For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with the future. Not so much the future depicted in the movies, of planets and worlds far, far away, but the reimagining of the world around us, creatively and culturally, day after day, year on year. My formative years were spent inhaling the likes of Raygun and The Face magazine, keeping myself up to speed with the goings on in the world, and also the mavericks creating exciting new worlds, giving emerging talent a home and voice, and bringing the underground overground for all to enjoy. It was a world where opportunities knew no bounds, and they were committing these creative entrepreneurs to print month on month, it was intoxicating.
Fast forward 20+ years, and the world is a much more interesting, instant and immersive place, and I no longer rely on that monthly retox. Everything I want, when I want it, is there, in an instant. The world in which I live, and bring my kids up in, is more connected, more creative, more collaborative and more magnificent than ever. Yet, by the time we’ve consumed our fill of Trumpisms, fake news, nuke news and more, our appetite to engage further is wearing thin. We get wore down by the bad, and choose to escape rather than chase the good. The Future hopes to redress some of this, if even for only 2 days, to reset minds to the opportunities the future holds rather than the challenges and threats it poses. A vibrant, positive space where creativity, culture and commerce converge.
Taking place over two days (Friday November 3rd & Saturday November 4th), across four stages in the incredible halls of the Royal Dublin Society, The Future sets out to prove we can all create a better world through creativity and intent. Businesses can thrive, people and society can bloom, the world can be a brighter, more brilliant place, and we can have a tonne of fun along the way too. Rather than standing still, paralysed by the wall-to-wall non-news and apocalyptic visions for our near future, we want to prove that the world will thrive, once we come together, create and make it so. Everywhere I look I see positive actions and real efforts to connect communities, innovate for all, and make this world better, brighter and more brilliant. The idea for the event is to give all this a stage, a guiding light to what we can create today, for tomorrow and beyond.
We will bring together some of the leading lights in advertising, media, design, creativity, business and culture for a unique celebration of innovation in the industries we work, proving the positive impact we can have on the world, when we apply ambition, innovation and energy to making it so. We’re bringing together a rich, diverse group of individuals, all leaders in their field, from across the spectrum, to share their future thoughts and ambitions, but also to create a vibrant ecosystem of opportunities for future collaborations and positive impact.
The four stages we are creating are Future (Concert Hall), Studio (Industries), Vision (Serpentine) and Village (Industries).
The Future will see the best innovators in advertising, media, engineering, interior design, fashion, experiential, future trend forecasting and more take to the stage, including Adrian Newey (Chief Technical Officer at Red Bull F1), interior designer Ilse Crawford, Boys & Girls advertising, London trend forecasting agency The Future Laboratory, Leila Fataar (Platform 13), William Rowe from London’s incredible Protein network, experience architect Nelly Ben Hayoun, In The Company Of Huskies, Guns or Knives (whose ‘You’re Dumber Than You Think’ workshop at the Cannes Creative Festival went down a storm, so much so they’re doing it all again at The Future), Jonny Boyle from experiential agency Modern Green, advertising agency Rothco and more.
Studio brings together the best modern agencies to look at how they work, how they’re adapting and preparing for the future, proving that even with the rise of robots, AI, programmatic and more, humans will always have much better ideas, as long as we get up and care to create a better result. Speakers on this stage include Godfrey Dadich Partners (creators of the Netflix ‘Abstract’ series, Stefan Sagmeister (the man behind the recent ‘The Happy Film’), Paula Scher from Pentagram, NYC (as featured on ‘Abstract’), It’s Nice That (a creative platform reaching more than a million people each month) and its creative agency Anyways, DesignStudio (who recently rebranded Airbnb and the Premier League), Detail, Pfadfinderei (digital innovators for Moderat, and in their own words, “Premium Digital Shit”), Icelandic digital team Ueno, Tomato (the creative wing of Underworld), Chris Nurko (chairman at FutureBrand), Aad, Brooklyn’s finest Triboro Design (who famously hacked the Nike logo for NYC), Bleed from Norway and more.
Vision sees us take a different take on what the future has to offer, and the opportunities being made in different ways. People who are reimagining craft from the outside in, people creating and fostering communities, those who choose the analogue way, and individuals who push their skills into ever bolder spaces, and collaborate brilliantly with like minded people. Speakers including The Design Kids (championing students on their path into the creative industries), Aoife McElwain (who will speak about the need to go slow and mind your mind), Charlotte Barker from Dynamo (recently awarded IAPI’s Doyenne Award, created to champion women in the creative industries), Steve Powers / ESPO (whose Icy Signs shop in Brooklyn works with local businesses to keep the craft of signwriting alive and innovating), Makers & Brothers, GirlCrew (who have created a vibrant global female network in well over 100 cities), Riposte Magazine, Love & Robots, Aisling Farinella, 3FE & Workgroup, Ouchhh, Queens of Neon and more.
Village is where we take everything that is happening across the three stages and distill it down into a series of interviews, discussions, conversations and themed debates on the issues and topics affecting or set to influence in the future. Hosted by This Greedy Pig, in collaboration with various creative organisations, we’ll be looking at topics including Curating Cities, The Gender Gap & Balance, Workplaces That Work For Everyone, Mind Your Head, The Rise and Impact of Influence, Cultivating Communities and lots more besides.
We will wrap after the two days with a big city centre party, in preparation for the future we can all create together. One that is full of positive potential, collaborative opportunities, innovation that impacts, and fun for all to enjoy. I look forward to opening the doors, and welcoming and hosting speakers and delegates together, in what I hope becomes a bright, breathing platform for the opportunities that lie ahead. Not what can be done, but what will be done, when passion, innovation, energy and ambition are applied and pursued.
Words: Richard Seabrooke
Images: Visuals for Moderat by Pfadfinderei
Richard Seabrooke is founder of The Future, and is also creative director at Modern Green.
The event website is now live at www.the-Future.is and tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ie
