Jesse Hirsh | The Future of Authority: Events, Technology & Education
Today’s special ‘Future of Events’ guest blog comes from Futurist & Digital Strategist Jesse Hirsh. His fascinating insights on industry-specific trends help educate people on the potential benefits and perils of technology while offering up practical future-ready solutions for any organization.
We’ve partnered with Cineplex, EventMobi & Freeman AV to offer an live morning event featuring Jesse in Toronto with streams & interactive demonstrations taking place in 5 cities across Canada: Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg & Vancouver.
On Wednesday, May 17th, find out how you can benefit from these advancements to increase attendance, enhance your message and engage your audience through mobile apps, live polling, gamification and virtual reality.
Click Here to learn more about the event and to RSVP.
Technology is fueling a fast-paced society that is exciting for some while frightening for others. The key difference is knowledge. In particular, the kind of knowledge that helps us succeed, survive, and stay safe in a rapidly evolving environment.
Those who have surrounded themselves with sharp and critical teachers are the ones who feel excited. The people who have neglected this important tactic are the ones who are afraid.
This is why it is important to note that who we listen to and who we trust is changing. Whether it’s our political leaders, our media sources, or our sources for entertainment and education, we’ve got a wide range of options we can tune into. There is no longer any prerequisite for someone to be an authority. The barriers to enter the global marketplace are falling, and just about anyone can disrupt the economy or our society in profound ways.
As a result, I argue that events remain the best place to build authority via professional development and continuing education. If the key to success is knowledge, and the prerequisite for that knowledge is trust, than connecting in person, with friends, colleagues, and new contacts, continues to be the most efficient means of doing so.
Yet that does not preclude technology from helping to make events better, and help amplify the power and knowledge that is shared at such a gathering.
Social media in particular has a huge role to play in how we establish and exercise our authority. At an event, social media provides an augmented reality above and beyond what we experience in person. It helps share the message and the messengers while also providing a kind of real time and collaborative note taking for all present.
Virtual reality is another example of a technology that can add tremendous value to an event by providing an additional means of visualizing a presentation, demonstration, let alone augmenting a trade show or exhibition. Like social media it does not replace traditional events, but rather augments them with greater abilities and opportunities to learn.
Similarly, games and the broader method of gamification can provide event organizers with the tools to get people out of their seats and immersed in the subject matter. The human mind learns most effectively when all aspects of the brain, especially the body, are engaged with the subject matter. Games provide this capacity as they create the space to approach a subject from as many perspective as possible, using as much creative capacity as possible. Given our tragically diminished attention spans, we need every method available to ensure our brains are open and are focus is tuned.
When I speak with audiences I focus on two technologies that are rapidly rising and having a disruptive impact on all industries and sectors: artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. As a student I’ve made an effort to connect with the smartest sources and researchers on these subjects, and as a teacher, I try to use as many examples as possible to help my audiences understand how these concepts will transform their sector, work, and lives.
The response I often get from audiences after their brains have exploded upon learning more about these themes is “how do I keep up” or “how can they keep up?”
The obvious answer is to keep on learning. We need to create our own habits of regular learning, professional development, and organizational research and development.
The most efficient and enjoyable way of accomplishing that is via events. Events combine the educational and the social, the professional and the personal, in a way that not only helps expand our cognitive abilities, but also grows and reinforces our professional networks.
There are all sorts of events, and all sorts of technologies and tools that can help us create profound and empowering experiences that ensure we can all be excited about these turbulent times we live in.
Want to hear of Jesse’s thoughts on Authority? Check out these highlights from one of his earlier talks where he encouraged the audience to embrace the idea of a cognitive authority:
Get a myriad of insights to help make your events future-ready, don’t miss out on this event! Click below to RSVP Today:
