Future of Packaging Industry: "uture of packaging – articles, videos and presentations on the future of packaging by Futurist conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon.
The packaging industry will continue to face relentless and growing pressures from manufacturers, wholesalers, logistics and supply chain companies, retailers, government regulators and above all from consumers, to look great, prevent damage, reduce cost, cut waste and reduce energy use.
The perfect mass-market retail package always protects what is inside, and promotes the brand on the outside – with distinctive shape, unique opening method, and other instantly recognizable brand elements. It is light-weight, compact, low cost, easy to track through the supply chain, and easy to recycle.
The perfect premium-market retail package can become a fashion icon in it’s own right – a collector’s item even after the contents of the package have been removed or used up. Ecological issues can fade away. The premium package is a public statement about the customer’s own personal brand image."
Future of your Business, Family and Wider World by Dr Patrick Dixon, Futurist Speaker, Keynotes on Growth Strategies and Leadership, Lecture Slides, Articles and Videos from Conferences - 15 million unique visitors to MAIN Futurist site (articles / keynotes / videos) - link on right to www.globalchange.com
June 08, 2011
Future of Aviation Industry - Radical Change
Future of Aviation Industry - Radical Change: "Future of Aviation and Airlines – articles, videos and presentations on the future of aviation, airlines, travel and tourism by Futurist conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon. His clients include Air France, KLM, EADS / Airbus, Virgin Atlantic, Dassault Falcon.
Future of Aviation and Airlines: The travel and hospitality industries are amongst the most vulnerable to global or local shocks. That means contingencies, cash reserves, hedging of major risks such as oil prices. But most of all it means agile and bold leadership who think ahead, with more than one strategy depending on how events unfold.
Airline manufacturers and airlines themselves will continue to exploit significant energy savings over the next 20 years from a wide range of new technologies, including better airline engine design, lighter composite fuselage, more direct aircraft routing. Efficiencies will also be gained from fuller planes, faster turnaround, economies of scale (consolidation of smaller airlines). For more on greener aviation, see below."
Future of Aviation and Airlines: The travel and hospitality industries are amongst the most vulnerable to global or local shocks. That means contingencies, cash reserves, hedging of major risks such as oil prices. But most of all it means agile and bold leadership who think ahead, with more than one strategy depending on how events unfold.
Airline manufacturers and airlines themselves will continue to exploit significant energy savings over the next 20 years from a wide range of new technologies, including better airline engine design, lighter composite fuselage, more direct aircraft routing. Efficiencies will also be gained from fuller planes, faster turnaround, economies of scale (consolidation of smaller airlines). For more on greener aviation, see below."
May 11, 2011
Future of food and drink industry: fast, quality, value. Keynote confere...
Future of convenience stores, corner store retailing, food and drink industry, OXXO brand owned by FEMSA in Mexico. Fast food and drink, drink bottling including Coca-Cola, logistics, distribution, manufacturing, wholesaling, warehousing. Nutrition, performance and health foods, obesity, diabetes and social responsibility. Futuro de las tiendas de conveniencia, venta al por menor tienda de la esquina, la alimentación y la industria de las bebidas, una cadena OXXO propiedad de FEMSA en México. De comida rápida y bebidas, envasado bebidas como Coca-Cola, logística, distribución, fabricación, venta al por mayor, el almacenamiento. La nutrición, el rendimiento y la salud los alimentos, la obesidad, la diabetes y la responsabilidad social. Impact of ageing -- medical research into aging process. Future of community shops. Employee engagement, customer excellence, brands, branding and corporate image. Energy efficiency and helping the environment. Mexico, Panama, Chile, Brazil, Argentina economic development. Conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon, author Futurewise -- video. Soft drinks, carbonated non-alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, bottled water, dairy and other milk based drinks -- key industry trends. Impact of revolutions in Middle East, Tunisia, Egypt, unrest in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen. How small trends create big futures. Managing uncertainty, agile leadership styles. Future of marketing, management and motivation. Globalisation -- mergers and acquisitions. YouTube, social networking and future of broadcasting. Future of oil prices, energy costs and energy savings. Fuel from food contribution to rising food prices and riots. Demand for commodity prices and impact on manufacturing, logistics and distribution. Sustainability and sustainable economic growth. Demographics and urbanization, tribalism and globalization. Future ethics and government regulation. Future of Latin America and emerging nations economic growth. Why the future will be driven not by innovation or technology, but by emotion, and why trust is so vital to corporate success in food and drink industries. Team building and change management. Examples of fear in Swine Flu, Bird Flu, nuclear accident following Japan earthquake and Tsunami. Institutional blindness and seeing world through eyes of our customers. Customer excellence and exceeding expectations in customer service, products, systems and processes. Operational excellence must be built on clear strategy which in turn requires accurate view of future trends, competitor activity -- as well as clear corporate vision and corporate mission / purpose. Impact of mobile digital technology / smartphones on customer choices and workplace. New patterns of use of email, impact of ipad, iphone etc, wireless payment systems impact on retail and financial services, death of traditional credit and debit cards. Key to all change management, all leadership and all motivation -- basis of every mission statement and corporate purpose: corporate ethics. Building a better world. Summary of the most powerful leadership speech in the world. How the most powerful and evil leaders use the same foundations in their speech -- how to use the lesson to make great things happen. Spanish translation.
