Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The Buzz 1: "A lot of folks believe that email is dead. With the increased use of chatbots, social media platforms, etc., the assumption is that email's place has been overtaken. However, this assertion, and the assumption it is based on, is wrong.…[despite] insufficient tools for creating emails, bad email marketing techniques, and lack of data and integration…email marketing still remains one of the surest ways of reaching out to customers." (https://www.sendx.io/blog/email-marketing-trend) The Buzz 2: "Some of the latest trends in email marketing: the AI revolution, laser-focused personalization, dark-mode emails, interactive email campaigns, preference to mobiles for checking emails, and making use of user-generated content." We'll ask Kirsten Boileau, Lindsay Miles, Ashley Melendez and Neal Schaffer for their take on The Future of Email Marketing: Will You Open It?

The Buzz 1: "After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists are always artists as well. (Albert Einstein, 1923; news.microsoft.com/europe/2017/12/05/creativity-stem-contradiction-terms-not-europes-girls/) The Buzz 2: "Unfortunately, creativity is often attributed more to men than women…In Europe, women make up fewer than 40 per cent of all scientific researchers – despite the fact the continent has a centuries-old legacy of creative female scientists and inventors." The Buzz 3: "How many of us use the term 'creative' to describe a person who is good at math?…The myth (and it is a myth) that the arts are creative and the sciences are quantitative shapes the way we approach education…the skills that come with creativity are necessary in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, too." (www.forbes.com/sites/alisonescalante/2020/11/30/creativity-education-is-equally-important-for-careers-in-stem-and-the-arts/?sh=6f38b120554f) We'll ask Sandra Estok, Cali Bird, Alison Morgan and Louisa Pateman for their take on The Future of Women in STEM: What About Their Creativity?

The Buzz 1: "Hey, you, Get Off Of My Cloud" (The Rolling Stones). "Clouds in My Coffee" (You're So Vain lyrics, Carly Simon). "I've looked at clouds from both sides now, From up and down, and still somehow, It's cloud illusions I recall, I really don't know clouds at all" (Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell). The Buzz 2: "One of the interesting things about the cloud is how it has quietly pervaded most people's lives. Australians have used the cloud for years now and still aren't aware of it … At this point, the cloud has moved beyond the cool phase and is something everyone is using … Yet research from the Australia Bureau of Statistics noted that less than 20 percent of all companies operating in the country utilised paid cloud services." (https://www.itnews.com.au/news/abs-issues-first-survey-of-australian-cloud-use-406680) Did you know? All social media applications use the cloud. The cloud has revolutionized how entertainment is delivered to us. Most online retailers use the cloud. Smart watches can store healthcare data in the cloud for your physician to access it. Universities' online courses store information and lessons in the cloud. Chances are your iPhone photos are stored in the cloud. We'll ask Sarah Lottman, Chris Aron, Vipin Varappurath, and Madhu Angara, for their take on The Future of The Cloud: What Has It Done For YOU Lately?

The Buzz 1: "Virtual vintners have a say on grape varieties, barrels and bottling. Crowd-sourcing has become the Internet's new favorite method of financing start-ups, authors and researchers. Now two wineries have adopted the idea to get their consumers involved in making wine." (www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/crowd-sourced-wine-virtual-vintners-have-a-say-on-grape-varieties-barrels-and-bottling/2014/08/29/aac1bd8c-2e26-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html) The Buzz 2: "Our Cabernet Sauvignon has been picked and crushed, and the yeast strain and fermentation tannins YOU selected have been added.…They did not pick the yeast that I normally use," winemaker Tom Johnson says. Silversmith's 797 Facebook fans voted on winemaking decisions for the 2011 vintage. "I thought no one would be interested and no one would participate. Boy was I wrong." (winefashionista.com/2011/11/04/turning-winemaking-over-to-facebook-fans) We'll ask Bill Newman, Alexander Wong, Neil Collins, and Jim Bernau, for their take on The Future of Wineries and Technology: The Move to Crowd-Sourced and Crowd-Crushed.

The Buzz 1: "There is a charm to letters and cards that emails and smses can't ever replicate, you cannot inhale them, drawing the fragrance of the place they have been mailed from, the feel of paper in your hand bearing the weight of the words contained within. You cannot rub your fingers over the paper and visualise the sender, seated at a table, writing, perhaps with a smile on their lips or a frown splitting the brow." (Kiran Manral, The Face at the Window) The Buzz 2: "I've seen teenagers, young adults and grandparents cry after receiving a letter. That's the power we all possess. That's why I speak on the subject of Encouragement through the art of writing letters." (Alexey Katko, 1000LettersOfEncouragement.com) The earliest letter was sent around 500 BC by Queen Atossa of Persia. Although paper was invented in 105 A.D, it wasn't until 1702 that it became cheap enough for people to afford it. On July 26, 1775, the US Post Office was created by the 2nd Continental Congress, to connect the people of America. At that time, it took 14 days for a letter to travel 100 miles. Now a letter from Hawaii to NY takes 3-7 days. Today, for $0.55 postage +$0.005 for paper + $0.15 for an envelope + $1 pen + 10 minutes of time, you can write a letter of encouragement and lift-up another person who can change the world around them. Letters remain a gem in human history. And new communication platforms like Clubhouse also help people connect to share meaningful encouragement. We'll ask Alexey Katko, Karen Gibson, MissG and Deslynn Jacquais for their take on The Future of Encouragement: Old-Fashioned Letter Writing & New-Media Clubhouse.

