The Association of Opinion Page Editors celebrated its 20th anniversary in September by holding a conference at the same location as its first meeting - Penn State University. In the fall of 1988, H.W. Bush was running against Dukakis, no one had heard of a World Wide Web, and the @ symbol occurred most often in comic strips, to signify swearing.

Fast forward two decades to AOPE's latest conference, and you heard:

• A discussion of technology, how college students use it, and how Facebook and on-demand video have changed the face of communication.
• An analysis of the 2008 campaign showing how and why the old rules no longer apply.
• An update on blogging suggesting that the notion of the Internet as a Wild West where anything goes is an "idiotic myth."
• How to draw Sarah Palin, among other things, presented by a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.