Future of Oil Prices -- energy prices, Middle East stability, global eco...
Future trends relating to energy prices and oil price per barrel. Impact on global economic growth of rising oil prices. Balance between oil production and oil consumption. Peak oil and proven global oil reserves -- why they are rising. Oil from coal -- future trends in coal industry. Petroleum based products and petrochemical industry -- growing demand for all kinds of commodities including steel, copper, oil, coal, gas, all part of the growth of emerging economies such as China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and so on. Impact on utility companies. Deep sea drilling, oilfields, engineering and environmental challenges including global warming / climate change. Impact of rising fuel costs on transport and transportation industry, aviation, rail travel, shipping, vehicle sales, car use, heating and air conditioning systems, building design and manufacturing. OPEC production quotas and their impact on global economic growth. Instability and revolution, impact of popular protests across Middle East oil producing nations. Government policy changes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia. Link between oil wealth and local unemployment. Inequalities of wealth and wealth distribution in future by governments keen to maintain political power. Impact of alternative energy production on oil consumption. Predictions for future energy costs. Video by conference keynote speaker Patrick Dixon, author of Sustainagility and Futurewise.
Future of Travel, Tourism, Hotels - European consumer trends
Future of the travel industry, package holidays, tourism, travel agents, corporate travel, vacation planning, online booking systems, social networks, facebook, twitter. Video comment made after keynote speech at Antalya Turkey conference on tourism. Future of Eco-tourism and growth of medical tourism, culture festivals, sports tourism, adventure holidays. Competition between Spain, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey - related to exchange rates. Antalya future tourist trends compared to Costa Brava, Costa del Sol, Barcelona, Istanbul. Ministry of Tourism and Tourism agencies. Branding and marketing of resorts, regions and nations. Culture and ancient history, archeological sites, Greek and Roman remains. Meditterranean and Aegean sea - cruises, yaughts and water-based holidays. Consumer lifestyle trends and ageing of European travellers. Economy and exchange rates. How tourism and travel will grow over the next decade. Comment by conference keynote speaker and Futurist Patrick Dixon, author Futurewise and Sustainagility. Air travel, rail travel, cruise industry, coach tours, guided tours. Family, senior citizens and retired people all have different travel needs when staying in hotels, hostels, self-catering accommodation. How all inclusive holidays can damage local communities by reducing eating out in restaurants, cafes and bars. Impact of budget holidays on premium market.
Future Inflation - or deflation? Economic Outlook Europe / US
Economic outlook - inflation or deflation. Inflationary pressures on many national economies following fiscal stimulus and growth of consumer demand. Government action to prevent deflation makes inflation more likely in short to medium term. Why deflationary forces so feared by governments and corporations. Future interest rates and GDP growth impact on manufacturing, industry. Business cycles and where they are likely to go next. Preparing for a boom followed by a downturn. How to make money out of business cycles. Economic forecasts and projections - Europe, UK, Africa, China, India, US, Asia. Managing uncertainty and risk. Banks and banking, investments and fund management, portfolio and wealth creation for pension funds. Institutional investors and bankers. Comment by Futurist keynote conference speaker Patrick Dixon
February 26, 2011
May 07, 2010
The Future of Politics and Democracy
Future of democracy, politics, political parties and lobbying in a world which no longer trusts politicians and cannot be bothered (often) to vote. Crisis of confidence in Westminster, UK mother of all democratic Parliaments, also in America, Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Ukraine and other nations. Expenses scandal and challenges also in European Commission. Bribery and corruption in political life. Future of politics and political parties. Comment by Dr Patrick Dixon author of The Truth about Westminster, and conference keynote speaker.
