My reaction to yesterday and today is that my Amazon purchases are going to leap after this conference…there are about five books I’m going to buy based on people I’ve been exposed to here.
One thing that has been delightful about being here is how much thought leadership can influence, inform and guide ones thinking. It sure has for me. So much of what I’m involved in centers around materially changing human engagement in a virtual way: collaborating online, synchronous and asynchronous communication (online hubs for managing projects, having discussions, jointly working on tasks) and perspectives gained here are being added to many, many others. All of this input is giving me a depth, texture and nuanced feel for what online offerings must deliver in order to achieve success with an acceleratingly diverse set of users.
Linda Stone kicked today off with her talk on continuous partial attention. I always find it useful to hear this again…probably because I’ve always paid partial attention to her talk in the past. 
Stowe Boyd, John Beck (author, Got Game) and Jim Ware, Exec Producer Work Design Collaborative.
Sound bites from these guys (look at their presentations to view more). Jim was up first and mentioned:
- Discussed the shifts in the US in demographics. By 2010, there will be 10 million jobs unfilled
- The type of worker is shifting. The emergent workers (youth with new organizational and work attitudes) will be >70% of the work force by 2007
- By 2006, 50% of US Federal government workers are eligible for retirement
- Be prepared for major talent shortages
- Learn to manage generational diversity
- Become a next generation company.
Next up was the passionate, ebullient and engaging John Beck…
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