Festival

The versions of the future in popular culture are bleak — a gloomy, always-raining Hong Kong with staggering inequality, or a lifeless post-apocalyptic desert.

To increase the odds of a better future for everyone, we invite you to imagine it. How does a positive, inclusive, exciting future look? Not simplistic and naive, but believable, compelling, seriously good. What is a vision worth working hard towards?

If we learn anything from designing and building innovative products, it is that you have to have a vision to deliver an outcome. We have to have a vision for the future if we want a good one.

What will be the mother of all demos 50 years from now?

— This introduction was written in summer 2019; the world did change since. There is no "the" future. There is always possibility, and there is hope. And hope is a powerful tool. Let's choose love over hate. —

Who?

This is an event about you first of all. We build experience around the participants, not the stage or the sponsors. No exclusive lounges, no elitist self-affirmations.

We do not have corporate sponsors or any hidden agenda. We invite designers, leaders, facilitators, researchers, entrepreneurs, engineers, and activists to share genuine insights and personal experience.

What is it all about?

We invite you to focus on protopias — not utopias, not dystopias. Protopias are realistic, positive prototypes of a future worth working towards.

Some of the event themes:

• Voice. Our voices are unique and powerful. How might we facilitate the connections?
• Knowledge. 70% of information today is not on the Internet and we are losing intrinsic knowledge at dramatic speed. How might we save our cultures?
• Third culture. Many of us were born in one culture but matured in another. How might we make the world our home?
• Urban evolution. We build beautiful cities, but are they sustainable? How might we grow sustainable cities?
• Trust. The glue of a community. How might we facilitate trust?
• Gatherings. How might we meet meaningfully and co-create?
• Metrics. How do you measure success? How might we measure what matters?
• Creative confidence. What blocks good ideas from becoming reality? How might we shorten the Idea → Reality arrow?
• Death. It could give us purpose or render all our endeavours empty. How might we create while facing death?
• Education. A good educator is an innovator. How might we facilitate learning?

More than conversations

Day one is about sharing, learning, and finding inspiration — short focused ~12-minute talks followed by in-depth conversations in small groups.

Day two is the building day. A whole day to help you build your protopia.

How to join

1. Join the WhatsApp group and say "Hi! I want to join the Festival!"
2. Get notified when tickets are available.
3. Show up and enjoy the festival!