Robert Fulghum
What on Earth Have I Done?
Robert Fulghum’s keynote will begin with a question we’ve all asked ourselves: “What on earth have I done?” The answer is never easy and is almost always surprising. Learn from Fulghum’s experiences traveling the world — from Seattle to the Moab Desert to Crete — looking for a few fellow travelers interested in thinking along with him as he delights in the unexpected: dressing like a large rabbit trick-or-treating with your grandchildren, pots of daffodils blooming in mid-November, a view of the earth from outer space, the mysterious night sounds of the desert, every man’s trip to a department store to buy socks, the raucous all-night long feast that is Easter in Greece, the trials and tribulations of plumbing problems and the friendship one can strike up with someone who doesn’t share the same language. Fulghum will provide ground-shaking perspective that will inspire you to change yours.
Fulghum has published seven best-selling books totaling more than 16 million copies in 27 languages across 103 countries. He has performed in two television adaptations of his works on PBS, and was a Grammy nominee for the spoken word award. These stellar accomplishments are far from the odd jobs of his youth as a ditch-digger and singing cowboy. For 22 years he served as a parish minister of Unitarian churches and was even a founding member of the authors’ collective rock-and-roll band, the Rock-Bottom Remainders. Like his books, Fulghum travels the world to spread his good words.
Peter D. Hart
New Persuasions: The Rules Have Changed
New Persuasions is an intriguing and comprehensive presentation that strives to analyze the changes and shifts in communication. As one of the top analysts of public opinion in the United States, Peter Hart will contribute his own personal expertise to this Keynote.
New Persuasions is an acknowledgement that the world of communications has changed — dramatically, comprehensively, and permanently. Saying “the rules have changed” is, in fact, a little misleading. The real truth is that the old rules have been tossed aside and no one knows what the new rules are.
The signs of change are everywhere. The network evening news broadcasts have lost 50% of their audiences in the last 20 years. At 9:00 pm, more people are playing video games than watching CNN. Pollsters are finding it increasingly difficult to survey young people because they do not have land-line phones.
So what does all this mean? Simply this: organizations that are listening and communicating as they did 5 years ago, much less 10 years ago, are increasingly out of touch with the people and the issues that matter.
Peter Hart is a leading shaper of national trends and political messages. He has conducted strategy planning projects for clients such as IBM, Coca-Cola, and Tiffany & Co. Political clientele have included Hubert Humphrey, Jay Rockefeller, and Bob Graham. Hart appears frequently on Meet the Press, The Today Show, and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
