Are you taking the time to reflect and consider our collective future? An invitation...

I’m speaking to a lot of professionals right now and there’s a common theme emerging, which concerns me a lot. And that is, not enough people are giving themselves the time or space to step back and really reflect on what this moment in history means for us personally, for our business, and for all of us globally.

Of course it’s not easy to do when fear is so thick in the air. Not just because of the pandemic and the health risks in our communities, but because people are fearful about losing their jobs, which puts livelihoods and families at risk too.

The uncertainty is huge, especially as we watch entire global industries impacted every day, and we know the challenges are going to increase as time progresses.

The first industry to feel the brunt was the travel and tourism sector. I’m just back from a road trip around the North of Thailand, and every day, I watched businesses shutting doors. The streets were empty. Life was muted. It was very challenging and upsetting to witness it.

As I wandered, I spoke to business owners, and they consistently told me they won’t make it to Christmas without real Government help, especially if the world remains closed. So we can expect for sale and for rent signs to continue going up every day. In Phuket, I am seeing the same thing.

Then I see this article in the Financial Times: Tourism’s collapse could trigger next stage of the crisis – and you start to understand the web of impact coming, across multiple industries. In many ways, we haven’t started to comprehend or face up to the impact of the economic crisis we’re facing.

Here’s another view from the US: A Collapse That Wiped Out 5 Years of Growth, With No Bounce in Sight.

Looking forward

No question we are facing very tough times ahead. Times that will call on all of us to be strong, resilient, hopeful and innovative. I definitely see it as an opportunity to be a voice of hope and positivity to help others through these tough times. A voice of charity too.

I really believe that who we choose to be right now matters for our collective long term success and how our world emerges from this challenging time. I encourage everyone to dig deep, be powerful, be a voice that is a balm for a challenged world.

However, we have to recognize that not everyone can be strong in times of crisis, so if we have that strength within us, we have an opportunity to lift others up too. Can you be a voice of strength and hope for the world?

Regardless of what lies ahead, we will make it through – humans are resilient! But to achieve it, we need to come together as a global society. If we do not commit to taking care of each other, life will eventually be worse for all of us.

We are in this together. Truly we are.

My hope

The hope I have for the world – which is sustaining me through this time – is the opportunity we have been given to rebuild anew. A world in alignment with Mother Earth, and one that addresses global inequality.

Too many people think of this new reality as a place where they lose. But if we do it right, and commit to building something better for all, everyone gains, no one loses.

Yes it will be different, but so much of what we continue to hold onto isn’t good for us. It doesn’t feed our spirit. We have an opportunity to shake free of the burdens we’ve allowed our societies to be built upon.

If we can be honest, we will admit the world got too greedy. We allowed our societies to grow and benefit off the backs of our fellow humans’ suffering, as well as the devastating impact we continue to have on the world’s wildlife.

Within our own communities, life overwhelms too many people, with depression, anxiety, suicide and domestic violence on the rise. Our family lives are corroded. Our education systems too. Inequality and racism, hatred of others, us and them…. Why do we accept this narrative? Who wins?

We have been running to get more status, more stuff, more more more and for what? Are we happy? It’s long been proven stuff doesn’t make us happy and now we have a chance to redirect life for all.

It’s a chance we must take. It’s a chance to build a better future for our children, and it’s on all of us to do it. Join me?

An industry in disarray

As a real life example of how things can change dramatically and the need to adapt, you don’t have to look much further than the professional speaking community. I’ve been a member of Asia Professional Speakers Singapore (APSS) for many years, and it’s an Association that transformed my life.

And yet, here we all are with no stages to stand on, and everyone is moving rapidly to get their business online. Even with the flurry of activity, it will remain an industry in struggle for some time to come – maybe never returning to its former heights?

Supporting the members of our community is a priority for all of us right now, and our first change in direction was our annual Convention, which was postponed from May. To succeed with this event, in light of the multiple global crisis’ our community and the wider world is facing, we knew we had to go above and beyond.

The volunteer committee organizing Convention saw it as a chance to address the bigger issues facing humanity – issues like I’ve discussed in this blog – which means it can’t just be about the challenges facing professional speakers. Because to succeed in this profession, we need to understand our clients’ business within the context of the big picture story of our world right now.

As it’s such a challenging time for everyone in our community, I volunteered to be on the organizing committee of The Asia Professional Speakers Convention 2020 (#APSC20).

It is being led by Convention Chair, the fabulous Wendy Tan, and the volunteers include a phenomenal group of people who have curated an event that is meaningful, powerful and will hit the hot topics and issues so needed to be discussed today.

My fellow curators are Wendy Tan, Joanne Flinn, Arishta Khanna, Tim Wade, Sha En Yeo, Andrew Chow and Kevin Cottam. Follow them all. Marvelous people with big hearts and big minds.

The committee dug deep and reconsidered this event in every possible way, because the audience it is designed for has been decimated.

We asked ourselves the questions

How could we run it in a way that was meaningful and extremely valuable to our community?
What were the most important focus areas to recruit for, in alignment with a changed world?
How could we make it practical, inspirational and transformative?

We believe we’ve created a Convention that delivers an opportunity to reflect, learn and grow. It will help inform and provide context to understand the paths open to humanity. And it will help our community understand what’s next and our role in helping to create that future. Our goal is to Write the Future after all.

We knew it had to

Be powerful and meaningful if we wanted to attract professionals who are overwhelmed by an Infodemic and enduring event overload. Only super special and impactful would do
Feature a diverse group of the brightest and best minds in the world, professionals strong enough to speak their truth, so we could really understand and adapt as the world continues through this crisis, into a new world out the other side
Go deep and look into qualities like integrity, service, mindset, purpose and mission, emphasizing how they are more important than ever right now
Give hope to an industry decimated by the impact of COVID19 – the professional speaking industry

This Convention has always transformed lives, and the reason I want to share it with you, is because I believe it’s interesting well beyond the speaking community.

I also know it will provide the much needed opportunity to reflect on the bigger issues we are all facing. So please, join us.

#APSCWTF20 – an event for everyone

Designed for professional and aspiring speakers, this event appeals to a far wider audience, especially days one, two and five. Anyone in the speaking, training, coaching, mentoring or event industries should definitely attend all of it.

However, anyone who is seeking to build their influence in the world – whether business leaders, entrepreneurs, marketing and communication professionals, bloggers, podcasters, and more – should make this a priority event to attend.

The essence of this event will be of extremely high value to anyone seeking to build their profile and impact, as well as for anyone trying to make sense of the world we are in and where we are headed.

As I said, powerful. Our curation team was committed to world class all the way and we are proud of what we have achieved together.

Now, we want to make sure you don’t miss it either!!

Sign up and take the time to reflect

Obviously a digital event, the great thing is you don’t have to pay for it all, as you can buy tickets in two-hour blocks if that’s what appeals. Pick and choose the parts that mean the most to you – get your tickethere.

However, if you’re a first timer to attend an Asia Professional Speakers Singapore (APSS) event, mention my name when you register here, and you pay SGD$99 (approx. USD$72). For a five day event, it’s amazing value.

Divided into two-hour blocks in the morning, a deep dive in the middle of the day, and another two-hour session in the early evening (Singapore time zone), all of it will be recorded and shared with attendees, so no problem if you’re outside the Asia time zone for some parts of the programming.

If you have the time, please review the videos below. Tim Wade did an amazing job pulling this together, and it really hones in on what will make each day truly special. If you don’t have time, dig into the agenda. I know that if you look deeply, you will understand this is an incredible line-up not to be missed.

We all need to spend time in deep reflection right now. If you haven’t been able to do this yet, I encourage you to take the time to reflect with us at #APSCWTF20. This is a powerful five day line-up and it will transform your thinking, your life, as well as help you get into the right mindset to be a voice of strength and hope today and in the future.

I can’t wait for it and hope to see you there.

Cheers

Andrea

WTF (WRITE THE FUTURE)

It’s a Blank Canvas. Leap Now.

31 Aug to 4 Sep, 9 to 11 am and 6 to 8 pm SGT

Day One – 31st August 2020

What’s Happening: The world and us – the uncertainties – what is happening and how long will it last? What is the economic and business impact, what is the impact on professional speaking and how can you succeed in this environment? MAKE THAT SHIFT, SO YOU WON’T DRIFT!

Day two – 1st September 2020

Who You Need to Be: Your message, influence and reach – in a world overrun by noise and suffering its own Infodemic, how do you achieve influence with integrity, build trust, and be relevant? YOUR NEW STORY!

Day three – 2nd September 2020

Where Do You Focus: Business models and revenue opportunities – with changing times comes changing ways of doing business and creating value, how can you create new business models and new value propositions, is it time to partner or to go big and be bold? LET’S PUT A SPIN ON IT!

Day four – 3rd September 2020

How Do You Do It: The technology and tools of today’s speaking business – with an overwhelm of technology, new apps, equipment and skills demand attention, which ones are right for you to connect, engage and impact? REFOCUS & RESET YOUR VIRTUAL VISION!

Day five – 4th September 2020

Who You Are: Your mindset and potential – your audience needs this and so DO YOU! How do you ensure you can bring the right mindset in to WALK INTO A NEW FUTURE, with the right combination of adaptive resilience, hope and optimism, creativity, pragmatism and humanity, or is it something else?

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