September 26, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Despite the many advances in communications technology, the traditional conference isn’t in danger of being replaced anytime soon, according to one nonprofit technology expert.
In the days before a large nonprofit technology gathering was held this year, a participant on a technology discussion list took the Nonprofit Technology Network, the organization holding the event, to task for being “so ‘20th century’ as to hold a conference people actually attended,” Gavin Clabaugh, vice president for information services at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, writes on his blog,
called Gavin’s Digital Diner.
“To put it personally — and curmudgeonly — there was no way in hell I’d be willing to attend a conference where I really wanted to be, with a virtual substitute,” he writes. “There are just some things you can’t do in WebEx. Those things are the reasons I actually go to conferences.”
Mr. Clabaugh says that tools like video conferencing and Second Life have value, but they can’t replace face-to-face interaction: “It’s the subtleties in interpersonal communications that make a conference a conference, and a meeting more than talking heads on an LCD screen.”
What do you think? Has your organization been able to use information technology to cut down on travel, or was there something missing?
