Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Still Learning The secret to success: always work with amazing people. By now, you may have heard that I will be officially retiring from Freeman at the end of June 2024. I’ve already received notes and calls from so many of you — which is humbling and deeply appreciated. This wasn’t a sudden decision. In fact, it […] Written by BPH November 30, 2023November 30, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Have Your Digital Twin Call My Digital Twin Technology isn’t just getting better, it’s getting more personal. Back in August, Brian Cooley, senior technology editor at CNET for over 25 years, spoke at our leadership conference about how the point of AI is to amplify the human experience. One of the many opportunities he presented is the emerging technology behind digital twins. The […] Written by BPH November 9, 2023November 9, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Remember Slide Modules? It’s not about the window — it’s about the view. I wonder how many people today in the business of producing meetings and shows remember the unparalleled beauty and unmitigated terror of running programmed 35-mm-film slide modules. A friend who worked with me back in the day shared a recent article in MIT Technology Review […] Written by BPH October 26, 2023October 26, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Why We Need to Connect Thinking about Comic Con and Taylor Swift as a force for good. I’m not sure why the arrival of New York Comic Con at the Javits Center lifts my spirits every year, but it does. I think anything that brings people together in a playful way is worth celebrating. People crave connection. And while fan […] Written by BPH October 12, 2023October 12, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Getting Serious About Playtime We’re going to need a bigger sandbox. Research has affirmed that play time is important for adults overall sense of well-being, both mental and physical. But at our recent leadership conference, where we intentionally included time to play, I again experienced the joy of living and learning in the moment. Children learn best through creative […] Written by BPH September 28, 2023September 28, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Resist the Urge to Isolate Thoughts while streamlining airport interactions. I love the way technology is helping streamline some of the more tedious parts of my day. Because I’m in the events industry, I travel a lot. I have a strategic routine to minimize annoying airport interactions. I have a boarding pass on my phone and a printed copy in […] Written by BPH September 14, 2023September 14, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Good News Behind Daunting Data Boiling the ocean and other idioms. Anyone who follows my posts knows that my perspective is based on a long career in the events industry. I am no doubt biased in my belief that the world of events is a force for good that is too often undervalued. But more objectively, my experience has shown […] Written by BPH August 31, 2023August 31, 2023
Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Once Upon a Time Unpacking a remarkable experience. Last week I had the joy of spending time with Freeman people at our annual leadership conference. We call it Camp Buck, after the man who founded the business back in 1927. We went to an unexpected destination — Boise, Idaho — and found its rich culture, diverse venues, and welcoming […] Written by BPH August 21, 2023August 21, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist The Magic of Storytelling We all have a tale worth sharing. Not long ago a friend called and invited my wife and me to a show they knew I’d love because I love storytelling. It was something I’d never heard of – a multimedia experience called Pop-Up Magazine. I’d been traveling a lot and would have been happy to […] Written by BPH August 17, 2023August 17, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Be Careful What You Wish For The curse of getting what you want. Lately I’ve been sharing some life lessons — things I’ve observed or experienced in a long career punctuated by joys, regrets, and plenty of learning opportunities. This is a follow-up to my blog about emotional intelligence and the moral is a bit counterintuitive. Sometimes the worst thing that […] Written by BPH August 3, 2023August 3, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Emotional Intelligence and Career Trajectories You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. Growing up, we’ve all played some version of a game where eventual progress comes by moving forward, backward, and sometimes sideways. The setbacks can be frustrating, and some kids stomp off without making it to the end of the game. Others just have fun […] Written by BPH July 20, 2023July 20, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Captive or Captivated? It’s time to show eventgoers some love. Brand marketers all profess to love their customers, but like many star-crossed teenagers, they struggle to find the right words. That’s why they sift through data analytics, hoping to find a clear answer to the question, “what do my customers want?” They hire agencies that develop robust strategies […] Written by BPH July 6, 2023July 6, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist ROI and Relationships Organizers and exhibitors should focus on attendee-driven objectives. When I was a younger person discovering everything possible in the events industry, the game-changing technology that rocked my world was the use of scannable name badges at registration. Technically, they were “swipeable,” relying on handheld devices to read a magnetic strip. The data on the badge […] Written by BPH June 22, 2023June 22, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Building A Pipeline For Future Customers We need to design events for the eventual decision makers. I can’t remember a time when companies weren’t interested in understanding what their customers wanted, but I have lived long enough to witness an incredible acceleration in our ability to gather and analyze pertinent data. In the events industry — and I assume this is […] Written by BPH June 8, 2023June 8, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Can We Chatbot? Make sure your generative AI use is VALID. Whether you love ChatGPT, Bard, and similar generative AI tools, or you think they are a prelude to the Robot Apocalypse, the expression “you can’t put the genie back in the bottle” seems appropriate. As I previously blogged about, I embrace the vast potential of AI to […] Written by BPH May 25, 2023June 14, 2023
