holidays and so permission was never needed from my employer. For many of the years, my wife joined me and we did some touristy things before/after the conference. Two birds …

I’ve always felt that Computer Science conferences were a little different than most. So many conferences brag that, by attending, you’ll get material you can use in your classroom the next day. As I think back to so many conferences, I’d be lying if I made that claim. Typically, a Computer Science teacher has four years of university studying algorithms, semantics, connections, networking, … When I think of my own studies, I left after four years with a deeper knowledge that barely had a passing similarity to what I originally studied.

So, how could 50 minutes with someone change your professional teaching abilities? I’d suggest in a few ways.

• speaker’s online identity – one thing that Computer Science professionals aren’t hesitant to do is to post publically. When you create so many things digitally, it’s so easy to do…
• making connections – and this where I see the value and why I kept going back. Meet new people, sit around socially after sessions, go out for supper, and/or just pick their minds. Let the conversation go where it might…
• give back more than you take – nobody attends such conferences as empty entities. Everyone has successes and sharing them without being on a formal program can add so much…

And everyone is willing to learn. I remember the year that we were at the Google Headquarters and some Google employees came and sat in on my session. What could I possibly contribute to their learning? Something I hope.

The big takeaway lies in the inspiration that you get for a topic and the motivation that you’ll have to understand the topic and where it might fit into your curriculum. This year, everyone is trying to get a handle on where Artificial Intelligence lies in Education and Computer Science. Nobody is expecting a few sessions to help them master but they should give some important leads on where to start.

And, the connections. For all the good things that I can say about the actual conference, I can say more for the connections. I valued them then and I value them even more today. A Canadian can make friends easily by sharing our curriculum and some goodies like Purdy’s Hedgehogs, Pringle’s Potato Chips, Essex County wine, … Through the years, I’ve made connections and have no hesitancy to ask even the dumbest of questions knowing that I can get an insightful response. Most Saturday afternoons will find me in a Zoom call with some connections as we resolve the issues of the day.

For me, the Computer Science learning was valuable. But, far more valuable are the connections that I’ve made and maintained over the years. The common thread goes back to thinking about and creating a better algorithm. Where else will you get that?

Oh, and that Alfred Thompson guy who likes CSTA so much? Here he is at iBoss Headquarters just swinging along. There’s got to be a program problem there somewhere.