"I am a longtime commentator on how the digital, mobile and social-media revolution has left Publishers reeling and in a state of total change or even disruption. This is a call to action to transform your business to embrace and conquer the digital age. Failure to do so will mean inevitable friction, market confusion and possibly a dysfunctional content ecosystem, when on the other hand you could stand to profit from long term revenue generating opportunities.
It is often said that where attention flows money follows (*Kevin Kelly kk.org), but the question is how, where and when to convert them. Today, digital natives are viewers, users, followers, friends, co-creators, co-producers or crowd-sourced collaborators, all-in-one. Going forward, data is becoming the new oil, and understanding, analysing, predicting and staying ahead of your ‘connected consumers’ is quickly becoming a MUST for your business in 2012 and beyond!
So far, technological content protection measures have not been successful. Instead, future ‘protection’ will need to come from the business models and from social cohesion. Delivering tangible value and inventing new free, freemium, feels-like-free models will be crucially important. Just look at Skype, Spotify, Amazon and the undisputed master of ‘free’ – Google. You need to asses the role ‘free’ will play in your business. How will you monetize your content and which new and innovative revenue generating concepts will transform the commercial prospects of your business? Yes, methods of monetizing content are fragmented, but also much more powerful, immediate and liquid than ever. This industry, this transitional period and the World e-Reading Congress 2012 are all key opportunities to harness your digital footprint and develop strategies that will pay dividends in solid revenue. I look forward to meeting you all at the World e-Reading Congress next May.” Gerd Leonhard, CEO, The Futures Agency – Opening Keynote Speaker 2012.
Many of you may be following my various Twitter streams such as @gleonhard (my main and most popular channel, usually delivers short comments on what I read elsewhere, always-a-link-concept), @futuresagency (my company's account, with news, updates and retweets from our partners and speakers), @dailywisdoms (the name says it all), @futurefeed (where all Futures Agency partners can tweet futuristic stuff they find relevant), @futurememes (where we are building a video-centric twitter stream based on the budding FutureMemes.org tumblr blog), @music2dot0 (all tweets pertaining to the topic of my 2nd book, Music 2.0) or @derfuturist (tweets and updates in German, mostly).
What is sometimes lacking is the ability to actually reply publicly and have something akin to a conversation, i.e. less broadcast and more narrowcast. This has been hard to do using my @gleonhard account because many of my followers seem to find it rather irrating to see too many replies in my twitter stream, and have let me know that they don't like to have to follow other people's conversation.
I have therefore decided to establish a twitter channel that is dedicated only to conversations, at @talktogerd . You can follow me there and ask any question you want, or comment on my work, and I will try to respond to you right away. I hope you like the idea and will follow me there, as well.
This ITU’s Quickfire Storytelling session brings together some of the world’s leading futurists to share bold ideas and conflicting predictions of how the world might look in 10 years’ time. -> October 26, 2011, Palexpo, Geneva, starting 16h, Storytelling Session #2 F17
The adoption of connected technologies is driving change at an unprecedented rate. ICTs will transform the very nature of business, education and the way that global citizens communicate and share information. Short snappy stories will offer insights into the future, from a variety of perspectives in a variety of styles. These science-fiction tales will be based on science-fact; sometimes contentious, sometimes irreverent, but always thought-provoking, will catalyze dynamic debate.
All stories will be presented in the Quickfire Format: 10 slides // 30 seconds per slide // up to 10 words or an image per slide // once they click they can’t stop. This session was co-curated with The Futures Agency.
Las tendencias mundiales y previsiones: El futuro de los contenidos en una sociedad digital. Gerd Leonhard (Suiza):
Gerd Leonhard, el Futurolo más importante del mundo en el sector de las Telecomunicaciones e Internet, en su conferencia abordará dos temáticas importantes para la industria; "Global trends and foresights: The Future of content in a digital society" y "The future of content: Where is the money?, How to monetize content in a digital society". Habrá lugar para un panel de discución con Alejandro González, CEO de Braiz Games- a Zio studio, Liliana Andrade de Parlante Amarillo y Tuyo Isaza.
Organizador:
Ministerio de Tecnologías de Ia Información y las Comunicaciones
Objetivo: Discutir
o futuro da mídia, conteúdo, tecnologia, negócios, propaganda e
marketing, branding, telecomunicações, comunicação e cultura. Público-alvo: Alunos
dos cursos de graduação em Comunicação Social, Cinema, Marketing e
Propaganda e Marketing e de pós-graduação em Telejornalismo, Comunicação
Empresarial, Mídias Digitais e Marketing.