February 14, 2010
Future of Fund Management, Banking and Pensions
Future of fund management - here is a video and other material I posted recently following a Mercer client presentation. It is about the crisis of trust impacting pension investing right now, and the crisis of self-confidence amongst fund managers themselves about the value they create (or do not create) as a result of their highly paid decision-making.
April 03, 2009
Leadership in Global Crisis - Thriving on Chaos
Management is about following systems and processes and proceedures. Leadership is about changing them to achieve greater impact.
In a crisis, many weak leaders abdicate responsibility and behave like managers. Keeping their heads down, doing the minimum to stay out of trouble and blaming those above them for lack of direction, guidance and resources. Trouble is that crisis demands decisive, courageous leadership.
One of the first things that is needed in a crisis is to throw out or suspend beaurocratic management tools that may actually kill the organisation if religiously followed. You just don't have time for all that detail when big picture decisions are needed as a matter of great urgency eg a sweeping cut of 25% of the labour force.
It is absolutely vital to encourage each executive to rise above the chaos, keep engaged with the big picture, communicate closely with those above and below, make clear decisions in a transparent way with more regular meetings etc.
For more on practical steps to lead out of crisis back into growth see my article written yesterday on this: Article on main site
In a crisis, many weak leaders abdicate responsibility and behave like managers. Keeping their heads down, doing the minimum to stay out of trouble and blaming those above them for lack of direction, guidance and resources. Trouble is that crisis demands decisive, courageous leadership.
One of the first things that is needed in a crisis is to throw out or suspend beaurocratic management tools that may actually kill the organisation if religiously followed. You just don't have time for all that detail when big picture decisions are needed as a matter of great urgency eg a sweeping cut of 25% of the labour force.
It is absolutely vital to encourage each executive to rise above the chaos, keep engaged with the big picture, communicate closely with those above and below, make clear decisions in a transparent way with more regular meetings etc.
For more on practical steps to lead out of crisis back into growth see my article written yesterday on this: Article on main site
August 13, 2008
Future of conferences, workshops and seminars - keynote for 4,500 people (MPI)
Outline of opening keynote to 4,500 people at MPI conference in Las Vegas by Dr Patrick Dixon.
Slides of MPI keynote and video
Future of corporate events, conferences, workshops and seminars. How the conference world will change. Impact of new technologies, increasing globalization, economic instability and growing concerns about carbon footprints / climate change.
Corporate event management is about to experience a revolution which presents exciting opportunities but also many significant dangers. Event organizers will be at the cutting edge of corporate transformation – and the faster things change, the more central your role will become. So when we look back in 2020, who turned out to be the bright stars of the future, who re-invented the industry, and why?
One of the greatest risks in any organization is institutional blindness – when we lose perspective about things which are obvious to those outside our team, corporation or industry. Risk of institutional blindness amongst professional event organizers, at a time of rapid global transformation. Correcting institutional blindness, giving a wider picture, is a vital part of every corporate gathering.
Meeting professionals and learning departments – opportunities for closer collaboration or even fusion into one-stop shops for ultimate learning experiences. How greatest opportunities in future will often come by far closer creative partnerships. Opportunties for outsourcing – but dangers also in outsourcing corporate thinking and strategy development – because so influenced by forum / event management / intellectual capital.
Why most conference formats are still stuck in a late-twentieth century time-warp. What has really changed in the last 15 years apart from Powerpoint replacing 35mm slides - and a few more videos? Corporate events can be the most powerful and time-effective drivers of business success - but can also be the greatest wasters of time and energy. So what does a third millennial corporate conferencing industry look like, in a world increasingly driven by time-pressures, online communities and networks, where attentions span is measured in seconds and multi-tasking in meetings is normal.
Why corporations are going to be far more sensitive about the “total opportunity cost” of meetings than in the past. Growing need to prove tangible value, measurable benefits to individual executives and the whole organization. Need for sharper definition of meeting purpose, clearer aims and objectives, and why organizations will be under pressure to achieve multiple objectives during the same time-frame eg client events scheduled alongside internal meetings.
