Talks

I am a seasoned public speaker, using talks to speculate about the role of technology in society, touching on topics such as innovation, startups, design, and science fiction.

Historic engagements include

• closing Web Directions North (Montreal, 2008) and opening Web Directions South (Sydney, 2009)
• lecturing at the Royal Institution (2011)
• 100 Hours (TEDxAthens, 2011) — video available at that link.

In 2020 I spoke virtually at ThingsCon about technology, utopias and dystopias, and imagining the future. Read the essay here.

I have also spoken in-house at Hachette, Barclays, EE, Nespresso, and others.

In 2018, I spoke on the outdoor stage at Copenhagen’s open Techfestival on the topic of post-truth society. Watch the video here.

Focused talks:

In recent years, I find I enjoy more giving focused talks to smaller audiences as the starting point for a group discussion. For instance, on the lessons of my Machine Supply project for innovation. Or my regular talk about sales and marketing for early-stage startups. Or on my approach to technical due diligence.

I spoke at Hachette UK’s annual board meeting on the value of looking at “weak signals” from the tech world (giving examples) and possible lessons for publishing.

Depending on the level, my talks are paid engagements.

More exploratory talks:

However I also enjoy speaking on topics of less obviously connected to business but of high personal interest, as an opportunity to explore ideas.

For example: this talk about art and technology — with hints towards what it means for innovation — is based on my blog post on the same topic (which includes references). I’ve presented it at Kano and at other in-house events.

Reaching all the way back to 2006, I gave a long talk at Goldsmiths to the Design, MA students on my favourite concepts from science fiction. It was a long and semi-structured ramble, but good fun. Here is the slide deck and full transcript.