I recently had the honor of being the Keynote Speaker for MANTEC’s Business Innovation Conference (see video below this post) and I’m not going to lie…. for the first time in a loooong time, I was nervous. I get the chance to speak to groups all over the United States about the Exponential advancement of Tech and the impact it’s going to have on our communities, so this is kind of my thing. In a past life I was the lead singer of my band (see awesome throw back band picture), so getting on stage has always been in my wheelhouse. However, this was the first time I couldn’t skip town after a keynote! Let me clarify that statement. I get to go all over the United States, be very frank and blunt with leaders and then I’m on a plane and onto the next group. This model has given me the freedom to be able to not pull any punches but this time was different. This time some of these people knew me. And more importantly, I can’t skip my hometown!

Another challenge has been that for some reason, it always seems to be easier to get immediate traction for a new idea in other communities than it is where your’e from. There are a number of reasons for this I’m sure (if you’d like to read a great perspective on this check out my friend Matt Murrie’s recent article in the Columbia Business Times) but that was all that was running through my head as I took the stage a few weeks back. I’m happy to say, I was way off and the message could not have been received any better!

After the conference, I’ve received a new jolt of excitement. To see a room full of CEO’s, Leaders and Manufacturers all rally around the idea of Embracing Disruption was incredible. I was indeed lucky MANTEC had been working with these folks for years, getting them prepared to embrace the future so, that certainly played a large part but I think I underestimated our manufacturing community. The eagerness to step up and prepare for the future was incredibly inspiring to say the least.

There is a shift sweeping through our nation and there is no denying that business models and economies are changing at an exponential rate. No one has the answer but everyone is looking for a plan. Can we be the leaders of a new plan? The more I discuss the York Plan and how it impacted the world, I am more and more convinced every day that the answer is a resounding YES.

I’ll be discussing more about a York Plan 2.0, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and a whole bunch of other incredible topics in the coming months but I’d like to share the video from the Keynote for those that missed it or would be interested in watching it again. Feel free to share the presentation with whomever you want and share, comment, ponder, but as always,

Embrace Change, Embrace Challenge and more than anything, Embrace Disruption,
John

btw- here’s the link referenced in the video if you’d like to help York build our future by Embracing Disruption.

http://www.thefortressinitiative.org/

For more information about the 4th Annual Business Growth Conference, check out our post on MANTEC’s event.