The Buzz 1: "Fashion's future hinges on digital tools that combine the physical and digital while adapting to customer needs, including 3D design, on-demand manufacturing and video shopping." (www.voguebusiness.com/technology/future-fashion-tech) The Buzz 2: "There is a lot of different technology that can be used throughout the fashion industry. While higher performing materials and better production methods are continually being designed, AI, blockchain, and IoT…enable better practices during manufacturing and post-sales.…The fashion industry has a 'high potential for adapting the formula: "sustainability is the new black"'." (www.dgen.org/blog/the-future-of-fashion-tech-isnt-a-sexy-jet-pack-its-sustainability) We'll ask Martin Stenzig, Kim Macintosh, Harin Nanayakkara and Brian Cederborg for their take on The Future of Fashion Tech: Dressing The Industry for Success.

During 2020 when COVID locked down the world, video was the "king" of media types. Consumption went mobile, as Americans spent almost twice as much time viewing digital video on their phones as on their computers. After the TV era, YouTube era, and TikTok era, we're now entering the Video 2.0 era of video-first products beyond entertainment and gaming – more interactive and participatory, with users engaging with the platform, giving direct feedback on the content, and shaping the experience in real time. Are you ready? We'll ask Kirsten Boileau, Loic Simon, Sylvie Lexow and Miguel Bautista for their take on The Future of Video: How Many Words Will A Picture Be Worth? – Part 2.

The Buzz 1: "The alcoholic beverage industry is not known for being stagnant. Significant changes and surprising trends emerge every year…The best-selling cocktail of 2019 was the Old Fashioned. Sake is no longer just popular in Japan. Craft beer is no longer just a niche. Whisky, high-end spirits, and ready-to-drink are gaining popularity. Wine is going beyond the bottle. Buying alcohol online is becoming more popular." (linchpinseo.com) The Buzz 2: "2021 is likely to be a transition year for the US beverage alcohol category, predicts online retailer Drizly. Pandemic trends will persist amidst a slow return to pre-COVID life, while up-and-coming categories such as RTDs and mezcal will continue to grow." (www.beveragedaily.com) We'll ask Lisa Allen at Wine Insite, Mary Guiver at Whole Foods, Andrew Rodbell at Post Meridiem Spirits, and Nicolette Conran at Omaha Brewing Company for their take on The Future of Beer, CBD Beverages, Hard Seltzer and Tech: Drink Up!

The Buzz 1: "Nobody brings the creepy better than women mystery and thriller writers. The literary world has always been a bit of a good ol' boys club, but since Anna Katharine Green, 'the mother of the detective novel,' published The Leavenworth Case in 1878, right up to the Gone Girl frenzy, women writers have excelled in the genre." (Erin Enders, www.bustle.com/articles/58552-11-female-mystery-writers-to-start-reading-now-because-these-suspenseful-stories-are-too-good-to) The Buzz 2: "Women's murder tales have always been at least a little more psychologically acute than the guys'. Even in the so-called golden age of detective stories, the 1920s and '30s, when the emphasis was on elaborate puzzles, the motivations of the culprits in Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers were usually more plausible—and nastier—than they were in Carr or Rex Stout or Ellery Queen…Later, while male pulp writers were playing with guns and fighting off those wily femmes fatales, women like Highsmith and Dorothy B. Hughes and Margaret Millar were burrowing into the enigmas of identity and the killing stresses of everyday life." (Ashley Johnson, shereads.com/best-thrillers-by-women-2019/) We'll ask publisher Eddie Vincent and novelists Leslie Wheeler, BJ Magnani, PhD, MD, and S. Lee Manning for their take on The Future of Women Thriller Novelists: Who Dunnit?

The Buzz: "The word entrepreneurship has been defined as the 'discovery, evaluation and exploitation of opportunities' but until just a few years ago, saying you were a young entrepreneur was a creative way to say you were in between jobs. Today, entrepreneurs are the modern day rockstars. The story of how Mark Zuckerberg hacked The Crimson at Harvard is a legend amongst millennials. Hustling and side-hustling is no longer just a way to make more money, it can be incredibly fun. There are so many insanely valuable resources available to entrepreneurs for free these days, you no longer need to 'take the plunge' to be an entrepreneur. You can just barely dip your little toe and test the waters. All you'll lose is the time you invest. It's not that entrepreneurs didn't exist before the word claimed the desire of the public, but society now sees a greater value in being your own boss." (www.futureofeverything.io/ask-thought-leaders-whats-future-entrepreneurship/ June 2017 by Nick Hastreiter) We'll ask Don DeLoach, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Rocket Wagon Venture Studios, David Friedman, Founder and Chairman of Ayla Networks, Jessica Sobhraj, CEO of Cosynd, and Ron Rock, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Microshare, Inc., for their take on The Future of Entrepreneurship and Technology: When IS The Right Time?