CASFAA Conference

I gave my "iPod Generation" presentation at the CASFAA conference in Ontario today. It was a great group - very interested and engaged in what I had to say. I have been giving this presentation for about a year and a half now, and each time I always ask questions such as "How many people have an IM screen name?" or "How many people have used Wikipedia or Google Earth?". The largest percentage of people who would raise their hand before today was about 1/3 of the audience, but today I had half or more respond positively. I figure this is due to one of the following possible reasons:

1. The technology is working its way into the mainstream
2. This audience was younger and more open to trying new technology (hence the iPod Generation)
   
3. Financial Aid people are very hip

It was interesting to see the difference in population at this conference. I'm usually at technology conferences where you have a large gathering of people with (at best) rudimentary social skills. It was interesting to see a conference with "normal people" engaging in actual conversation instead of staring at their laptops. Interesting, but creepy nonetheless. It will be good to back among the geeks tomorrow.