Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The buzz: "Over the centuries human beings have always loved to laugh. We can imagine jokes being shared by our cave dwelling ancestors about the two woolly mammoths. Today comedy is shared with vast audience by world-famous arena-filling comedians. Comedy is part of human culture. "There seems to be more comedy than ever. There are local comedy clubs, the Edinburgh Fringe, YouTube, comedy series and Hollywood movies – however you like your comedy served up, there is probably a source catering to your taste. "Still some key challenges…for all but the very top tier of acts to make a living…comedy has always lingered slightly in music's shadow in terms of new media – lagging behind embracing digital platforms." (Sarah Henley, co-founder of NextUp, www.tvbeurope.com/features/what-impact-might-technology-have-on-comedy We'll ask Eddie Sarfaty, Lori Hammel, Peter Michael Marino and Karen Bergreen for their take on "What's So Funny?!? The Future of Humor and Technology."

The buzz: Although they comprise more 50% of the population, women hold far fewer positions in the wine industry, fewer leadership roles, and fewer ownership roles. Wine expert and The Wine Bible author Karen MacNeil's Second Annual Report on Women in the Wine Industry reveals an estimated 10% of winemakers in California are female, 7% in Washington, and 5% in New York. She closed her keynote at the 2019 Wonder Women of Wine (WWOW) inaugural conference with this advice: "My friends, men are not going to fix this. Many of them don't even think a problem exists. The situation is ours to change, and the time is now. So, move forward unwaveringly and ambitiously…Be supportive of other women…And help create a new terroir of wine feminism." We'll ask Susie Selby at Selby Winery, Sharon Cohn at Breathless Wines, Jane Uttley at Unfiltered Unfined Wines and Karen Maley at Robert Young Estate Winery for their take on "We'll Drink To That: The Future of Women and Tech in the Wine Industry."

The buzz: "We've all been there — woken up from a night's sleep thinking about a dream from the night before. Why did the dream happen? What does it mean? (Jean-Marc Emden, DreamsCloud. www.wired.com/insights/2014/10/dreaming-innovation) Finally, answers! The Aurora headband from iWinks gives us the opportunity to control our dreams and access lucid dreams – awareness that one is dreaming – by prompting them in our sleep. The headband measures brain wave and eye movement activity, while tracking body movements to figure out when a user is in their dream state. Using Bluetooth technology, personal dream data is transferred to a mobile app, allowing us to analyze our sleep patterns over time. We'll ask Roberta Moore at EQ-i Coach, Therapist Scott Schenck, Licensed Counselor Dr. Francesca Ferrentelli and Psychiatrist Leonard Cruz, MD, ME, for their take on "It's All In Your Head: Technology for Remembering Your Dreams.

The buzz: Vrooomm. Today, women account for only 27% of the US auto manufacturing workforce as compared to about 47% of the overall labor force. This talent gap is counterproductive for companies looking to tap into the rising opportunities for innovation, transformation, and disruption by digital technologies such as AI, AR, and the IoT. (www2.deloitte.com) Bogi Lateiner, owner of 180 Degrees Automotive in Phoenix, wanted to be a mechanic. "I had to go to 20 shops before I got the first job to say yes to hiring me". She started her shop in her driveway. (cronkitenews..azpbs.org) In 2000, Automotive News had a difficult time filling its first list of 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry. By 2015, it had hundreds of powerful female execs to choose from. (autonews.com) We'll ask Julie Fream (OESA), Laurie Harbour (Harbour Results), Shannon Quinn (Bridgestone) and Jennifer A. Dukarski (Butzel Long) for their take on the future of women in the automotive industry.

The buzz X 3: Make me laugh! Though seemingly innocuous, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips and comic books are representative of important issues in society. Years ago, cartoons were handmade, frame by frame. Now many use flash, aftereffects or other software with interpolation features to produce movement illusion. (engadget.com) Caricature artists once heavily relied on pens and paper. Now, many use digital artistic tools for molding their imagination. (bmmagazine.co.uk) Storytelling using pictures, often with words, has existed at least since the ancient Egyptians. The American comic strip adapted this for the 20th century. (newworldencyclopedia.org) Comic books were once created using typewriters, pencils, pens, brushes, inks, and dyes. Now it's all ones and zeroes. (pcmag.com) We'll ask visual artists Bruce Outridge, Sandra Bell-Lundy, Rina Piccolo, and Joe Bluhm for their take on the future of technology and the visual art they create to make us laugh or just think.