Why audience experience is even more critical in an increasingly virtual world where delegates really want to breath the same air, feel, touch, engage and be changed. We should be thinking about “theatre”, while most conferences have more in common with classroom, lecture or (badly made) TV program. (More on this later).
Life’s too short to waste on things that don’t matter, that we are not passionate about. Why the future of conferencing is about emotion: engaging with issues that are of immense significance to participants, things they really care about.
Ideas can be read about, researched, Googled and the rest – but we are about changing people’s minds and how they feel – which is entirely different. Gather people together for a life-changing experience, not to force-feed their minds with data sheets and graphs.
Does it really matter to me? Simple test for every speaker and every part of every presentation. Am I really passionate about this? If not, dump the slide and move on. Don’t expect the audience to care either and why waste their time, they can get it all online.
Why tribalism is vital to business success and every event builds a tribe: every brand is a tribe, every team creates a new tribe, every customer group is a tribe and every corporation is a tribe of tribes. The reason most mergers destroy shareholder value is that the Excell spreadsheet numbers stacked up fine but the tribes did not. The stronger your tribe, the stronger your business will be – customer loyalty, staff loyalty, war for talent. Conferences are one of the most effective strategies for building tribal identity, and tribal gatherings will be vitally important in future. Five ways to turn your events into more effective tribe builders.
Using virtual teams and websites to prepare participants for an event, shape future events with participant input, and deliver stronger results.
Key question: who is making the decisions about who attends your meetings? If people were given a totally free choice, would they chose to attend at all, and if so, for how long? Are they attending entirely as a free choice or to be seen, to get on, to play their cards right?
Work-life balance impact on conference planning. How career objectives are changing and why work-life balance is now number one or two career priority. How conference organizers have often failed to keep pace with growing angst over time away from home. What it all means for program design, location, length, timing of start and weekend travel.
Third millennial clients events – new shapes and strategies for new situations. Expect growing demand for premium client events, positioning corporation as thought-leader rather than merely as a smart organization with great products or services. Ever greater search for out-of-conference client experiences – risks and opportunities. Culture – but whose culture? One person’s heavenly experience is another person’s discomfort – or even embarrassment. Challenges with after dinner speakers, comedians (big risks), and conflict with other needs – enough time to talk at dinner to other guests. Opportunities for community experiences – eg table magic, busking musicians, roving entertainers…. May be great venue but 25 minutes each way in a coach?? Beautiful setting but pity the weather was so cold for outdoors reception – backup plan?
Difference between excellent event and truly world class is the elusive 0.5%. Expect huge efforts to discover a new formula – which will be difficult since part of the secret is constant innovation, creativity, the elusive element of surprise, the ability to outshine an audience’s expectations.
Why the details really matter: eg name badges too small or too low to be read from two metres away, hotel check-in with room details already printed and keys in envelopes, enough serving points for rapid coffee breaks to actually happen, free internet high speed wireless networking for all participants in all areas including hotel rooms (life’s too short), dinner tables that are not too large and round (ever tried talking to someone other than on immediate left or right – long thin tables win every time), name boards in front of participants on tables that are large enough to be read from a long distance away, very brief pre-reading – who really bothers when faced with going to bed at 3am on last night at home for a week?
From Lecture to theatre: why performance will be everything. Lectures are about imparting data but computers do that faster at home. Theatre is about engaging in a community experience, about changing how people feel as well as how they think. Lectures can be watched at home, TV programmes on a mobile on a train, but theatre requires total presence and demands audience commitment. People don’t drift into a performance late, nor rush out to take a call, nor do e-mails at the same time.
So what does it mean to create theatre out of a lecture? Lessons from theatre are many – but almost totally ignored by event organizers and presenters.
Seating is critical. Just think how much people will pay to be 5 rows nearer the action. Round tables are great for group work but almost useless for theatre. Raised seating can work wonders, theatre in the round or why not use a real theatre rather than try to create one in an old aircraft hanger or exhibition hall. Lighting is everything. Poor lighting means a disastrous show. Brilliant lighting engages and holds attention. Lighting creates atmosphere, tension, expectation, mood and focuses where the audience looks. Most hotel ballrooms are entirely unsuited to third millennial events – lighting is just one of their drawbacks. Movement creates an irresistible force – it is almost impossible to keep looking at a performer who is motionless, if another performer is moving rapidly across the stage. Staging – just look at the trouble rock concert organizers go to with stage extensions, and creative postioning, to allow performers to move right into an audience. Intimacy is created when a performer turns to address the audience directly – seen most powerfully in solo stage performances of plays.
