I have just written a new blog post and article on nine key workforce trends for the next decade. You can read it at my blog, and also download a PDF version at: http://tinyurl.com/9workforcetrends

I’d be interested in your comments.

The session includes a finger breakfast, and a 90 minute presentation with Q&A. I will be talking on “The TIDES of Change” – the five disruptive forces that will shape the next decade. You’ll learn about how the world of work will change, and what you can do to gain a competitive advantage in the next few years. It’s an inspiring and challenging session.

The cost is R 890 per person, all inclusive.

You can see more details, and make a booking at: http://tomorrowtoday.uk.com/public-seminar-19-august/. Please quote “TomorrowToday” when making the booking!

I look forward to seeing you there.

Have a look: http://www.tomorrowtoday.uk.com – and let me know what you think.

I am thrilled that the biggest controversy surrounding the FIFA World Cup in South Africa 2010 seems to be the drone of the vuvuzela in the background. For the first week or so, international broadcasters completely messed up their sound feeds by keeping up the effects microphone volumes at their “normal” levels, completely drowning out commentary and all other sounds from the ground. This led to a chorus of complaints from around the world. Then, I am guessing, someone at ITV and the BBC decided that maybe it was a good idea to speak to someone at the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) about how to setup the mics. SABC has, after all, about 30 years of experience in broadcasting football in South Africa, with the vuvuzela adding a beautiful (and unmistakable) background noise. It is, for me, at least, the sound of football.

But this blog entry is not about the arrogance of international broadcasters in the face of something new (after all, they first encountered the plastic trumpets over a year ago at the Confederations Cup, and hadn’t done any preparation in that year!).

What I am interested in seeing is whether the vuvuzela will be picked up elsewhere in world now. Apparently over 1.5 million have been sold in Europe. And when my girls took our one to school in London, it was a huge hit with everyone! Saudi Arabia have just banned the vuvuzela at all public gatherings, even going so far as issuing a fatwa against it. Pretty impressive that a £ 5 piece of plastic needs a “go straight to hell” warning on it.

I’m looking forward to the opening weekend of the Premier League next month.

But, there’s another issue that was raised for me recently. It came in the form a picture of an ancient scene. I had always thought that the vuvuzela was a South African invention. But this picture indicates that it has been around for a lot longer than that. See what you think:

My itinerary was:

• 24, Yazd
  
  
• 25, Isfahan
  
  
• 29 & 30, Negotiations Forum 2010, Tehran – see front page of event brochure
  
  
• 1 & 2 July, Negotiations Forum 2010 (repeat), Tehran – sign up for the event here
  
  
• 5 & 6, Karaj city (I will be speaking twice on 5 July only): Sales and Marketing forum.

Events in three other cities were unfortunately cancelled. Kish Island was cancelled due to excessive heat (it topped 50 degrees C and they felt we shouldn’t visit in that heat). Mashad was cancelled because the conference organiser couldn’t get us plane tickets to fly there (it’s a holy city with lots of pilgrims, and they left it too late to book the flights). And the Shiraz city council did not give the conference organisers a license to run the event (apparently due to security fears – hey, who am I to argue!).

So, this was quite a trip! It’s the longest I’ve been away from home in one stretch for two years, and the longest I’ll be away from my family this whole year.

Here are some photos:

The Hamayesh Faradan conference organising team:

Simon Hazeldine, myself and our bodyguard:

Presenting on stage in Karaj City:

Posing with our poster at the main venue in Tehran – Left to right = Myself, Allan Pease, Sepehr Tarverdian, Fergus McLelland and Simon Hazeldine:

Myself and Allan Pease – author of 17 books, selling over 11 million copies on body language, men and women and more:

The hand painted picture of me – presented as a gift in Karaj. It’s lifesize – how am I going to get it home?:

Simon Hazeldine and myself posing in front of our poster in Isfahan:

Presenting in Tehran:

A nice view of the conference hall:

Jan recently promoted me on her blog: http://room54ltd.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/business-speaker-2/

If you need to find speakers in the UK, either contact me for recommendations, or get hold of Room54 – they’ll be able to help you.

Graeme has accepted an invitation to be the closing keynote presenter at a day long conference to be held in Oxford later this month. The topic is “Is Africa Next?”. It is run by the Strategic Focus on Africa Special Interest Group (a student-led group) is organising a conference to promote business in Africa and to deepen the understanding of business opportunities and challenges being faced on the continent, within the wider Oxford community.

Find out about the event, and join us at: http://sbs-isafricanext.weebly.com

I will be in South Africa next, doing a number of different client and public events. You can see my itinerary here.

Two events might be of particular interest to anyone living in Johannesburg. Firstly, on Thursday morning, 6 May 2010, in Woodmead, you can come to a business workshop focusing on the new world of work. It is being run by the TomorrowToday team, and promises to be hugely insightful. Details can be found here. I will be speaking about the disruptive forces that will shape the new world of work in the next decade.

Then, on Friday early morning, 7 May 2010, at the DiData Campus in Bryanston, I am speaking at a fund raiser for Rosebank Union Church’s XChange youth programme. Find details and sign up for the event here. I will be speaking about “The Millennial Kids” at this breakfast.

Out of interest, I will also be presenting “Mind the Gap” at Waterstone College in Kibler Park on the evening of 6 May. This is open to parents and prospective parents of the school.

Please note that I will be back in South Africa for the whole of August, and available to speak at your event. Contact me for details.

I have listed myself at the new social media based speaker site: SpeakerRate.com. See my profile here – rate me or rate on of the talks you heard me make.

SpeakerRate is a community site that is aimed at event organisers, attendees and speakers. Event attendees can provide constructive feedback for the speakers they’ve heard as well as track the talks they’ve attended and research upcoming talks. Speakers can get constructive feedback directly – and immediately – from attendees and find out how they can improve their content and delivery for next time. They can also establish a SpeakerRating, which will help them grow their reputation. Organisers can research and choose the best speakers and presentations for their next event.

This past week has seen complete chaos across Europe and the world, as a volcanic ash cloud has forced planes out of the skies. For 6 days, no commercial flights were allowed to fly across large parts of Europe. Holidaymakers were stranded, businesses ground to a halt, and allround chaos ensued.

The impact for me was that a number of conferences and meetings were cancelled. So, with a bit of time on my hands, and some disappointed delegates around the world, I thought I’d record a short video to tell them about what I would have told them about if we had had the conference (if you see what I mean).

The result is a 15 minute video that talks about disruptive changes in business, and five key trends that will disrupt the world of work in the next decade. You can watch it now here.