MEET MICHAEL ROGERS
Michael Rogers is a technology pioneer, author and journalist whose consultancy, Practical Futurist, helps businesses worldwide think about the future. In recent years he has worked with companies ranging from FedEx, Boeing and NBC Universal to Prudential, Dow Corning, American Express and Genentech.
He recently completed two years as a futurist-in-residence for The New York Times Company and also writes the Practical Futurist column for MSNBC. For ten years he was vice president of The Washington Post Company's new media division, guiding both the newspaper and Newsweek into the new century. He is a regular guest on radio and television including Good Morning America, The Today Show, PBS, CNN and The History Channel.
Michael studied physics and creative writing at Stanford University, with training in finance and management at Stanford Business Schools's Executive Program. he began his career as a writer for Rolling Stone and went on to co-found Outside magazine. He then launched Newsweek's technology column, winning numerous journalism awards. In 1993 he produced the world's first CD-ROM newsmagazine for Newsweek, later becoming editor and general manager of Newsweek.com. In 1999 he received a patent for a multimedia storytelling technique, and in 2007 was named to both Who's Who in Science and Engineering and the Magazine Industry Digital Hall of Fame.
He is also a best-selling novelist whose fiction explores the human impact of technology. He lives in New York City and is at work on his next book.
He recently completed two years as a futurist-in-residence for The New York Times Company and also writes the Practical Futurist column for MSNBC. For ten years he was vice president of The Washington Post Company's new media division, guiding both the newspaper and Newsweek into the new century. He is a regular guest on radio and television including Good Morning America, The Today Show, PBS, CNN and The History Channel.
Michael studied physics and creative writing at Stanford University, with training in finance and management at Stanford Business Schools's Executive Program. he began his career as a writer for Rolling Stone and went on to co-found Outside magazine. He then launched Newsweek's technology column, winning numerous journalism awards. In 1993 he produced the world's first CD-ROM newsmagazine for Newsweek, later becoming editor and general manager of Newsweek.com. In 1999 he received a patent for a multimedia storytelling technique, and in 2007 was named to both Who's Who in Science and Engineering and the Magazine Industry Digital Hall of Fame.
He is also a best-selling novelist whose fiction explores the human impact of technology. He lives in New York City and is at work on his next book.
SUGGESTED SPEAKING TOPICS
MANAGEMENT MEETS THE FUTURE
Managers are facing multiple new challenges: virtual work forces, flattened corporate structures, a new generation of ambitious and cyber-savvy workers, a heightened atmosphere of public scrutiny—not to mention the perennial pressure to do more with less. How are smart managers coping and what’s next to come?
THE STATE OF TRUST
In many ways, modern technology has temporarily eroded trust, as bloggers blow the whistle on corporate cover-ups or catch the big media companies in mistakes or misrepresentations. In families it has created a new tension between parents and children, as kids seek freedom in the Internet world that is uniquely their own while parents worry, quite rightly, about the dangers that lie online. But there are also some methods emerging wherein new technology can be used to increase trust among families and communities.
THE DIGITAL LIFESTYLE
Computers, the Internet and the digitization of all media are changing many aspects of the American lifestyle—from how we work, where we shop, how we entertain ourselves and even how we meet our mates. It is also beginning to reshape the way our homes are built, furnished and lived-in. What does the digital lifestyle mean for what companies must do to reach their customers and how products must change to meet new needs? It’s necessary to tie together strands from pop culture, consumer electronics and even home décor to understand fully the scope of the transformation.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA
The rise of the Internet and the digitization of all media are having a profound effect on both the telecom and media industries. The relationship between the creators of content and the owners of “the pipes” has never been more complex or volatile. And new technologies such as wireless broadband and VOIP are only now arriving. What will the next decade see in content and services delivery, customer expectations, the protection of intellectual property, and the role of traditional media? Who will be the winners and losers between cable, satellite, landlines and wireless?
GLOBALIZATION
We have only seen the beginning of how globalization will change our world over the next decades. The democratization of information via the Internet, the rise of middle class consumers in the developing world, the spread of outsourcing to professions like law and medicine, new competitors dislodging Fortune 500 firms in global markets, increased pressure on natural resources…the list will only grow longer as market forces and technology spread across our planet.
SOCIETY, TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE
General audiences like to hear about the technologies that will shape their own lives in the decades to come: genetic engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, wireless broadband and the next generation of the Internet. During his years as an award-winning science and technology writer, Rogers has learned to explain and project the implications of these technologies in ways that both captivate and inform non-technical audiences.
THE NEXT GENERATION
The first generation never to know a world without an Internet is rapidly approaching adulthood. It is a cohort that has fundamentally different ideas and expectations about how to relate to businesses, employers, the media and each other. How do we market to this new breed? How will we manage them? What will they expect from products and services, and what new skills—or deficits—will they bring to the workplace?
YOUR BUSINESS IN 2020
For this popular speech, Rogers—who is also a best-selling science fiction writer—interviews the client to get a sense of their business, practice or discipline. He then creates a scenario of what their profession or business might be like at the beginning of the Twenties and the world they will inhabit. He’s done it for lawyers, health care professionals, transportation companies, financial services companies—and even for beauty salons and weight-loss clinics!
THE FUTURE OF MEDIA
The rise of the Internet and the digitization of all media are having a profound effect on the media industries. What will the next decade see in content and services delivery, customer expectations, the protection of intellectual property, and the role of traditional media? Will we still have newspapers? Will we still have traditional television? Who will create, distribute and profit from the news? And the rise of citizen journalism—via blogs and social media—means that for corporations, nothing is under the radar anymore. Who will be the winners and losers between cable, satellite, landlines and wireless?
Managers are facing multiple new challenges: virtual work forces, flattened corporate structures, a new generation of ambitious and cyber-savvy workers, a heightened atmosphere of public scrutiny—not to mention the perennial pressure to do more with less. How are smart managers coping and what’s next to come?
THE STATE OF TRUST
In many ways, modern technology has temporarily eroded trust, as bloggers blow the whistle on corporate cover-ups or catch the big media companies in mistakes or misrepresentations. In families it has created a new tension between parents and children, as kids seek freedom in the Internet world that is uniquely their own while parents worry, quite rightly, about the dangers that lie online. But there are also some methods emerging wherein new technology can be used to increase trust among families and communities.
THE DIGITAL LIFESTYLE
Computers, the Internet and the digitization of all media are changing many aspects of the American lifestyle—from how we work, where we shop, how we entertain ourselves and even how we meet our mates. It is also beginning to reshape the way our homes are built, furnished and lived-in. What does the digital lifestyle mean for what companies must do to reach their customers and how products must change to meet new needs? It’s necessary to tie together strands from pop culture, consumer electronics and even home décor to understand fully the scope of the transformation.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA
The rise of the Internet and the digitization of all media are having a profound effect on both the telecom and media industries. The relationship between the creators of content and the owners of “the pipes” has never been more complex or volatile. And new technologies such as wireless broadband and VOIP are only now arriving. What will the next decade see in content and services delivery, customer expectations, the protection of intellectual property, and the role of traditional media? Who will be the winners and losers between cable, satellite, landlines and wireless?
GLOBALIZATION
We have only seen the beginning of how globalization will change our world over the next decades. The democratization of information via the Internet, the rise of middle class consumers in the developing world, the spread of outsourcing to professions like law and medicine, new competitors dislodging Fortune 500 firms in global markets, increased pressure on natural resources…the list will only grow longer as market forces and technology spread across our planet.
SOCIETY, TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE
General audiences like to hear about the technologies that will shape their own lives in the decades to come: genetic engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, wireless broadband and the next generation of the Internet. During his years as an award-winning science and technology writer, Rogers has learned to explain and project the implications of these technologies in ways that both captivate and inform non-technical audiences.
THE NEXT GENERATION
The first generation never to know a world without an Internet is rapidly approaching adulthood. It is a cohort that has fundamentally different ideas and expectations about how to relate to businesses, employers, the media and each other. How do we market to this new breed? How will we manage them? What will they expect from products and services, and what new skills—or deficits—will they bring to the workplace?
YOUR BUSINESS IN 2020
For this popular speech, Rogers—who is also a best-selling science fiction writer—interviews the client to get a sense of their business, practice or discipline. He then creates a scenario of what their profession or business might be like at the beginning of the Twenties and the world they will inhabit. He’s done it for lawyers, health care professionals, transportation companies, financial services companies—and even for beauty salons and weight-loss clinics!
THE FUTURE OF MEDIA
The rise of the Internet and the digitization of all media are having a profound effect on the media industries. What will the next decade see in content and services delivery, customer expectations, the protection of intellectual property, and the role of traditional media? Will we still have newspapers? Will we still have traditional television? Who will create, distribute and profit from the news? And the rise of citizen journalism—via blogs and social media—means that for corporations, nothing is under the radar anymore. Who will be the winners and losers between cable, satellite, landlines and wireless?
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