Educational Sessions
Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai or Goodbye
Presenter: Afshin Molavi ,
senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC
Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai or Goodbye: the Emerging World Transformation and What It Means for Politics, Business, Travel and Our Future
Geo-economic analyst and Johns Hopkins University scholar Afshin Molavi will examine the five major trends re-shaping our world, arguing that the rise of emerging markets, rapid urbanization, and increasing physical and technological connectivity have dramatically altered our world and way of life. These trends will only accelerate over the next decade, posing both tremendous opportunities for the firms, cities, states, and individuals positioned to tap them as well rising challenges in politics and society that could derail the progress of the past six decades. In a talk that ranges from Gangnam Style to the rise of ISIS, the New Silk Road of trade to the globalization of American brands, Molavi will outline the multiplicity of paths the world is taking at a critical inflection point in global history.
BIO:
Afshin Molavi is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, where he writes broadly on emerging markets and global geo-political risk. A former journalist, his dispatches from Dubai, Riyadh, Cairo, and Tehran have been published in dozens of publications globally, including The New York Times, The Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, and National Geographic. Molavi is a regular speaker at investment conferences, universities, think tanks, and appears regularly on CNN and the BBC, and is currently a senior advisor for Oxford Analytica, the global analysis and advisory firm. He is also founder and editor of the New Silk Road Monitor, a blog that examines the growing commercial, political and economic ties between the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
THE SHIFT AGE
Presentation and discussion
led by David Houle, highly regarded futurist blogger of the Evolution Shift
Sponsored by:
In an age of constant electronic connectedness, the concept of “place” has changed how we work and meet. We can — and do — work anywhere; when we get together the most value derives from collaboration and personal interaction. As meetings industry professionals and suppliers, how can we prepare for, adapt to and exploit this shift?
David Houle is a futurist, think er and keynote speaker. Known as the “CEOs’ futurist,” having spoken to or advised 3,500+ CEOs and business owners in the past seven years, Houle writes the highly regarded futurist blog Evolution Shift and most recently co-authored Brand Shift: The Future of Brands and Marketing, the
first book, according to renowned marketing professor Philip Kotler, “to show what it will take to build successful brands in the 21st century.”