I am delighted and honored to have been officially appointed as 'Visiting Professor' at the prestigious Fundacao Dom Cabral (FDC) in Brazil (based in Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte). FDC is ranked number 6 on the list of global business schools and executive education providers (see below), and collaborates globally with Kellogs and Insead. Download
the FT Rankings of global B-Schools (5 MB PDF)
I will be teaching, presenting, giving talks and delivering speeches in Brazil on a regular basis, both for FDC's many executive training programs, and events, as well as for their own staff and internal training. Some of my previous work for FDC can be found here: The Future of Business (slide-show) and Shifting to the Open Network Economy (slide-show).
Related work in Brazil includes my appearance on the RodaViva TV Show, my collaboration with the NBS agency (Future of Communications event in Feb 2010), and my work with Feira Musica Brazil (Future of Music - Music 2.0 in Brazil).
At this point I also want to thank some of the key 2 people that have egged me on to do more work on Brazil: leadership guru, innovation expert and fellow FDC professor Didier Marlier and music business entrepreneur and iMusica founder Felippe Llerena - thanks to both of you for bringing me to Brazil! Going forward, you can track my travel dates and plans (incl. most of the Brazil trips) via Dopplr, or via my Twitter stream; my next trip is June 21-26. When teaching at FDC in Sao Paulo or Belo Horizonte I may also be available for think-tanks and various speaking engagements in Brazil - just ping me if you are interested.
"With access to music now just a click
away for most of us, very few of the tried and tested ways of accessing
music remain unchanged. Can we, or should we, attempt to predict the
future? Have we even begun to deal with the present yet? This major conference brings together high-level international
speakers to explore and debate issues around the meaning of digital
culture; how it impacts on the creator and the performer; and the
implications for copyright in a world which has come to expect music to
be free"
Who should attend: creative artists and organizations engaged in any area of
composition, performance, publishing or distribution across all forms of
music in Ireland.
Other Speakers • Ms Mary Hanafin, TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Official opening • Prof Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, University of Limerick, Ireland, and CMC Board Keynote address • Andrew Dubber, Reader in Music Industries Innovation, Birmingham City University, Great Britain • Bill Whelan, Composer, Ireland Ireland and the Global Culture Market: A Creator's View
Next2010 looks like a very promising event; the main topic this year is 'Game Changers' - certainly a good fit for my own work;). I will most likely do a keynote speech on "The next 3 years: major game changers for content, entertainment and
media" - and if I can make the switch before that date this may be the first gig where I will be presenting in an entirely new way, possibly using a new device that Apple is launching in April....;)
Here are 4 'scenes' from my upcoming presentation at the Books 2.0 event in London, March 19. I still have a few seats reserved for my tweeps and blog-readers - ping me if you are interested (yes, it's still a free event;). I will publish my slides on this blog, via Slideshare, and via Twitter, sometime in the afternoon of that day. Stay tuned. The Twitter Hashtag is #books20 and the Twitter-Stream is here.
More infos & registration here. I will be talking about the Future of Mobile Content - and I have some cool new stuff for this occasion;). Will publish the PDF here, as usual, the next day.
On March 1, 2010, I am starting with what I think is becoming an increasingly viable opportunity on the Net: online seminars, conferences, workshops, meetings and training sessions. I have done a few similar things (for various clients) in the past, using all kinds of platforms, and I believe the time is right to take the next steps, on my own turf, and... yes, indeed, even charge a few $ for it. You've had the Free / Feels Like Free, you've seen the Freemiums... so: I am wondering if you are ready for this idea.
If you have met me in 'meatspace' or are otherwise 'connected with me', or have been a reader of this blog for a while, you'll know that I have been publishing free slideshows, blog posts (and full-length feeds), PDFs, videos and essays for over 7 years.
Now I would like to investigate if maybe the next level above and beyond all that free content (and maybe to complement my 50+ paid speaking gigs and on-location think-tanks per year) could be to charge a small amount of money to make myself and some select colleagues available to a limited number of people that won't have to travel 1000s of miles to 'be there', using a fully interactive, online platform that allows for screen-sharing, chat, video and audio. After a lot of research I decided to try the DimDim web conferencing platform because of its ease of use and great features; in addition, I was dismayed by the fact that you apparently can't even sign up for Cisco's Webex service, online if you live outside the U.S.; to top that off, so far no-one has even bothered to get back to me via their contact form. Another time, then.
