Innovation is a key topic at fall conferences:
KMWorld & Intranets, San Jose, Oct 31-Nov 2
webcom Toronto, Building Smarter Organizations, Nov 7-9

From Michael Tchong’s Ubertrends, “innovation [is] on the front burner for a growing list of CEOs, The Wall Street Journal noted on July 17, 2006. That surge in innovation interest can be readily seen in a McKinsey study, which found that just 37% of top management wanted their organization to “be the category innovation leader” in 1993. Two years later the figure reached 69%. By 1999 it hit 95%.” Michael says, “The key to deciphering the “next big thing” lies in “Ubertrends” — overarching tendencies that ripple through society, leaving many subtrends in their turbulent wake. Ubertrends morph life in unexpected ways, which requires an understanding of their idiosyncrasies to give you a better sense for what’s needed next.” Michael tracks Ubertrends in seven sections: Digital Lifestyle, Fountain of Youth, Generation X-tasy, Time Compression, Unwired, Voyeurgasm and WAF. Interesting that Michael is another colleague from the Internet World era in the 90s when he started Iconocast.