If you’re like me, you’re sitting in your office asking, where is technology heading, and how will it affect my company? This is not only a question of how your business will use technology, but how your clients will use it as well.
About five years ago, Facebook was a site for social interaction, re-connecting with long-lost friends and relatives. Now, it’s incorporated into almost every business. As a matter of fact, show me a business site that DOESN’T have a link to the company Facebook page, or a “like” application on an internal page. And guess what? I have recently been exploring Google +, as they, too, are putting their hand in the social media bowl. Since Google rules the search engine world, pay very close attention. As both a consumer and business person, I am extremely curious to see how they’ll change our Google searches and results.
How do you navigate through these changes so you’re not playing the catch-up game, but rather, staying ahead of the curve? Just like Google making plans to leap frog and alter the social media universe, each and every industry is examining the same challenge…how to move forward. While your core structure of business remains, whether you’re selling products or providing a service, the technology in which you work to bring in or market to clients is seemingly an unstoppable freight train which is a one-way ticket to futureland.
If you hold corporate conferences, you’ll probably agree that the future of technology is an area which has gained a lot of traction of over the last few years, and, getting expert advice on how to manage it is continuing to grow. Businesses are looking for answers. So who are the futurists speaking who have a handle on the tech-trend curve, AND have helped business make successful decisions for the future?
When I think futurist, one of the first experts who come to mind is Daniel Burrus. Earlier in the year, Harper Business published his book Flash Foresight, which was a NY Times best-seller. What I like about Dan is he’s very smart, clear, and notably, right about the future. For example, he talks about how the use of technology has transformed the way we do things, like listening to music, going from CDs to iTunes–now tell me that wasn’t a game changer. The question is, how is technology transforming the way you or your clients do business?
There’s an ‘out of the box’ thinker, and then a “why a box” thinker. That expert speaker is Watts Wacker. He takes a true philosophical approach to examining our future by asking: what is our agenda (for consumers, technology, economics, etc.)? Without a doubt, change can be uncomfortable, but more importantly, are we seeking change for change’s sake, or a truth (your truth or your brand’s truth)? In other words, while your considering the best business direction, what makes the most sense for YOUR business?
Lastly, on the subject of future (and since I mentioned social media), I would be remiss if I didn’t mention, well, the present and how to handle platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging. These programs, and how we use them in our businesses are constantly evolving. Chris Brogan, while not a ‘futurist’ per se, is a social media whiz who drills down into specifics helping you answer: Does social media have a meaningful place in my business? Where are these platforms heading? How am I communicating out and sharing with my clients? Maybe more interestingly, will there be a shift in HOW my clients want to share with me? Are my clients active in LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, (or now) Google +, and is it to my benefit to participate?
What we do know is this: change is constant. Cliché statement, yes, but we must prepare our business in this exciting exploration into the unknown (cue the Star Trek theme)…the future.
For more information on helping to shape your future decisions at your next conference, contact Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau here, or call us at 1-800-345-5607.
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