Remember when phones were just phones and computers sat on a desk? Now we bring our computers everywhere and use our phones to check our email or find directions to where we’re going.  Technology is advancing faster than ever and there is always some great new way to be more efficient.

As a professional person, I appreciate the progress. There are certainly benefits to being able to bring your work with you and make a coffee shop your office for a few hours. I love emailing and prefer that to conference calls, and research is so much easier when you can just Google it.

There are a few hazards with these advances, too. As a conference planner, technological advances like virtual meetings and conference calls have certainly made things more convenient and often more cost-effective. But there is no replacement for face-to-face meetings. There is great worth in getting people together in a room to discuss important issues. The human interaction, networking, and idea  and information sharing that happens at most conferences is much more valuable than giving updates in 140 characters or less.