Archives for August 2016

The last several months have involved a tremendous number of unique, and exhilarating keynote presentations.

Every once in a while I offer up a summary of what I’ve been doing, as it proves to be useful to potential clients who are exploring my services. It also will give you a sense of the tremendous range of talks and topics that I undertake.

Quite simply, I seem to stand out in the industry of futurists and speakers for the really extensive work and customization I put into my talks, as well as the breadth of the unique topics that I take on.

Here’s a sample of just a bit of what I’ve been up to:

• an opening keynote for the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, with a focus on the role of technology in helping to grow the game, attract younger players, and improve the player experience. I was on stage after Lee Trevino, and followed later by Bubba Watson. It was a real thrill, and the 2nd time the PGA has brought me in for a major event! You can read more simply by hitting the PGA tag in my Web site.
• I opened the Sporting and Fitness Industry Association with a talk on trends impacting the future of sports and fitness. It was kind of fascinating to be followed on stage by Roger Goodall, Commissioner of the NFL! There’s on extensive post I wrote post-event – Avoiding the BIG MISS – Will Your Company Be the Same in 10 Years? as well as Trend: The Future of Sports? All Interaction All the Time. And there’s lots more on the future of sports and fitness in that section of my Web site.
• a keynote for the 2016 Manufacturing in America Summit in Detroit, with a good, hard look at what is a real renaissance in the sector in North America. There were several other manufacturing keynotes along the way, including for QAD (ERP software for manufacturing companies) and the PowderMetal Manufacturing Association. Everyone knows there is a lot of political rhetoric around manufacturing right now (most of it dishonest) and so I am getting a significant number of bookings in this space from people looking for real insight into the challenges and opportunities in the sector. What’s really going on? Read my blog post, Trends: Why Manufacturing Needs to Reinvent Itself – Fast for more, or hit the Manufacturing Trends section for extensive blog posts, video clips from the stage and more on the reality of manufacturing today.
• Cruise Line International Association, which represents most if not all of the major and minor cruise line organizations in the world, brought me into their annual leaders summit for a talk on innovation and future trends.
• Johnson and Johnson, Whirlpool/AON Hewitt and other Fortune 1000 organizations had me in to speak at major leadership events on specific industry trends and broad trends involving business model disruption and other issues, built around  the theme, What Do World Class Innovators Do That Others Don’t Do?  The comments back? “We received great feedback about your session.  Attendees found it valuable, insightful, interesting and somewhat terrifying J.  Thank you for being such a great contributor to the event’s success!”
• three events for key customers of CDW, a major distributor and infrastructure company in the hi-tech space. My talk focused around the future of IT, particularly as a foundation for innovation for high velocity companies. There’s a good synopsis of the topic here — Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast: Aligning Yourself for the Era of Acceleration
• the future of agriculture with Reinke Manufacturing ; this is the company that manufactures those giant irrigation wheels you see on farms across North America. In the room were approximately 500 representatives of their dealer network, who were seeking insight on where agriculture goes next. For more, check the agriculture trends section of my Web site, as well as the 10 Trends for Agriculture post, which is undeniably the most popular page on my Web site, as well, it seems, one of the most popular pages on the Internet with respect to the future of agriculture!
• an invitation-only keynote for leaders of major national and regional veterinary associations, held at the massive National Association of Veterinary Medicine conference in Orlando. My talk took at look at the issues of business model disruption, the impact of social networking on pet care, the rapid evolution of veterinary science and more. I still  have to blog about this one — it was fascinating!
• a look at the future of automotive, trucking and transportation for the North American leadership team of Volvo/Mac Trucks. This was a repeat performance for the group – it’s always great when they invite you back again! This was a talk around the future of the sector — autonomous vehicles, intelligent highway infrastructure, the end of car ownership and more. I’ve been doing quite a few talks around these topic areas — it’s a hot topic. For more, read my post , Accelerating the Auto Industry — and the Challenge of Change, as well as the Automotive and Transportation section of my Web site — lots of video.
• APICS — the Association of Professional Inventory Control Specialists, featured me for their annual conference in Las Vegas, with about 3,000 in the room, where I shared the event stage with the legendary Jack Welch, ex-CEO of GE. Read the press release here. I took at a wide ranging look at the future of retail and wholesale, consumer behaviour, shortened product lifecycle, the new state of manufacturing and more!
• a talk for the senior leadership and legal team for Kiewit. Who are they? One of the largest organizations involved in massive infrastructure and constructions projects, including energy, highways and more. Check the Energy & Infrastructure section for a bit of insight into the topic areas I covered for these folks.
• PracticeMatch, which is involved in physician recruitment, had me in for a talk that looked at the challenges and opportunities in recruiting the next generation of doctors. Read the blog post I wrote around my keynote – Trend Report: Physician Recruitment in the Era of Digital Intimacy. this is indicative of the type of massive, customized research that I often put into my talks.

That’s scratching the surface!

Going forward, September onwards looks like a lot of fun, with a similar broad range of topics, keynotes for major events, as well as private leadership meetings. Stay tuned!