Keynote presenter, author and expert on the new world of work
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.
I will be doing a public breakfast presentation at the DiData Campus, Bryanston, Johannesburg on the morning of 19 August 2010. There are limited seats available, so book now to avoid disappointment.
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.
I have just spent a large part of today updating our company website. It’s got a nice new look and feel, thanks to a new theme and an upgrade to WordPress 3 (a small technical detail for the nerds).
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:
I have spent the past 12 days in the wonderful country of Iran. I have travelled around to a number of different cities, as part of a conference series. I’ll reflect on the trip and the conditions in Iran in a separate post on our blog. But here, I just wanted to record the trip, and post a few pictures for those who might be interested.
My itinerary was:
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:
