AWARD WINNER: At Learning2011, the iPad received the “Game Changer” Learning Award. “Apple’s iPad has put a spotlight on evolving ‘affordances’ for learning, teaching, knowledge access, and collaborating

by introducing the most widely used tablet computing device,” Masie said. “...We are tracking wide and deep innovations triggered by the iPad.”

How is technology affecting the human brain and particularly how people process information and learn? How can meeting professionals capitalize on the opportunities presented by new technologies? Two of our speakers this year were Sharon Begley, who wrote a Newsweek cover story on information overload, and Columbia University Professor Betsy Sparrow, who co-authored a Science magazine article on Google’s effect on our memory. Both of them said provocative things about how the brain is changing and information over- load—and I haven’t figured out what we do about it. We are getting better in reacting to changing phenom-

ena. So if you are a nurse, you can’t rely on what you learned in nursing school, because every six weeks you need to learn new stuff. If you are a meeting planner in an association, the same is true. It is not about using more technology, but understanding that with technol- ogy you can learn more. Betsy was talking about memory—if we know that the knowledge lives on the association’s hard drive, on the website, it is not about such structured learning but means we don’t have to learn everything to the point of memorization. In fact, we have to help people build a mental framework

for the work they are doing rather than learn unimportant facts.We are enormously excited about learning about that

process, which means we will do more pre-event strategies where people read or watch beforehand.We will move away from structured keynotes to interviews.We will help people understand that some of the best content isn’t in the Power- Point presentations, but in the story that the expert shares. I think technology allows us to capture events and then cre- ate micro moments that become viral. I did one interview with

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