The future is here…

October is a pretty fun month to be in marketing and comms in Amsterdam, as usually it’s the conference season - The Next Web, Onbrand etc give great opportunities to network, and catch up with what is happening in the industry. Of course, this year is different, so I joined the events online.

The Next Web - TNW was mind-blowingly slick, using technology in the best way. As a participant I could interact with others, join a variety of streams of content, ask questions to the panelists and presenters and more. It was a great example of an online even with presenters around the world and socially distanced from the studio, as well as pre-recorded segments too.

A really great outcome of the situation in 2020 is to see how the events industry is doing this brilliant pivot to still bring the message to the audience with inspiring content in a new format. Well done #eventprofs and well done The Next Web .

The speaker of the day…

…Was futurist Ben Hammersley. I think I have told nearly everyone I’ve met about his awe-inspiring discussion. I particularly liked his take on Elon Musk’s projects being ‘not-futuristic’ but instead the vision of the future from the 1960’s.

However, his most salient point about the future was that the solutions we are seeking are often happening elsewhere. He used the example of Amsterdam and New York, and how to a New Yorker the bike lanes, mixed use buildings etc, could be seen as incredibly futuristic. There are some things that are going to be futuristic in the traditional sense and other things in a different way - for example, universal basic income and free childcare in Scandinavia. 

His lesson was that you have to be curious - and look elsewhere - pull the best ideas from different places.