What's In My Conference Bag?

It's about a week out from eLearning Guild's annual DevLearn conference. I'm starting to plan what I'm bringing and all of my logistics for the conference. JD Dillon wrote a post titled, "What's in my conference bag?"

I figured I would join in on the fun and share what's in my conference bag too! Here are lists of physical and digial products that keep me going during the conference and some that I use just for fun. Join in and share what's in your conference bag!

Physical

Here are a few of the items that I bring to conferences and on my travels.

1. Fjallraven's kånken 15" laptop backpack

   This is by far the best backpack I have ever owned. It's great in all weather conditions. My laptop is a 13" but I went with the 15" for more room.

2. All of my Moment Lenses, especially the wide lens

   I love taking pictures but I hate getting my camera out and carrying it around. Moment lenses really improve the pictures that I take via my phone. They are well worth the investment.
3. Ricoh Theta SC

The Ricoh Theta SC is a small camera that takes 360 images and videos. I just started using it to create VR 360 tours and more. You can do a lot with apps for the camera as well.

4. Business cards

   I get my business cards from Moo Cards. I designed the cards myself and then had Moo print them. I wanted my cards to show my personality and reflect the sometimes quirky work that I do. Moo also has some pretty cool card designs if you are not into making your own.

   

5. MacBook Pro

   I have the latest 13" MacBook Pro. I do all of my blogging, design/dev, and presentation work on it.

6. USB, HDMI, and VGA converters

   Since my MacBook Pro is the newest edition it doesn't have any USB or HDMI outlets, so I need to have converters for just about every outlet possible.

7. iPhone 6S

   I use my iPhone mainly for taking notes, taking photos, and tweeting. I'm waiting on the iPhone X but this does the job.

Digital

These are a few of the digital products I use at conferences and on my travels.

1. Ludus

   I use Ludus for my presentations. It's a really awesome web app that I learned about via Product Hunt. The coolest part is that you can easily add in loads of multimedia from different channels. You're able to add in websites via iframe, images from Giphy, icons from Noun Project, videos directly from YouTube, and so much more.

2. Twitter

   Twitter is the most important app for me at a conference. I use it to learn more about other people's conference experiences, to connect with others both in person and online, and to share what I am learning. Conferences usually have a conference hashtag, so I follow that the entire time.

3. LinkedIn

   When I meet new people at a conference I try to connect with them on LinkedIn right away so that it's fresh in my mind.

4. Ricoh Theta S app

   The Ricoh Theta S app works with my Ricoh Theta SC camera. The app allows me to choose how I want to take my 360 photos or videos. I can take photos automatically have them be timed and changed several other settings. I can also directly upload all of my shots to social media from the app.

5. Theta+ app

   I bring my 360 pictures from the Theta S app into the Theta+ app. The Theta+ allows me to create images called little planets, edit my 360 images, and more.

   

6. Netflix app

   When I know I am going to be travelling I make sure to download new shows and movies to watch offline on the plane.

— Mel