For this first session (and hopefully regularly) I am delighted to be joined by Alan Moore, Author (Communities Dominate Brands, with Tomi Ahonen), Blogger and fellow Keynote Speaker, for our very first no-entirely-free online seminar on March 1, 2010, at 1pm EST (NY) / 10 am PST (California), 6pm GMT (London), 7pm CET (Berlin) etc (you can figure out the timezones from here;).
"Alan Moore is the founder of the Engagement Communication Consultancy SMLXL. He is the author of several books including, Communities Dominate
Brands: Business and Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century. He is recognized as a great distiller of complex arguments
into their most salient points, who can take concepts from many sources
and find the previously hidden relationship between them. He is currently working on his next project: No Straight Lines: An advanced living course for the networked society. As a well known writer, thinker and public speaker Alan has addressed, radio, television, and conference audiences globally. Reviews of his books and his articles have been published in many respected magazines, journals and newspapers..."
I have worked with Alan several times and he just totally rocks; it will be a real treat to have him co-present on this seminar. Alan and me will both present for about 30 minutes followed by a discussion with the participants (which, for now, are capped at 100).
We will charge $50 USD per person for this 90-minute event. If this experiment works out we will be offering more online seminars, together, individually, and with other great presenters from our various networks, as well. So go ahead... make our day!
Thriving commercially in social media and the networked society: An interactive seminar with Gerd Leonhard and Alan Moore (sign up page on Eventbrite)
The terms social media and social networking are terms we frequently fling around, and think about every single day, accompanied by the word “digital”. The digitalness of our world has been picked over in minute detail. One cannot deny that it is, networked digital communication tools that has brought significant social, cultural and commercial disruptive change to all our lives.
We are in a period of transition, our world of business, media, and communications is evolving from the straight-lines of an industrial era to the more complex and networked world that mimics nature. Any transitory process brings with it complications. In this instance, for many people and organizations they feel they are outsiders, struggling to make sense of a seemingly anarchic world. They become concussed observers to this new world that surrounds them. The problem is that this interactive networked world isn’t about vertical silos, traditional notions of product and service creation, mass-production and mass media and marketing. It is about the massive flows of people, who are connecting, collaborating, organizing and creating in a manner that has nothing to do with a linear approach too much at all.
For over 150 years our economies, culture and society have been shaped by a straight-line logic producing considerable economic success. However, in the dawn of the Networked-Society, a straight-line logic of stuff done and creating wealth becomes a barrier to progress. Why? Because, the change wrought by the networked- society is structural – challenging how markets and organizations have co-evolved over the last 150 years.
So, as we de-couple from the ‘Straight Lines’ of our industrialised world – which framed all aspects of our lives – we do need a new logic to understand this new one. It must be a logic which provides a framework for how we relate to each other, how we communicate, how we create more effective and flexible organisations and how we create wealth. Because we are still faced with the same challenges: how do we find our customers, how do we make our customers sticky, how can we increase trade with our customers and serve those customers whilst at the same time, reducing the cost to serve?
Regardless of whether you are in retailing, the automotive industry, FMCG, music etc., this seminar can help you understand how to commercially thrive in the networked society. This interactive seminar is based upon our combined and extensive experience of working with many companies in helping them make the transition from a linear mass media model to a networked one. We will provide via case histories, practical guidance of how to thrive commercially in the networked society.
I am delighted to have been invited to hold a keynote at the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) prestigious World Congress in New York City, on April 26-28, 2010.
Here is what I will talk about (Tues, April 27, 9am): The Future of News, Publishing, and Media: How to Monetize Content In the Next 3 Years. "The challenge of how to monetize content in a digitally networked and
always-on world is growing more severe by the minute, driven by
constant advances in technology, smarter devices and faster
connectivity, as well as by drastic changes in consumer behavior,
worldwide. Can those analog dollars be converted to a much larger
number of digital quarters and dimes? Where will those next-generation
revenue streams come from, and how can you fast-track them? Can and
should copies be controlled, online, and if not, how do you “compete
with free”? How can “selling access to copies” be turned into real
money, not just page-views and social media buzz? What is the role of
advertising, mobile device makers, the ISPs, telecoms and mobile
network operators, and how will publishers position themselves in this
new “telemedia” ecosystem?" Hope to see you there!