It’s that time of year again. No, I don’t mean the Christmas lights and shopping, but starting to think about BETT in January. If you’re serious about educational technology you really must try to get there, even if you can only manage a day: you’re bound to see something that you find interesting and useful.

BETT 2013

Here are 10 good reasons to attend. Arrange them in any order you like, and take the list to your senior leadership team if you need to, in order to be permitted to go. (That's an interesting turn of phrase. I think it should be a requirement to attend BETT, or something similar, at least once a year.)

to network with others
to see new products
to see prototypes of forthcoming products
to pick the brains of suppliers and others
to attend talks by leading experts in their field
to attend and take part in discussions with colleagues from other schools, organisations and areas
to obtain training in products you already have
to find suppliers of a certain type of product you’re interested in
to compare different products of the same type
to help prepare for the new Computing Programme of Study

Free bonus reason!

to enjoy the buzz!