I am sometimes asked by friends and colleagues which brand is my favorite. Some may say it’s Starbucks because I live on coffee, others may say it may be an athletic brand. However, my favorite brand is one that not only produces great products and tools, but has some of the best people behind the brand who are engaged with moving the industry forward.
The brand I am talking about is Adobe.
Adobe is amazing. I have had a professional relationship with the team for the last several years, and what they continue to do is inspiring. They are not slowing down at all – in fact, I think they have just begun. I am saying this because I just got back from my time in Los Angeles where I spent three amazing days learning, growing, and being in a state of constant amazement.
Because of being so busy over the past few days with workshops, sessions, keynotes, and meet ups – it has taken me a few days to collect all of my thoughts and takeaways from the event.
I had the amazing opportunity to be part of the EDUmax experience this year in Los Angeles (will be back in CA next year!) I have been to both EDUmax and Adobe MAX for the past few years, and I have to say:
This was the BEST EDUmax and MAX I have ever been to!
Yep. Hands down the best. Every year it seems like the event gets better and better. I walked away from the event truly inspired and ready to bring back some insights back to my students and colleagues. There were so many amazing updates here from Adobe with their products, new tools to use to spark our creativity, and opportunities to chat with the great professionals behind the Adobe brand logo. The three days I was in LA were:
Inspiring.
Energetic.
Magical.
Transformative.
Let me show you WHY these are two events you want to make sure to get to in the future!
EDUMax
The first stop for me was EDUMax. What is EDUMax? It is a full day event dedicated to bringing together educators, higher education professionals, and Adobe professionals to discuss current trends, issues, and case studies on how to bridge the gap between education and industry.
What were some things that were discussed at EDUMax? First, the event got a new logo, as Sebastian shared (yay!)! They have a new logo and hashtag (#EDUMax2018). This was a big move for Adobe to work on this and get this established for the event in its third year in a role.
Digital Literacy. The other aspect that was covered and really emphasized here at both Adobe MAX and EDU max focused on digital literacy. Digital literacy is everywhere – this is definitely a key area that Adobe wants to embrace and work towards helping address this across the different areas and industries. During this time at EDUMax, the official launch the Adobe Creative Campus Program with Digital Literacy Thought Leaders. This means campuses can have the opportunity to work and partner with Adobe to host these Creative Campus events. How cool is this?!
A key takeaway for me was the fact, as Sebastian mentioned, we have to be digital literate in the digital world – we have to make sure to do this for our students and everyone in our industry! So important and we need to be embracing this in and out of our classes.
Becoming fluent. We have to become “fluent” in many different aspects when it comes to digital and social media. These mediums in many ways embrace a new language for all of us to learn and communicate in.
I really enjoyed the professionals from Penn State because they addressed this so clearly and it sparked a huge light bulb for me! This was by far one of my favorites. Along with digital literacy and fluency, here’s what they proposed here:
- Storytelling fluency: able to analyze and create a message that accounts for accordances of medium, audience diversity. One Button Studio User.
- Maker fluency: Able to identify new problems and design/create solutions
- Immersive fluency: Able to engage immersive environments that present unlikely experiences that discerns the intersection between real and virtual.
- Change fluency: Able to look at a situation fairly from all angles, visualize applications, and create novel answers by maximizing available resources.
- Prototyping fluency: Able to create digital tools that breaks down problems and presents problems that guide a users through experiences.
- Data fluency: Able to responsibility handiness data to ask new questions, formulate hypotheses, and answer previously unanswerable questions.
I think these aspects need to be integrated into what we are covering and applying in each of our classes. In fact, these can serve as good learning objectives or classes in both social and digital capacities. I know there are going to be some adoptions to these in my future classes. I feel like I am doing some of these already in my social media classes, but I think it’s key to embrace all of these to best prepare our students.
What is a “maker” student?: Bryan Lamkin discussed this in great detail here by stating that the modern student (a maker) not only understands what the problem is, but also produces the solutions. Adobe is creating the power to digital tools to communicate and solve problems, create innovative solutions in a digital and automated world. It’s not about building technical skills and capabilities.
In fact, Lamkin discussed how it is more important to bridge critical thinking, identify problems and opportunities and collaborate with the combination of creative problem solvers to address issues in digital literacy. Digital natives (our students) are already embracing technology across the board. We have to embrace storytelling across mediums.
