The inaugural session for the Fork Talks went live on May 13 2021, with me and Glen Hiemstra as hosts, featuring presentations by Brenda Cooper, Philip Kotler, David Houle and Bronwyn Williams.
The goal of this first event was to draw attention to the existential questions that are at the core of the Fork In The Road Project Manifesto and to start exploring the best formats for our upcoming Fork Talks. The event was live-streamed on YouTube where viewers could post their questions here, as well.
The edited version below is now available on YouTube, or on Vimeo
- Brenda Cooper on the Role of Science Fiction as a Visionary Tool
- Philip Kotler on Is World Capitalism Ready for Nordic Capitalism?
- David Houle on Facing the Climate Crisis
- Bronwyn Williams on Re-Writing the Social Contract
Brenda Cooper: Stories of the Future: Science Fiction as a Visionary Tool
Brenda Cooper is the award-winning author of twelve books and more than fifty stories. She is the Information Technology Director for a large construction company in Seattle. WA; Lease Crutcher Lewis. She occasionally gives talks on the future. Brenda touched on the power of story as a way to spark interest in the future, to explore possible solutions, and to either warn or instill hope. Her valuable reading suggestions given on her presentation are listed here
Philip Kotler: Is World Capitalism Ready for Nordic Capitalism?
Philip Kotler is known around the world as the “father of modern marketing.” For over 50 years he has taught at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Kotler’s book Marketing Management is the most widely used textbook in marketing around the world. Philip shared how Nordic democracies consistently rank the highest in multiple categories and created a dialog around this option as a possible model for global capitalism.
David Houle: Facing the Climate Crisis: Simplified
David Houle is a futurist, thinker and keynote speaker. He has keynoted numerous conferences across the country and internationally. In the last fourteen years he has delivered 1200+ presentations and keynotes on 6 continents and 16 countries.He is regularly invited to speak at corporate management retreats. David Houle subject touched on a high-level look at what needs to be done. The basics needed to change our trajectory at this fork in the road of the 2020s, where he highlighted practical steps, reinforcing our role in society as a collaboration needed to revert the effects of global warming.
Bronwyn Williams: Re-Writing the Social Contract
Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist and trend analyst from Johannesburg South Africa. She is currently a Partner and foresight lead at Flux Trends and is the co-author of The Future Starts Now, published by Bloomsbury in 2021. She is a regular media commentator on socio-economic trends and has consulted to large company boards and public sector institutions alike on how to dream, design, and build better futures for all of us. In her presentation, Bronwyn explained the undercurrents that have become cracks in our social contract and highlights the pitfalls we need to avoid if we wish to heal rather than widen those divides. She has been highlighting the importance of holding space for diversity and divergent ideas about the future without falling into the twin traps of discrimination or forced homogeneity.
This Fork Talk is also available as an audio podcast on SoundCloud
