I just got back last night from Indianapolis, IN where I attended the CIC TechForum 2007. The TF is an event sponsored by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation — essentially the Big Ten schools, but with a focus on academics and administration. I was lucky enough to present and Allan Gyorke and I shared a presentation related to using Web 2.0 technologies and philosophies to support innovation. It is a talk I have been trying out lately, only compressed into the short 20 minutes we were given. I really think it has some potential. The talk essentially covers the steps we’ve been taking in ETS to create a culture of innovation. We discussed only a couple of the things we are doing — namely the Hot Team process, the Engagement Process, and the Community Hubs. We had lots of great questions and spent quite a bit of time after the fact talking to people in the halls and at the bar. A good trip … I have posted my slides over at my PSU Updates blog. I’ll be recording some audio over them and will post those as well.

Going away always leads to pain and suffering upon return. Having to catch up on the hundreds of emails that come in while attending sessions is insane. Today I got through about half of it all — if you are waiting on something from I swear I’ll get to it very soon. The trip was a pain as usual — a 4 hour delay heading out and a delay induced sprint from one gate to the next on the return wore me down. Travel is not exotic and it is not fun … what happens in between is great, but if the airlines don’t get any better conferences better start investing in better web-based conference systems b/c I am staying home. Speaking of home, now that I’m hear, I am heading back into the other room to start the weekend with the family!