All of these things can be developed at relatively low cost in medium and large sized venues. Turning lectures into theatre enhances the power of every idea, increases speed of understanding, assists memory, is interesting and entertaining. It requires joint planning by event creators, event designers, the performer (presenter) and the entire technical team.
The most important thing of all: informal networking. Then there is the most important part of conferencing which is not what goes on in sessions, but in informal meetings during every unstructured moment. How do we push this kind of activity up a level? Importance of virtual or physical message boards. Opportunities to integrate with what people already use eg SMS and mobile phones. Match-making with table or seat pre-allocations – when and where to do this.
Culture, language and jet lag. Radical approaches needed to biggest unsolved challenge for global teams: daylight. Issues in video conferencing, and short conference meetings. Need for creative timing of sessions – for example starting afternoon and ending at night if fits better with most body clocks. Form of torture is sleep deprivation in a prison cell. Variation on this is sleep deprivation in an important meeting. What language are you using, English? International English or American or British or Australian English (it really matters). What speed? Who is really going to take the translation (pride issues). How many languages are we using for the slides on screen?
Virtual conferences – how to make them happen better. Despite premium for breathing same air, expect more events to have virtual audiences grouped around a physical event. How to make video work for you. The most important rule is audience engagement and
The greatest tool is….. eye contact. 20 second demo in meetings – get everyone to turn to neighbor and talk about what they usually eat for breakfast – with no eye contact – look only at hair line…. Or eyebrows. It is a disturbing and strange experience. Welcome to video conferencing – screen in one place, camera above, no true eye contact in most cases. Same in video links with corporate events – watch audience light up when the speaker for a few moments turns direct to camera and talks to a remote site directly, returning to do the same regularly. (demonstrate this in my presentation – few seconds to do)
Second rule: pay attention to audience and speaker dynamics. If a speaker would usually pace the stage, don’t videolink them in sitting at a table in front of a microphone. Even better, display behind them an identical set to the one we would see on a huge screen if they were standing in front of us in the flesh right now. (demonstrate this in my presentation – few seconds to do).
Economic and environmental worries - impact on conferencing: Impact of economic instability – more short-termism in conference cycle management. Oil prices, dollar – euro and other issues likely to impact global conference planning. Why environmental decisions about your next events will be driven by emotion rather than science (which only gives us a range of guesses about life in 50 years time). Working out carbon-impact of your next event and why it really matters. How to future-proof your events from environmental critics. How some corporations will significantly alter pattern of corporate travel with new restrictions which will impact events. Carbon trading and offsetting – how it works, why it will be increasingly controversial (because of some rogue schemes) and why despite this it will become a key part of conference planning.
Emerging markets – the next big think in conferencing – obsessions by many corporate, opportunities for interesting and exotic new conference locations. Discovery programmes – total immersion in new experiences, kinds of organization, culture as tools for new learning and insight.
And finally – winning the war for talent – attracting next generation of high-flying, radical, creative thinkers with passion for excellence and world-class ability to make great things happen. The secret is purpose and the hunger to find it at work (surveys). It is not enough to pay more. Offering a better work-life balance is also not enough (though without it the best talent will often walk away). When people see that you are making a difference, that the world changes because of what you do, that lives are touched, careers energized, life-ambitions fulfilled, that organizations are transformed for the better and that people are empowered to take hold of their own future… then you will find you have the pick of the talent.
Take hold of your future events- or the events will take hold of you.
This is an extraordinary time to be alive – and through our events we are privileged to be guides to those who attend, as they seek answers for their own futures.
Slides of MPI keynote and video
Future of corporate events, conferences, workshops and seminars. How the conference world will change. Impact of new technologies, increasing globalization, economic instability and growing concerns about carbon footprints / climate change.
Corporate event management is about to experience a revolution which presents exciting opportunities but also many significant dangers. Event organizers will be at the cutting edge of corporate transformation – and the faster things change, the more central your role will become. So when we look back in 2020, who turned out to be the bright stars of the future, who re-invented the industry, and why?
