Amazing New Conference App! Still Recovering.
There is big excitement in the AERO office this week because, for the first time, we are using an amazing app for the AERO conference that will tell you just about anything you want to know. And it can be updated almost immediately with newly announced spontaneous workshops. 

Below, Wylie, who has been importing all the information is week, will describe what this new app can do. Even if you weren't planning to go to the AERO conference this year, you should take a look. 

Meanwhile I'm still recovering from my travel sickness and may need to take some medications. 

A Couple of Important Heads Up:
  1. We've maintained the low income option of $225 to this point, but it will be removed soon. It is up to your judgement if you are low income. If you want to take advantage of this, please register in the next day or two. 
  2. We are approaching our contracted limit for rooms at the Portland Airport Holiday Inn. There are still rooms available for all days, but you should reserve soon. You have nothing to lose. You can still cancel on 24 hours notice. 

This week we received interesting feedback from our request to get the word out about the AERO conference in Oregon and the west coast. One woman said she's seen nothing locally in her social media. So we have a former AERO webmaster. Josh Cook, who will be helping to rectify this. If you have ideas for posts on social media about the conference, please do what you can! Thanks!

AERO conference ,  August 3-7  in Portland, OR.   Please contact me if you have ideas about this, if you or a group needs some special help to be able to attend, etc. If you haven't  registered  yet and you need help with that let us know.  


AERO Conference App!
I'm happy to announce that for the first time ever at an AERO conference we will have a smartphone app available. We have decided to use  Whova , an app company that specializes in conference organization. The app has a ton of useful features including a full schedule that you can use to build your own agenda, check in to workshops, send messages, read speaker and presenter biographies, network with other attendees, and get notifications about impromptu workshops and events. 

The app lets you scan your business card and share it digitally with other attendees through the app. You can also scan other people's business cards and store them.

The app will be a powerful tool for networking, and you will have any information you need about the conference at your fingertips. We are still adding the smaller details like logistics and attendees. If you registered for the conference then sign up for the app with the email you used to register for the AERO conference and you will automatically be linked to this event. You can then set up your profile.

If multiple people registered under one email address and the rest need to access the app, or if you haven't registered for the conference but want to check it out you can email me here and I'll set you up with a profile.

The app is available on  Android  and  ios
- Wylie Kuhn, Creative Director

Minecraft
We will again have a Minecraft server at this year's conference! Minecraft was a huge hit at the last conference so we have decided to do it again. The server will be open to anyone at the conference who has a computer to play on. It will be password protected and you can get the password at the conference.

New Workshops
  • Tabouleh Dialogue: exploring ideas of democratic schooling while cooking together - Ofira Roll
  • Changing the Special Education Paradigm with Observing for Learning - Monica Cochran
  • Group life coaching - in the form of a condensed workshop - Meghan Carrico, Tina-Marie Meyer
You can read about them on our workshops page.

Chi Kong
We have arranged to have  Chi Kong at the conference every day. It is a holistic system of coordinated body posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, it is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi.

Last year a group of students from Colorado attended the AERO conference with the goal of designing a public democratic school. They are still working on their project and have a crowdfunding campaign going to fund their travel to the 2016 AERO Conference. It's an amazing project and any help you could give them would be great. Their teacher, Laura Pretty writes: "So far we've raised over $1000!  We need to raise about 300 more dollars this week to be able to afford to book our flight, and we're a little worried that we'll miss our deadline."  Please help put them over the top. We'll help with registration costs.  


Jerry Mintz
Executive Director
Alternative Education Resource Organization