Insights · October 31st, 2024
Thank you for attending futurist speaker Nikolas Badminton‘s keynote as part of the Speakers Showcase at IASB 2024 in Montreal. It was amazing to meet you all and share how hope is the energy for change, and how you can ignite your futurist mindset – we can’t wait to connect with you and discuss how we can work together.
Please reach out so that we can connect and discuss building business together – click here to contact Nikolas.
The Agency Challenge: Explore and imagine the future of the speaking and events business
Now is the time to step up and lean into futures thinking. Explore your futures and determine what you are hopeful about.
Here are 3 WHAT IF… questions about the events and speaking business that will make you consider your position and longevity in this world:
- WHAT IF agencies level up to be full conference, experience and marketing management companies? Signal: there is incredible inertia on the idea of providing services beyond bookings in traditional agencies, however we see some lean into running their own events in (and beyond) the pandemic e.g. Speakers Spotlight has build a (virtual and in-person) speakers series, live experience companies are booking directly, and clients are building longer term relationships with speakers and their networks.
- WHAT IF new agencies that use a pure-play online Speaker-as-a-service (direct and on-demand) disrupt our businesses and act as an inspiration for us to disrupt ourselves? Signal: we are seeing a number of platforms emerge – Bark, LetsEngage, BookSpeaker, and many others. These are trying to create an on-demand model for hiring speakers that aims to disrupt traditional agency models and build a direct-to-speaker model.
- WHAT IF we see a decline of in-person conferences due to climate change – unpredictable weather, strict company carbon budgets that restrict travel, and financial prudence? Signals: hurricanes like Helene and Milton have shown the fragility of key conference destinations, large companies (especially in Europe) are setting tighter ‘carbon budgets’ for the year thus restricting travel, and more companies are shifting to online-only events to manage costs and adapt to hybrid working models.
As you start to explore each WHAT IF… question, start exploring and scoping out:
- What do we need to learn about, and speculate on changing dynamics, for the long term?
- What do we need to prepare for, and consider seriously, in the medium term?
- What should we begin doing (or stop doing) in the near term?
Remember, share your thinking and ideas with the teams in your agency and across the IASB network. Also, that change is inevitable. You either change, or change happens to you.
Nikolas would love to explore these ideas with you and help level up your strategic thinking – contact Nikolas here.
Nikolas brings 30+ years of experience to the stage
Nikolas is a futurist that provides engaging and inspirational keynotes and advises the largest companies and governments in the world to think bigger about the futures ahead of us and the impact they can make. That means he brings new mindsets and tools for executives to apply daily to supercharge strategic thinking, build anticipation for what comes next (new opportunities, challenges and risks), and unlock new revenues and profit.
He brings more than 30 years experience to the stage from working with leadership at over 450 leading organizations at the frontline of futures, strategy and innovation – clients include – The White House, NASA, Disney, Procter & Gamble, Google, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, WM, JP Morgan, Verizon, AT&T, VISA, TD Bank, American Express, Dyson, National Retail Federation, BISCI, ISACA, Rolls Royce, US Department of State, UK Home Office, United Nations, and many more.
Nikolas would love to connect with you so that we can build incredible client relationships, deliver custom and focused futurist keynotes and help them level up their strategic thinking – contact Nikolas here.
Ignite Your Futures Thinking
Want to start exploring futures to ignite imagination, build anticipation and deepen a sense of empathy for the people, systems and dynamics in our futures?
It starts with 4 things…and Nikolas Badminton teaches these to every client.
- Question your own history and perspectives – break out of your beliefs and bias. Challenge preconceived ideas and modes of thought.
- Be wildly creative and collaborate – take signals, smash them together (especially those that are unlike each other) and push the boundaries of what might come next. Then share those ideas and invite people to remix that thinking and challenge. Land in unfamiliar and exciting places.
- Look for pockets of the future in the present – evidence of the futures that will unravel are all around us. Lift your head up and look for the people pushing thinking, the new innovations, the companies challenging the status quo, and the global dynamics that will come home to roost. Always be scanning!
- Shift your mindset from what is to WHAT IF… – change is constant. We either change, or change happens to us. So, always ask – what if the world changes, we change, and what we need changes. I also encourage people to challenge naysayers that state ‘X is unlikely to impact us’ by tagging the word ‘yet’ to the end of sentences. It helps us go deeper.
Nikolas would love to connect with you so that we can build incredible client relationships, deliver custom and focused futurist keynotes and help them level up their strategic thinking – contact Nikolas here.
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Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist and Hope Engineer at futurist.com. He’s a world-renowned futurist speaker, consultant, author, media producer, and executive advisor that has spoken to, and worked with, over 450 of the world’s most impactful organizations and governments.
Nikolas Badminton’s book Facing Our Futures: How Foresight, Futures Design and Strategy Creates Prosperity and Growth has been selected for 2023 J.P. Morgan Summer Reading List, and featured as the ‘Next Gen Pick’ to inform the next generation of thinkers that lead us into our futures.
Please contact futurist speaker and consultant Nikolas Badminton to discuss your engagement.