- When the White House wanted to include technology in its decennial Conference on Aging, the Center for Aging Services Technology (CAST) was asked to take the lead. CAST brings together America’s thought leaders on aging to focus on policy issues that impact how technology can be adapted or created for aging Americans.
- The PR team aimed to leverage the high-profile White House summit to create national awareness of the issue, as well as awareness among policy makers of the need to remove barriers that slowed technology development. The PR team helped coordinate the Technology Pavilion at the conference, pulling together everything from futuristic robotic "Nursebots" to motion sensors for families to use in monitoring elderly relatives at home. The demonstration featured new technologies and applications, many being shown together for the first time, by Intel, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Phillips Electronics, Carnegie-Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester and more than 20 other organizations. Intel Chairman Craig Barrett was secured to chair the press conference. The event attracted Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert James Nicholson.
- Coverage of the event appeared in more than 170 outlets including on the wires of The Associated Press, Gannett, Knight Ridder and UPI, as well as in BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, the San Jose Mercury News, the Chicago Tribune and on FOX national news and the Public Broadcasting Services Nightly Business Report. More than 177 million Americans saw, heard or read about the Technology Pavilion, heard messages about the need for such technologies, and saw pictures that inspired them with a vision of a future where technology helps older Americans age at home, with dignity and new versions of tools they've known all their lives.
