Episodes

"If you focus on what you left behind, you will never see what lies ahead!" (Gusteau, played by Brad Garrett in Ratatouille, 2007 computer-animated comedy film) "Your problem is not technology. The problem is you. You lack the will to change." (Klaatu, played by Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2008 sci-fi drama film) If you're hoping to gaze into a crystal ball to see what 2021 holds for your company, your industry and the world, we've got the next best thing. On December 9, 2020,...

The Buzz #1: Mr. Spaceley: “Where's Jetson, and why is the plant shut down?” Rudy 2: “It's the middle of the night, sir.” Mr. Spaceley: “Machines don't sleep. Start it up! Every second lost means money lost. And money lost means I scream a lot!” [Jetsons: The Movie, 1990] If you’re hoping to gaze into a crystal ball to see what 2021 holds for your company, your industry and the world, we’ve got the next best thing. On December 16, 2020, we'll ask ten thought leaders to predict the future of IoT ...

“If you focus on what you left behind, you will never see what lies ahead!” (Gusteau, played by Brad Garrett in Ratatouille, 2007 computer-animated comedy film) “Your problem is not technology. The problem is you. You lack the will to change.” (Klaatu, played by Keanu Reeves in The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2008 sci-fi drama film) If you’re hoping to gaze into a crystal ball to see what 2021 holds for your company, your industry and the world, we’ve got the next best thing. On December 9, 2020,...

The buzz: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” (Søren Kierkegaard,1813-1855, Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic, author) If you’re hoping to gaze into a crystal ball to see what 2021 holds for your company, your industry and the world, we’ve got the next best thing. Live today, December 2, 2020, we'll focus on the Future of Digital Selling on Part 1 of our Annual Crystal Ball Predictions Special. The Special will continue on December 9, 16 plus...

The buzz: “Today, anyone with a bit of technological know-how and an internet connection can publish—offering digital or physical editions, on the same online retail shelves—alongside Alexander Chee, Rebecca Makkai, or Tom Clancy.” For printed books, a slew of new funding, production, and distribution tools make creating and selling a physical artifact much easier…The books look fabulous. This proliferation of new technology and services has altered author economics. Almost half of author earnin...

The buzz: “In its hundred-year history, the drumset has been adorned by temple blocks, timpani, and bass drumheads with nature scenes…introduction of the hi-hat, Rototoms, Octobans… bass drums with no front heads at all…entire drumsets would spin in the air, be aided by powerful electronics, and explode in size with additional bass drums, toms, and snare drums and enough cymbals to equip a large marching band.” “So what of drumming’s future?…How will such buzz phrases as “Internet of Things” and...

The buzz: “In the unknowable future, all leaders will need to be entrepreneurs: visionaries that can imagine, adapt, and act nimbly to address whatever challenges come their way.” (Bhatia and Levina, hbr.org) With global businesses impacted by Covid-19 and other disruptions, companies that survived are looking at their future workforce through a new lens. No more obey-the-status-quo hires. They need creative, entrepreneurial, collaborative problem-solvers to help them turn obstacles into positiv...

The Buzz 1: “The future holds unparalleled visions of progress and intrigue for the curious…where we manifest our hopes, dreams and even worst fears…While we've had our fair share of inventive breakthroughs in the past that have changed the world, the dazzling and world-shaking inventions of the future will change the world in even stranger and greater ways.” bigthink.com The Buzz 2: In the 19th century, inventors were heroes…Stephenson, Morse and Goodyear were the shock troops of the Industrial...

The buzz: Futurists are people who attempt to predict the future – authors, consultants, thinkers, organizational leaders and others who engage in interdisciplinary and systems thinking to advise private and public organizations on diverse global trends, possible scenarios, emerging market opportunities and risk management. Futurists are motivated by change. Not content merely to describe or forecast, they desire an active role in world transformation. Futurology is concerned with ‘three P's and...

The buzz: “We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” (President Jimmy Carter) But Canadian social psychologist John Berry observes that multiculturalism is dependent on both the “cultural maintenance” by immigrant groups and “cultural acceptance” by host societies. Strong cultural maintenance by immigrants and weak cultural acceptance by a host society lead to separation and marginalization. C...

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 t...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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 p...

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 ...

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...

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 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 conse...

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 ...

A social good is something that benefits the largest number of people in the largest possible way, such as clean air, clean water, healthcare, and literacy. Aka common good, social good can trace its history to Ancient Greece philosophers and implies a positive impact on individuals or society in general… Today, social good is used to refer to corporate initiatives that aim to enhance the social contract of corporations by promoting practices that are better for the environment and overall socie...

The buzz! Europe-based Just Eat Takeaway, a merger between U.K.’s Just Eat and Netherlands-based Takeaway, is set to acquire its US competitor Grubhub in a $7.3B deal, beating out Uber. The new company will have an active customer base of 70M. When the pandemic forced restaurants to close on-site dining and find other ways to stay in business, Glasserie, a Brooklyn, N.Y. Mediterranean restaurant, experimented with delivery and takeout apps including Seamless, Grubhub and DoorDash. But they were ...

The buzz! Yogurt is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Yogurt is related to the verb yogurmak, to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken”. Ancient Greek cuisine included a similar dairy product, oxygala. Yogurt was introduced to the US in the early 20th century. In 2017, the average American ate 13.7 pounds of yogurt. Because it may contain live cultures, yogurt is often associated with probiotics, postulated as having positive effects on immune, cardiovascular or metabolic health....

The buzz! themuse.com “Social media can also be a powerful tool for your professional life…build your personal brand, grow your network, establish yourself as an expert in your field, or give prospective employers a glimpse into your personality. It can also be full of pitfalls. More employers…check candidates’ social media profiles before hiring…screenshots of status updates and tweets mean your electronic words can live forever, even if you delete them later…not just your own posts—your activi...