PAA 2009 in Detroit

I arrived in Detroit this morning from Ann Arbor, where I attended APLIC's 42^nd Annual Conference at the University of Michigan. It was a fantastic conference featuring Myron Gutmann of ICPSR as our keynote speaker.

I was in the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center no more than 10 minutes and I see Jodie Lee, which was a pleasant surprise. I knew she would be very visible because she has helped Kathie Harris to organize the whole conference, I just didn’t think I would see her right away!

I attended the session about The Future of Survey Research. Barbara Entwisle was one of the speakers. Barbara and the other presenters talked about how survey research has changed over the years and about some of the opportunities and challenges for the future. Some of the content expanded on what I heard at the APLIC conference including the strengths of linking data sets in population research and concerns about respondent confidentiality (especially with spatial data).

I forgot my personal digital camera in my hotel room across the skyway so I played sidekick to Nancy Dole as we tried to learn CPC’s fantastic new digital camera, the Canon PowerShot SD1100 (available for CPCers to use, contact the CPC library to reserve it). Thankfully, current and former CPCers are so willing to have their photos taken! And if they’re not, sometimes I just say Swasey said so.

Nancy and I stopped by the Measure Evaluation booth in the exhibit hall. The new “seamless” booth looks fantastic and Leah Gordon said that it’s easy to assemble, as long as it’s shipped to the hotel directly.

Photo is of the Marriott Hotel taken from my hotel. Note the People Mover at the station near the left and the Detroit River in the distance beyond/above the People Mover. I haven’t determined whether General Motors owns the Renaissance Center or whether the Renaissance Center is featuring the GM brand but for some reason “General Motors” appears on the front of the hotel.

Lori Delaney

PAA day 1

It's a rainy day in Detroit, but that hasn't interfered with all the PAA activities at the Marriott Detroit. I participated in a meeting of the computer directors of several of the other population centers yesterday afternoon and we shared ideas and issues that many of us are facing. It's a great way to meet research services counterparts from all over the country.

Many CPC alumni are here -- I've talked with Joe Rogers, Susan Newcomer, Ray Langsten, Craig St. John, Tom McDevitt, Jeff Edmeades, Martin Piotrowski, Yuying Tong, Bill Pan, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of our current and former folks.

Lori Delaney and I took some pictures of the poster session this afternoon, but I don't have the camera cable to upload at this time. Swasey may be able to help us when he arrives tomorrow.

Several of us are taking the tour of Detroit later today. Even with the rain, it should be an interesting view of the Motor City.

Hope all is well at CPC!

Nancy

Detroit People Mover

I arrived in Detroit yesterday and had a chance to explore some of the interesting areas outside of the Renaissance Center by getting on the Detroit People Mover. The People Mover is an automated guide way transportation system that circulates around downtown Detroit. I used it to get to Greek Town. Even though Greek Town is a short walk away (.5 miles), you can see a lot of the downtown sights in the People Mover, since it is elevated. Some of the sites include the Detroit Riverwalk and Comerica Park. It only cots 50 cents to go on the People Mover and it is a great way to do some quick sight-seeing in between PAA sessions. The food in Greek Town was tasty and authentic. I am sure a lot of PAA attendees will find good places to eat there.

PAA Detroit 2009

Welcome to CPC's coverage of the Population Association of America's (PAA) annual meeting. The Population Association of America is a nonprofit, scientific, professional organization established to promote the improvement, advancement, and progress of the human race through research of problems related to human population. We hope that you can experience the important training and info sharing at this meeting either in person or from afar.