One thing I would like to add here is the fact I think makers are not just designated to students, but they could be also applied to educators as well. I think having a maker mentality is crucial to be able to come up with new solutions and ideas for how to approach different problems and opportunities in our lives. I think this could potentially be something we see emerge across different levels in education, which is pretty exciting!
Captivating stories
We got a chance to see and hear from some amazing universities and professionals during the course of EDUMax from UC Berkeley, Penn State, Temple University and UNC. We also got to hear from Jake (you may recognize him as the Washington State University student who created the viral video where he rapped and got an internship with Jimmy Fallon).
Jake had some great advice for the educators and students in the room about working hard, but also making sure to have the resources (and encouragement) to take risks and learn from them when it comes to creativity. I think this is key for all of us to note as we move forward and think about how we can disrupt the narrative or get the attention of others for possible opportunities and connections.
MAX
I was able to also attend Adobe MAX, which was FUN! I got to hang out with 14,000 of my friends. Yes, I did say 14,000 and there were a TON of people there at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
When I arrived, I was amazed with how much had changed since I lived in Downtown LA. I was there for two years, and it was a great place to be, but they were still trying to revitalize the residential living downtown. There wasn’t a lot around my apartment or the Staples Center. Now – there’s everything! I was very impressed.
The main keynote was spectacular and really jammed pack with SO many updates. I remember thinking – wow! There are so many updates and news already, and we are just a few minutes in the session! Lots of updates focused on the established programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc – but there was one tool that was launched I was VERY excited about. This product was Adobe Premiere Rush.
If you are like me, video editing and production can be intimidating. Yet, video is the main way we are communicating nowadays and everyone needs to learn how to do it. There are programs that are very sophisticated (Premiere) and others that are simple and easy to use (Adobe Spark Video). Rush is right there in between. It’s mobile and cloud based and it is SO easy to use, but provides the look of a professional video.
Here’s one video I created with Rush after EDUMax to show you how easy it is to create these videos!
Special Thanks
I can’t thank Adobe enough for not only the products and tools they are creating for all of us to spark our creativity, but for the people behind the brand. You all are the best! I truly am thankful to be able to get to know each and every one of you for what you are doing for educators, students, and the industry.
Below is a video clip of me stopping by the Creative booth at the Community Pavilion (so many vendors and stops, so little time!), but this best showcases how I felt during my time with Adobe. Pure joy and happiness is shown here – I am jumping up and down with excitement and inspiration to take what I have learned back with me to Kentucky.
I would like to thank several Adobe friends and colleagues specifically:
Jim – Thank you for taking the time to chat with me during EDUMax and at the EDUMax opening reception. I really appreciated hearing your kind words to help me with video editing and production. I am still very thankful for the time you talked to me during the Creative Campus event workshop on Premiere! Really appreciate your kind words and friendship.
Karen – Thank you for your constant support and encouragement for Adobe Education! It was a pleasure catching up with you during EDUMax and the Reception!
Cory – It was wonderful to finally meet you after having lots of conversations on Twitter! Keep up the amazing work with Adobe on their social media team. You all are doing amazing!
Joe – Great to finally meet you in person! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me during the Podcast session you were at! It was a highlight for me! I look forward to continuing our conversation online!
Lisa – You did a tremendous job organizing and getting everything together! Love all of the swag items we got during EDUMax – this was SO kind of you all! This again was the best event I have been to, and I can’t thank you enough for all you have done.
And last, but certainly not least, I’d love to give a special S/O to Sebastian. Seb is TRULY the greatest of all-time for being an advocate and visionary for innovative education partnerships. You have made such a difference and impact in all of our lives, Seb. You are truly the best and what you have created here for educators and students is indeed magical. I have shared with others how the community you have built here for EDUMax is unlike any other I have been a part of. It’s truly a family – one I am honored to be a part of. Thank you again for all you have done and for your continued friendship!
For my fellow colleagues and friends – make sure you mark your calendars for November 2-6th next year for EDUMax and Adobe MAX! This is a MUST go to experience (my favorite professional event to go to!) – it will certainly transform how you approach your classes while creating a new strategic mindset to embrace and creatively execute your ideas and stories.
I CAN’T wait till next year’s event! I am already counting down the days!!!
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