One of the greatest risks in any organization is institutional blindness – when we lose perspective about things which are obvious to those outside our team, corporation or industry. Risk of institutional blindness amongst professional event organizers, at a time of rapid global transformation. Correcting institutional blindness, giving a wider picture, is a vital part of every corporate gathering.
Meeting professionals and learning departments – opportunities for closer collaboration or even fusion into one-stop shops for ultimate learning experiences. How greatest opportunities in future will often come by far closer creative partnerships. Opportunties for outsourcing – but dangers also in outsourcing corporate thinking and strategy development – because so influenced by forum / event management / intellectual capital.
Why most conference formats are still stuck in a late-twentieth century time-warp. What has really changed in the last 15 years apart from Powerpoint replacing 35mm slides - and a few more videos? Corporate events can be the most powerful and time-effective drivers of business success - but can also be the greatest wasters of time and energy. So what does a third millennial corporate conferencing industry look like, in a world increasingly driven by time-pressures, online communities and networks, where attentions span is measured in seconds and multi-tasking in meetings is normal.
Why corporations are going to be far more sensitive about the “total opportunity cost” of meetings than in the past. Growing need to prove tangible value, measurable benefits to individual executives and the whole organization. Need for sharper definition of meeting purpose, clearer aims and objectives, and why organizations will be under pressure to achieve multiple objectives during the same time-frame eg client events scheduled alongside internal meetings.
Why audience experience is even more critical in an increasingly virtual world where delegates really want to breath the same air, feel, touch, engage and be changed. We should be thinking about “theatre”, while most conferences have more in common with classroom, lecture or (badly made) TV program. (More on this later).
Life’s too short to waste on things that don’t matter, that we are not passionate about. Why the future of conferencing is about emotion: engaging with issues that are of immense significance to participants, things they really care about.
Ideas can be read about, researched, Googled and the rest – but we are about changing people’s minds and how they feel – which is entirely different. Gather people together for a life-changing experience, not to force-feed their minds with data sheets and graphs.
Does it really matter to me? Simple test for every speaker and every part of every presentation. Am I really passionate about this? If not, dump the slide and move on. Don’t expect the audience to care either and why waste their time, they can get it all online.
Why tribalism is vital to business success and every event builds a tribe: every brand is a tribe, every team creates a new tribe, every customer group is a tribe and every corporation is a tribe of tribes. The reason most mergers destroy shareholder value is that the Excell spreadsheet numbers stacked up fine but the tribes did not. The stronger your tribe, the stronger your business will be – customer loyalty, staff loyalty, war for talent. Conferences are one of the most effective strategies for building tribal identity, and tribal gatherings will be vitally important in future. Five ways to turn your events into more effective tribe builders.
Using virtual teams and websites to prepare participants for an event, shape future events with participant input, and deliver stronger results.
Key question: who is making the decisions about who attends your meetings? If people were given a totally free choice, would they chose to attend at all, and if so, for how long? Are they attending entirely as a free choice or to be seen, to get on, to play their cards right?
Work-life balance impact on conference planning. How career objectives are changing and why work-life balance is now number one or two career priority. How conference organizers have often failed to keep pace with growing angst over time away from home. What it all means for program design, location, length, timing of start and weekend travel.
Third millennial clients events – new shapes and strategies for new situations. Expect growing demand for premium client events, positioning corporation as thought-leader rather than merely as a smart organization with great products or services. Ever greater search for out-of-conference client experiences – risks and opportunities. Culture – but whose culture? One person’s heavenly experience is another person’s discomfort – or even embarrassment. Challenges with after dinner speakers, comedians (big risks), and conflict with other needs – enough time to talk at dinner to other guests. Opportunities for community experiences – eg table magic, busking musicians, roving entertainers…. May be great venue but 25 minutes each way in a coach?? Beautiful setting but pity the weather was so cold for outdoors reception – backup plan?
Difference between excellent event and truly world class is the elusive 0.5%. Expect huge efforts to discover a new formula – which will be difficult since part of the secret is constant innovation, creativity, the elusive element of surprise, the ability to outshine an audience’s expectations.
Why the details really matter: eg name badges too small or too low to be read from two metres away, hotel check-in with room details already printed and keys in envelopes, enough serving points for rapid coffee breaks to actually happen, free internet high speed wireless networking for all participants in all areas including hotel rooms (life’s too short), dinner tables that are not too large and round (ever tried talking to someone other than on immediate left or right – long thin tables win every time), name boards in front of participants on tables that are large enough to be read from a long distance away, very brief pre-reading – who really bothers when faced with going to bed at 3am on last night at home for a week?
