So much to say about the “Connecting with the Wired Generation” conference that I don’t have time to post… suffice to say I’ve got a whole new perspective on the level of technology saturation that is going to be part of Miles’ life – far beyond what even I had imagined (e.g. cell phone penetration among 1st graders in Finland is now 100%!)
During the final panel, when all the young kids (9 1/2 to 17) were on stage, I asked their impressions of 2 Cool To Be Real, wanting to find out whether they could see through the beef industry smokescreen. First reaction from the girls: “Anything pink is evil.” Second reaction: “If it’s called “2 cool” or “Be real” you know it can’t be cool, because it wouldn’t say it if it were. Probably made by some 60 yr old guy or something.” In other words, teenage girls have excellent bullshit detectors. The latter response made me think of Fox News: “Fair and Balanced” and O’Reilly’s “No Spin Zone” — if it was really fair and balanced would they feel the need to declare it? If O’Reilly didn’t spin, would he be spinning the image of his own show in the tagline?
Glad to have both conferences, and all of the webcasting that came with, finished. A week of 12-14 hour days and Saturday too. A day of rest at last today — dim sum in the morning with friends, errands mid-day, afternoon to Strawberry Canyon for first poolside day of the new Spring, and Miles’ first experience in a swimming pool (pix TK).