As a young contractor to JSC, I found the Gen Y presentation to reek of superiority and pompousness. Just because we are young and grew up in a world of instant gratification and inflated self-importance, doesn't mean that the "older" NASA employees and scientists need to change their ways to accommodate us. We (Gen Y) need to get off our high digital horses and learn how to work in a cooperative environment.
The world, it seems, does not revolve around Gen Y.

Space Cadet, AMEN! These same Gen Y'ers need to get off their rear and contribute something beyond a whining presentation that says, "You do not understand us."

I gave them a polite audience but I, too, found it offensive. Stop telling everyone what NASA is not doing and tell the Agency what could be done, given the budget, resources and legal realities.

If if's and but's were candy and nuts we'd all have a Merry Christmas! We do not live in the fairytale land of "What if's?" We live in a real world with real rules and real requirements. You succeed by learning how best to navigate and produce within and despite the restrictions.

If you do not like the restrictions, then work to change them! But you have to WORK!

It is time for the Gen Y'ers to provide recommended solutions to better engage a generation that, rightly or wrongly, has been labeled as tech-happy spoiled brats who expect immediate gratification without contributing anything of real value to the process.

You have to earn the right to be here and to have a say. You don't get a seat at the table simply by accident of birth.

I agree with the previous posters. I have sat through several of their pitches w/senior brass. They are earnest and communicate well, but there is an air of entitlement to them - they think that they are somehow due special consideration because they are somehow different i.e under 30.

Heck, my generation was different when we showed up at NASA In the 80's and used Fax machines and email and did not use punch cards while our management used slide rules and pencil and graph paper. Yet our managers were smart enough to use our new skills but taught us tried and true behaviors at the same time.

This Generation Y crowd seems to think that no one over 30 has anything to say worth listening to. Unless they adapt they will soon get ignored like so many other managerial fads at NASA.

They can do 4 things at once in parallel fashion but do they do these things all as well as someone who does them in serial fashion? I remain to be convinced.

At the end of the day quality rules. These kids get bored fast and do not seem to have the patience it takes to fully engage a problem - and learn as they solve it.

I agree that the Gen Y presentation had more than a whiff of self-absorption about it, however, one also has to acknowledge that if this is the audience you are trying to sell NASA to, then you are going to have to approach them differently. Younger members of the NASA community came up wioth that presentation apparently in an effort to get NASA management to think of new ways to communicate with the Gen Y that is _outside_ NASA so that the dreams and visions of those of us inside would be contagious. It is Gen Y that will soon be paying most of the taxes and if they are not engaged they will not pay.

However...

Relating directly to the Canadian presentation, have you looked at that? The feel is, I think rather different. It is all about the dream and how to sustain it. I think you'll like it more. I'd be interested in hearing what people thought about it. I work at MDA and had a very small advisory part in it. I know those who did most of the work would like to hear what people's impressions were.

NASA has known for quite some time that it has a marketing problem. I've heard it over and over again in Business, outreach and other training classes in the agency and quite frankly see it when I talk to folks that are "outsiders". The Gen Y presentation really just said this all over again but complaining in a narcissistic manner that its me me me that you need to reach.

What they forget is that the marketing approach has to reach people of all ages and cultures. The other posters hit it right on in that their approach is arrogant because it implied that only they understand globalization, multi-tasking, etc. As if, someone over 30, 40 or more just can't adapt and understand. There is nothing new in this message and it certainly isn't put together with much class or sensitivity.

The Canadian presentation is fundamentally different from the NASA Gen Y presentation. The Canadian pitch is not about Gen Y - its about why space is a good thing for the Canadian future - and a very similar presentation could apply to most nations including the US. The Canadian presentation is a great marketing tool for space.

The NASA Gen Y presentation is all about why Gen Y is different - they are different - they've grown up in a society in which information is readily available and communications is more easily facilitated - but it also means that many Gen Y'ers in the West have never had to make the effort to seek out knowledge, and they have no attention span, and they find it difficult to focus - and their work and understanding reflects a shallowness. Thats exactly what the NASA Gen Y presentation reflects.

It may very well be the reason so few students in the US are choosing to study science, technology, or engineering and why foreigners so outnumber natives in these areas in the unversities today. It does not bode well for the future of US science, technology, engineering or for NASA and the US space program.