Andrew Alden on the floor at EFA

The Environments for Aging conference is in full swing. I enjoyed both presenting and attending the workshop sessions yesterday. I appreciated the session on the SAGE and AIA student design competition. We need young designers to take an interest in environments for older adults—infuse us all with new ideas! I hope they can find sponsors to help fund the Student Design Competition next year. This was the second year of the competition and the interest in skyrocketing.

As I was moving between sessions this morning, it occurred to me the number of greetings and conversations I have at the show is amazing. It seems like walking down the street in your hometown. I am surprised I made it to the sessions on time with the number of old and new friends I encounter. The established receptions and lunches do encourage interaction (with a longer break between sessions), but don’t dismiss the casual conversation or shout to “let’s sit down after the session” to fully appreciate the EFA conference experience.

As a side note, the desserts at lunch were wonderful!