The buzz: "Web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the right moment that a buyer needs it." (David Meerman Scott, The New Rules of Marketing and PR) For companies trying to sell you something right now, while you're listening to us and in the midst of a pandemic, is this the right moment? How do you want them to find you, pitch you, engage you, earn your trust and get you to buy their products or services? Are you annoyed by their intrusion or do you welcome it? Today's dynamic business and social landscapes are forcing sellers and marketers to creatively find you wherever you are – on social platforms, websites, email, perhaps still in the physical commerce world. As the world and society evolve, so does business. We'll ask Lorraine Maurice at SAP, GL Hendricks at Chirp PR, and Brian Moran at Brian Moran & Associates to predict the post-pandemic 'next normal' for modern marketers with something to sell to consumers, including you, me and even each other.

The buzz: According to Engineering the Future of Creativity: How Technology is Revolutionizing Art (techspective.net 2019, technology has created more accessible tools for the production of art, changed the arena of self-expression, and accelerated the process of art funding and distribution. The artist's palette now includes 3D printers. Eyal Gever is working with NASA scientists to create visualizations of human laughter that will be 3D printed on the International Space Station. Technology is redefining the canvas. The Bjork Digital traveling exhibition uses virtual reality and music to create a personalized experience that connects people to art. Via the Internet, art now can be produced and distributed all over the world, beyond the realm of the elite or the exceptionally talented. We'll ask artist Dr. Lucie Marlo, gallery owner Jason Horejs, sculptor Philip Payne and art consultant Lynn Marks for their take on Draw Me A Picture: The Future of Art and Technology.

The buzz: Hard to imagine, but not so long ago, products and services were sold in the physical world and salespeople were the go-to experts before a sale. Remember being invited to coffee or lunch by a salesperson? But consumer habits change, often due to technology. Over the past few years, social selling has gained the attention of sales professionals. With nearly 3.6B people now using social media worldwide, and consumers now 5 times more reliant on digital content than in the early 2,000's, the digital space is here to stay. Social selling is defined as when salespeople use social media to interact directly and build trust with target audiences until prospects are ready to buy a service or product. [digitalmarketinginstitute.com, statista.com, businesswire.com] We'll ask Jason Taylor at Grapevine6, Julio Viskovich at NexLevel Sales, Chris Diskin at TIAA and Brandon Bornancin at Seamless.AI for their take on The Future of Digital Selling: Coming to Your Favorite Social Media.

The buzz: Cyberpsychology is the study of the human mind and behavior and how the culture of technology, specifically, virtual reality, and social media affect them. Hot topics: online identity, online relationships, personality types in cyberspace, transference to computers, addiction to computers and Internet, regressive behavior in cyberspace, and online gender-switching. An example: comparison, low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, and negative relationships are possible detrimental consequences associated with frequent use of Facebook. en.wikipedia.org And there's cyberpsychiatry, which includes virtual reality, telepsychiatry, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and chatbot therapists. "There is always a risk of taking the humanity out of medicine by relying too heavily on technology," says Edward Kaftarian, MD. psychcongress.com We'll ask Chris Kalaboukis, Lynda Roth, Jacob Perkins and Roberta Moore for their take on CyberPsychology: What Would Dr. Freud Say?

The buzz! "As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, restaurants are still doing what they always do: taking care of their communities.…free food to medical workers on the frontlines, laid-off restaurant staff and their families, and basically anyone else in need." (blog.opentable.com) "Giving back to others has had another much-needed consequence: It's helping keep those restaurants in business and their staff working." (cnbc.com) "Through the generosity of patrons, the fundraised meals are provided by area restaurants…many businesses [are] pivoting to stay afloat during the pandemic crisis." (abc7ny.com) What's on the menu to help restaurants owners and workers survive the pandemic? Virtual tastings, more carryout options, enhanced guest-centricity, new food sources, site purchase vs. lease, and more. We'll ask restaurateurs Ryan Turner, Ryan Pernice, Bryan Schroeder and Mike Patrick for their take on The Care & Feeding of Restaurants Post-Pandemic: Technology on the Menu.