Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Embracing Dangerous Ideas You already love AI. It seems as though every article or post I’ve read lately references artificial intelligence. Of course, AI has been around for decades, but the speed and memory capacity of computing systems have made AI applications ubiquitous. And so people race to that band wagon to either credit or blame artificial intelligence […] Written by BPH May 12, 2023May 12, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Crying Wolf Let’s disrupt the cycle of Recession Fatigue. Remember the fable about the little boy who cried wolf? He punked the good town folk too many times — warning them about a wolf that never came — and then when an actual wolf pounced, everyone ignored his cries. The story did not end happily for the […] Written by BPH April 27, 2023April 27, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Interconnecting in Interstitials In between is the right place to be. I’ve been thinking about interstitials lately and what it means to be in an “in between” space. Our strategy team has observed a trend in which corporate marketers are experimenting with activations staged in venue entrances, hallways, patios, and other places that are on the way to […] Written by BPH April 13, 2023April 13, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist How to Build Brand Trust Not brand new, but on brand. Although I am a shameless advocate for the value of live, in-person events, I don’t generally force comparisons with other marketing channels. Especially with broadcast media. That’s because it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. Super Bowl ads reach something like 100 million viewers simultaneously and the best strike with the intensity […] Written by BPH March 30, 2023March 30, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist A Word of Thanks Winning the Krakoff Award. The other day, while attending the annual SISO CEO Summit, I was stunned to hear Hervé Sedky announce my name as the winner of the Robert L Krakoff SISO Leadership Award. I love the events industry. I am proud of what we do, and that comes from being on the show […] Written by BPH March 28, 2023March 28, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Inspire Exponential Collaboration Let’s make beautiful music together. At Freeman, collaboration is codified into our culture because it is foundational to the kind of work we do. No one can execute a massive event without a variety of teams working like clockwork to bring it off. And of course, collaboration entails a work ethic that every leader encourages, […] Written by BPH March 16, 2023March 16, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist We Are All Designers We Need More Skeuomorphism It’s another lesson in design thinking. The first time I heard a colleague use the word “skeuomorphism,” I was delighted to discover that there was a name for the design methodology that I was seeing everyday but not really thinking about. Examples are literally all over the typical computer “desktop” (a verbal skeuomorph), as evidenced […] Written by BPH March 2, 2023March 2, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Speed Isn’t Progress When the pressure is up, speed down. Early in my career I learned that the only way to manage a vast project is to break it down into multiple small projects; then, control the process as if you are diffusing a landmine. Attention to the logistical details — doing things in the most efficient way […] Written by BPH February 16, 2023February 16, 2023
Lessons In Leadership Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Business or Pleasure? The question is quickly becoming irrelevant. “Bleisure” is a frankenword I can’t bring myself to say aloud. It sounds like a probiotic food supplement. However, I thoroughly endorse the trend of intentionally combining business and leisure travel. The concept, of course, is not new. Many of us have wince-worthy recollections of conferences that offered registrants […] Written by BPH February 2, 2023February 2, 2023