The recent “Food for Thought” event hosted by Ads24, provided media industry professionals with a bespoke opportunity to interact with internationally renowned futurist, Pieter Geldenhuys and heavy-weight academic, Prof Nick Binedell. Hosted in the heart of Sandton, Rapport Editor, Waldimar Pelser facilitated discussions on how current and future socio-economic and political forces are shaping the future, and how the latest technology trends may impact the way in which we think our world works. The menu for the morning was as disruptive as the content shared by the industry leaders.
Keynote speakers shared their views of the future during the morning of insights: Prof Nick Binedell looked at socio-economic and political forces shaping business and Pieter Geldenhuys explored the latest technology trends. The discussion was guided by Dialogue Director, Waldimar Pelser, editor of Rapport. Mondli Makhanya, editor in chief of City Press and Reggy Moalusi, editor in chief of Daily Sun and Sunday Sun were also in attendance at the event and engaged with the audience in thought leading conversations.
Hannerie Visser, Founder and Creative Director of Studio H and renowned experiential food connoisseur, created an interactive culinary experience and curated multi-sensory spaces with great food that was more than a little thought provoking. Drawing on future culinary trends, guests were greeted with an exquisite space that was shaped around the concept of urban farming. The contrast between being on the 20th floor in the middle of Sandton, with a spectacular view of the city, and the nurturing feel of the urban farm-inspired trendy décor, was unique and unforgettable.
Ané Honiball, GM of Ads24 opened the proceedings, “The core of the DNA of Media24 is creating quality: Quality content and journalism that reaches lives and connects with millions of people across this country every single day. Our extensive portfolio of print publications includes a number of award winning and fantastic news brands and also many local titles that are still showing fantastic growth. At the same time, Media24 is very focussed on creating news and ecommerce platforms for the future. This transformation is not unique to our environment, because tech will continue to revolutionise every single industry and also consumers as we know them. So we invite you this morning to explore with us a bit of the future and also as we cast our view over some of the current trends and current affairs in the country and I really trust that you will find Food for Thought both valuable and inspiring.”
This welcome was followed by Waldimar Pelser’s A to Z of questions about the future, providing ample food for thought across a spectrum of different disciplines. Pelser said, “Predicting the future is a very risky business as anyone who has the temerity to write down their predictions knows very well. We are pretty bad at getting it right, except in retrospect, so the best among us, and we have some brilliant minds in our midst today, will connect dots, will create and reveal trends and will make projections based on their knowledge of human nature, history, the economy, politics and science. They will also use instinct, something even the smartest robot does not yet have.”
Renowned futurist, academic and innovation expert, Pieter Geldenhuys, explored the latest technology trends with a forward vision. Geldenhuys believes that the only way to effectively predict the future is to create it. He offered insights into how businesses and industries, like media, can remain relevant by using and co-creating technology.
Prof Nick Binedell, founding dean of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and professor in the area of strategic leadership, offered an insightful understanding of how today’s socio-economic and political forces are shaping the businesses of tomorrow. Binedell holds an MBA from UCT and a PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle.
What industry leaders said about Food for Thought
Watch the overview video:
Ads24 presents Food for Thought
Chris Botha, Group MD of The Medishop said, “What we saw in the presentations today will have an enormous impact. The reality is that the world is changing rapidly, it changes every day and as consumers change and as businesses change, our industry will change, so we had better change and adapt.”
Nikki Lewin, MD and owner of Alphabet Soup said, “My biggest take out from the event today was the fact that we merged technology and academics, they were both brilliant speakers. I think it inspired all the people in the room today. So often we (as business owners) don’t have access to these kind of speakers through an amazing platform, especially when it’s provided to you in such a great environment. I also enjoyed looking at the whole food culture and the experiential phase that we went through today, of taste, senses, touch, feeling, learning, being cerebral, pushing boundaries – these have been great things and I am so glad that I was a part of it.”
Food for Thought was a morning where guests were challenged, enticed and excited with insights and interactive sensory experiences, it looked at the world of tomorrow and how it affects us, our businesses and our communities today.
View the event Twitter feed #ads24FFT and remember to follow Ads24 @Ads24_News.
About Ads24
Ads24 reaches six in ten South Africans, including print and digital readers. Ads24 touches the lives of over a half of all South Africans adults. While it is important to identify the size and segment the audience, looking at how Ads24 engages with its readers, is equally as important.
Ads24 is part of the Media24 Group representing 97 newspaper titles. From Dailies to Sunday papers to locals, Ads24 reaches almost every target segment in South Africa, no small achievement in such a diverse country. The most exciting element is how these titles become part of the community that Ads24 serves.
A news reader is an engaged reader. Ads24 news brands play an important and unique role in the daily lives of their readers. Ads24 sees beyond the numbers, beyond the market segments, to connect with the people on a personal level. Ads24 has the stats, the numbers, but also the insights.