From Lecture to theatre: why performance will be everything. Lectures are about imparting data but computers do that faster at home. Theatre is about engaging in a community experience, about changing how people feel as well as how they think. Lectures can be watched at home, TV programmes on a mobile on a train, but theatre requires total presence and demands audience commitment. People don’t drift into a performance late, nor rush out to take a call, nor do e-mails at the same time.
So what does it mean to create theatre out of a lecture? Lessons from theatre are many – but almost totally ignored by event organizers and presenters.
Seating is critical. Just think how much people will pay to be 5 rows nearer the action. Round tables are great for group work but almost useless for theatre. Raised seating can work wonders, theatre in the round or why not use a real theatre rather than try to create one in an old aircraft hanger or exhibition hall. Lighting is everything. Poor lighting means a disastrous show. Brilliant lighting engages and holds attention. Lighting creates atmosphere, tension, expectation, mood and focuses where the audience looks. Most hotel ballrooms are entirely unsuited to third millennial events – lighting is just one of their drawbacks. Movement creates an irresistible force – it is almost impossible to keep looking at a performer who is motionless, if another performer is moving rapidly across the stage. Staging – just look at the trouble rock concert organizers go to with stage extensions, and creative postioning, to allow performers to move right into an audience. Intimacy is created when a performer turns to address the audience directly – seen most powerfully in solo stage performances of plays.
All of these things can be developed at relatively low cost in medium and large sized venues. Turning lectures into theatre enhances the power of every idea, increases speed of understanding, assists memory, is interesting and entertaining. It requires joint planning by event creators, event designers, the performer (presenter) and the entire technical team.
The most important thing of all: informal networking. Then there is the most important part of conferencing which is not what goes on in sessions, but in informal meetings during every unstructured moment. How do we push this kind of activity up a level? Importance of virtual or physical message boards. Opportunities to integrate with what people already use eg SMS and mobile phones. Match-making with table or seat pre-allocations – when and where to do this.
Culture, language and jet lag. Radical approaches needed to biggest unsolved challenge for global teams: daylight. Issues in video conferencing, and short conference meetings. Need for creative timing of sessions – for example starting afternoon and ending at night if fits better with most body clocks. Form of torture is sleep deprivation in a prison cell. Variation on this is sleep deprivation in an important meeting. What language are you using, English? International English or American or British or Australian English (it really matters). What speed? Who is really going to take the translation (pride issues). How many languages are we using for the slides on screen?
Virtual conferences – how to make them happen better. Despite premium for breathing same air, expect more events to have virtual audiences grouped around a physical event. How to make video work for you. The most important rule is audience engagement and
The greatest tool is….. eye contact. 20 second demo in meetings – get everyone to turn to neighbor and talk about what they usually eat for breakfast – with no eye contact – look only at hair line…. Or eyebrows. It is a disturbing and strange experience. Welcome to video conferencing – screen in one place, camera above, no true eye contact in most cases. Same in video links with corporate events – watch audience light up when the speaker for a few moments turns direct to camera and talks to a remote site directly, returning to do the same regularly. (demonstrate this in my presentation – few seconds to do)
Second rule: pay attention to audience and speaker dynamics. If a speaker would usually pace the stage, don’t videolink them in sitting at a table in front of a microphone. Even better, display behind them an identical set to the one we would see on a huge screen if they were standing in front of us in the flesh right now. (demonstrate this in my presentation – few seconds to do).
Economic and environmental worries - impact on conferencing: Impact of economic instability – more short-termism in conference cycle management. Oil prices, dollar – euro and other issues likely to impact global conference planning. Why environmental decisions about your next events will be driven by emotion rather than science (which only gives us a range of guesses about life in 50 years time). Working out carbon-impact of your next event and why it really matters. How to future-proof your events from environmental critics. How some corporations will significantly alter pattern of corporate travel with new restrictions which will impact events. Carbon trading and offsetting – how it works, why it will be increasingly controversial (because of some rogue schemes) and why despite this it will become a key part of conference planning.
Emerging markets – the next big think in conferencing – obsessions by many corporate, opportunities for interesting and exotic new conference locations. Discovery programmes – total immersion in new experiences, kinds of organization, culture as tools for new learning and insight.
