Including student voices

Every once in a while I make a comment on someone else's blog that I also wish was on my own. This is one of those occasions...

Karl Fisch wrote:

As my team of teachers and I reflected in the evenings and on the plane ride on the way home [from NECC], we wondered: Where were the students? . . . . overall, it was a bunch of adults talking about what’s best for students. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think a bunch of adults talking about what’s best for students is a fine thing (it’s what I spend most of my time doing, after all), but I can’t help but wonder how much more powerful it would be to have students involved in these discussions as well.

Here's my comment:

I've generally been frustrated with student presentations at conferences. Folks trot a few students out, pat them on their heads for being there and sharing their voices, and then go back to doing whatever they were doing beforehand, giving themselves self-congratulations along the way for 'including the students.' I haven't seen many impactful student presentations in the sense that adults take the students SERIOUSLY and maybe actually change their mindset / practice as a result (of course I haven't seen too many adult-delivered presentations that do this either, but the level of condescension isn't the same). So... I like the idea of including student voices very much but would encourage some very creative thinking about how to do that to best effect. I'm sure the Generation Yes folks, among others, would be glad to help...

Anyone else feel this way? Or have I just been unlucky enough to go to a bunch of bad student presentations?