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The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is the professional home for English educators. For more than 100 years, NCTE has been developing, energizing, and appreciating English teachers—even more so during these unprecedented times. Each year, English educators across the United States come together to learn, grow, and build community at NCTE’s Annual Convention.
NCTE’s 2021 Annual Convention theme, “Equity, Justice, and Antiracist Teaching,” originated in a vision for bringing together language and literacy professionals to co-create a humanized, more just world for students, families, and teachers in a combined virtual and in-person event. COVID-19 had other plans, and NCTE was ready to shift and adapt to an online-only event with the help of Forj.com, an online event platform for associations. Never has an NCTE Annual Convention felt necessary in response to the climate in which the education sector has found itself. With educators at heart, our goal was to tackle relevant, difficult conversations, providing teachers with researched topics and tools to bring back to the classroom. Our mission was to impact as many professionals as possible with the highest-quality programming and experience.
NCTE designed and developed an event experience with teachers in mind, building a virtual journey that allowed teachers to feel connected using Forj.ai. We executed a successful four-day live Convention, providing access to sessions until February 19, 2022.
From November 18–21, 2021, NCTE welcomed 5,451 educators. NCTE’s 2021 Annual Convention exceeded 2020’s virtual Convention by 1,000 registrants. NCTE gave more than 2,000 authors, educators, and thought leaders a voice as presenters at the 2021 convention, increasing 196 percent over 2020. Attendees networked with each other and our presenters by visiting our event lounges and sharing more than 175,000 chat messages during the Convention.
Each year NCTE selects general session speakers who bring a wide range of perspectives and expertise. 2021 was no exception. NCTE welcomed Michelle Obama, George M. Johnson, Colson Whitehead, and Amanda Gorman to speak and share their collective stories. The Annual 2021 Convention included opportunities to engage with authors within our virtual exhibit hall or attend an author “meet and greet.” We added a virtual Photo Booth for fun.
Industry partners are essential to Convention. They attend NCTE to support educators, promote books and resources, introduce new authors and books to educators, create brand awareness, and generate leads. In 2021, there were 26,444 unique visits to expo halls and booths, which is a 25 percent increase in engagement over 2020.
Ninety-one percent of #NCTE21 attendees rated Convention as excellent, very good, or good. One attendee shared, “I have been attending for the past 21 years, AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE BEST!”
Each year, NCTE’s Convention brings the opportunity to reconnect and form new connections, embrace teaching and research, and be a place for those who call “teaching” their home.
“Through the voices of 5,000+ educators across the country, NCTE’s Convention continues to push boundaries and open pathways for students and teachers to learn, grow, and create lasting opportunities and connections, which couldn’t be more critical during these unprecedented times.” Emily Kirkpatrick, Executive Director, NCTE