And finally – winning the war for talent – attracting next generation of high-flying, radical, creative thinkers with passion for excellence and world-class ability to make great things happen. The secret is purpose and the hunger to find it at work (surveys). It is not enough to pay more. Offering a better work-life balance is also not enough (though without it the best talent will often walk away). When people see that you are making a difference, that the world changes because of what you do, that lives are touched, careers energized, life-ambitions fulfilled, that organizations are transformed for the better and that people are empowered to take hold of their own future… then you will find you have the pick of the talent.
Take hold of your future events- or the events will take hold of you.
This is an extraordinary time to be alive – and through our events we are privileged to be guides to those who attend, as they seek answers for their own futures.
June 30, 2008
Video: Conference speaker - audience interaction - Patrick Dixon
Conference speakers need audience interaction. Engaging with audience with participation, questions, straw polls, discussion, walking into the audience, using volunteers - all important. Audience experience, performance and theatre rather than a lecture or cold presentation of ideas. All great keynote speakers know how to connect with an audience, how to build rapport, relationship, chemistry, emotional bond. Humour, funny stories about real life business issues. Entertaining and motivational conference keynote speakers all know how to connect with passion, provocative, thought-provoking.
June 29, 2008
Bird flu - real risks to personal lives, business, society
What will happen if bird flu mutates into a rapidly spreading epidemic? Death toll estimates from governments and how society is most likely to be impacted - even if death rates turn out to be very low. Video comment by Futurist physician Dr Patrick Dixon.
June 28, 2008
40% energy = buildings: offices waste energy global warming
How long buildings last -- scandal
http://www.globalchange.com Scandal of short life of commercial buildings. Building and demolition costs and lifetime energy use of corporate real estate. 30 -- 40 year life expectancy of buildings. Buildings decay, poor design of corporate real estate. Head of corporate real estate. Corporate real estate portfolio management. Retrofitting costs to increase buildings energy efficiency. Short-termism, failure of long term planning. Building controls and building regulations. Visionary architecture. Example of Sydney Opera House. Re-engineering offices and factories. Home ownership and maintenance costs. Criminal activity and unethical business real estate practices. Pressure on short term profits and bottom line. Listed and protected buildings. Good building design. Memories and emotional connections with buildings of character. Poor foresight of high rise anonymous buildings made entirely of metal and glass. Building skyline icons, building communities, neighbourhoods, building tomorrow. Building longevity is a moral issue. Economy, global warming, energy conservation and real estate industry. Environment, environmental change, climate change. Risks in real estate development. Operational and management risks and role of a Futurist. What is a Futurist? Identifying new opportunities in buildings control, environmental regulation. Keeping pace with change in real estate planning and corporate real estate demands. Impact on corporate real estate of mergers and acquisitions. How world getting faster, client demands growing faster. How clients behave illogically in longer term real estate planning. Buildings controls, heating and cooling, retrofitting high rise, office blocks and factories. Building regulations and government action. Longer term real estate planning. Market research limitations and customer expectations, client demands. Architects and buildings design, living space, partitions, ventilation systems, balancing and rebalancing air conditioning. ARBS. Business management video by Dr Patrick Dixon, conference keynote speaker lecture, author of Futurewise and Building a Better Business. Global warming impact from offices and commercial buildings, skyscrapers, tower blocks and corporate real estate. Energy efficiency and energy consumption of commercial buildings and office blocks. Balancing air conditioning systems with better building control systems (integrated temperature monitoring) can save over 30% of energy costs each year. Johnson Controls and other companies provide specialist technical advice on heat loss reduction and air conditioning management systems. Issues of ventilation, fresh air, "tight" buildings, carbon dioxide levels, heat exchangers and air ducting. Electricity use and power generation on buildings. Green roofs, open spaces, shade, natural light. Impact of global warming and CO2 reduction on building design, architecture, building regulations and government standards. Special tax relief and concessions, reductions in stamp duty for energy compliant 5* and 6* commercial properties. Activist campaigns to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon trading and offsets. Energy in construction and demolition as proportion of life-time energy use. Future of corporate real estate and corporate real estate management companies. Outsourcing buildings management.
Energy saving, corporate, real estate, property, cost, management, electricity, power, consumption, air conditioning, buildings controls, heat, cooling, light, air circulation, warming, carbon dioxide, gas emissions, reduction, green roofs
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