A Festival of Smart Authors and their Books
The 1st Annual GSG Book Festival — A Forum for Discovery, Learning & Aspiration, turn the page to October 20th, 2022
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Come join us for our Grey Swan Guild’s first annual GSG Book Festival. It may be bigger, longer or even touch more real life in the future, but there is only one chance to say that you were at the first. You can pre-register online here.
We are bringing our Guild together to go over the written word and climb behind the pages to understand some of the smartest author’s drive, motivation, reflections and perspectives on making sense of the world. Perhaps J.D, it’s possible to become friends and colleagues with some of your best authors after all.
We’re assembling some of our Guild’s most well-read hosts and pairing them with a number of super intelligent authors (or aspiring authors) in 11 hours of book festival activity this Thursday October 20th, starting from 8am ET and going to 7pm ET.
The GSG Book Festival is intended to be one of our Guild’s top four marquee events in the year. It comprises eleven hours of coverage — it’s a festival after all — and there is something in it for our honoured author guests, Guild members and prospective curious others. Consistent with the motives of our Guild, it has a depth of intrigue — we want to go below the surface and get at the motivation, process, reactions and regrets of writing and outcomes, a profile on the work and the author over the course of the hour.
Here’s our scheduled slate of conversations:
Session #1 : 8am ET — Futures & Foresight Authors
Session #2 : 9am ET — Marketplace & Economy Authors
Session #3 : 10am ET — Sensemaking & Complexity Authors
Session #4 : 11am ET — Strategy & Purpose Authors
Session #5 : 12pm ET — Guild Authors — Upcoming Books
Session #6 : 1pm ET — Leadership & Culture Authors
Session #7 : 2pm ET — Intelligence & Knowledge Authors
Session #8 : 3pm ET — Innovation & Ventures Authors
Session #9 : 4pm ET — Change & Transformation Authors
Session #10 : 5pm ET — Technology & Digital Authors
Session #11 : 6pm ET — Publish Your Own Book
I know Jennifer He, our host for the 4th session, is excited for what’s to come: “The Festival is such a great idea. Thought leaders don’t always think alone, we exchange ideas to think and do better.”
Full Festival Agenda:
Session #1 : 8am ET — Futures & Foresight
Host Gina Clifford explores scenarios, possibilities and probable, preferred, possible, improbable and Grey Swan futures with Randy Mayes, a technology futurist, author and writer an his book: “Revolutions: Paving the Way for the Bioeconomy”
Session #2 : 9am ET — Marketplace & Economy
Host Sarah Mariyn Barrick explores the universe of the customer, shareholder and stakeholder with Marbue Brown and his book Blueprint for Customer Obsession.
Session #3 : 10am ET — Sensemaking & Complexity
Host Sean Moffitt explores meaning, intricacies, decisions, systems and liminal spaces with Sonja Blignault and her book Cynefin — Weaving Sense-Making into the Fabric of Our World (Edition #2 now out on Kindle)
Session #4 : 11am ET — Strategy & Purpose
Host Jennifer He explores the world of visions, mission, choices, guidance, brands, OKRS and north stars with David Kincaid with his book “The Brand-Driven CEO: Embedding Brand into Business Strategy”.
Session #5 : 12pm ET — Guild Authors Club
Host Heather Leson gathers six Guild authors for an hour in the spotlight about their recent and upcoming works, inspirations and impartable lessons to aspiring writers
- Aaron Mikulsky — L.O.V.E. 2 Lead: A Journey of Self-Reflection, Significance, and Servant Leadership
- Joe Britto — Six Attributes of a Leadership Mindset
- Henry Coutinho Mason — The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade
- Deb Dimoff — The Power of Resourcefulness: Seeking and shaping your quest for legendary work
- Al Comeaux — Change (the) Management: Why We as Leaders Must Change for the Change to Last
- Sean Moffitt — Futureproofing — The Future Beyond Innovation
Session #6 : 1pm ET — Leadership & Culture
Host Aaron Mikulsky explores the world of post-COVID leadership, influence, team-building, culture creation and sustained high performance with author Manley Hopkinson and his book Compassionate Leadership.
Session #7 : 2pm ET — Intelligence & Knowledge
Host Dave de Bakker explores the world of hindsight, insight, foresight and making better sense of how we assemble thoughts around our past, present and futures with author Gregg Witt and his book The Gen Z Frequency: How Brands Tune In and Build Credibility.
Session #8 : 3pm ET — Innovation & Ventures
Host and Guild Founder Sean Moffitt explores the worlds of new products, bolder experiences, value creation mindsets, pivoted business models, wicked challenges and connected ecosystems with authors:
- Brian Ardinger and his book Accelerated: A Guide to Innovating at the Speed of Change
- Leah Kral and her book Innovation for Social Change: How Wildly Successful Nonprofits Inspire and Deliver Results
Session #9 : 4pm ET — Change & Transformation
Host Al Comeaux explores the art and science of getting organizations, teams and people to do more they are capable of, differently and together, with author Pam Marmon and her book “No One’s Listening and It’s Your Fault: Get Your Message Heard During Organizational Transformations”
Session #10 : 5pm ET — Technology & Digital
Host Rob Tyrie tumbles through the exciting and sometimes precarious galaxy of progress, AI, singularity, bits, bytes, quantum, the uneven e-world ethics and digital connection & media with author Peter Johnston and his respective book Negotiating with Giants : Get What You Want Against the Odds.
Session #11 : 6pm ET — Publish Your Own Book
Host Alex Brown puts publishing your own book within the range of reality and at your fingertips with her two guests:
- Daniel Milnor “Creative Evangelist” for Blurb, Inc. the world’s premiere print-on- demand publisher
- Ben Goulet celebrated author of desert cult classics Mojave Crime Volume 1 and 2
Thanks to all of our hosts and guests for being part of our GSG Book Festival maiden voyage and steeping up to be part of something that will be annual institution.
“I write to find strength.
I write to become the person that hides inside me.
I write to light the way through the darkness for others.
I write to be seen and heard.
I write to be near those I love.
I write by accident, promptings, purposefully and anywhere there is paper.
I write because my heart speaks a different language that someone needs to hear.
I write past the embarrassment of exposure.
I write because hypocrisy doesn’t need answers, rather it needs questions to heal.
I write myself out of nightmares.
I write because I am nostalgic, romantic and demand happy endings.
I write to remember.
I write knowing conversations don’t always take place.
I write because speaking can’t be reread.
I write to sooth a mind that races.
I write because you can play on the page like a child left alone in the sand.
I write because my emotions belong to the moon; high tide, low tide.
I write knowing I will fall on my words, but no one will say it was for very long.
I write because I want to paint the world the way I see love should be.
I write to provide a legacy.
I write to make sense out of senselessness.
I write knowing I will be killed by my own words, stabbed by critics, crucified by both misunderstanding and understanding.
I write for the haters, the lovers, the lonely, the brokenhearted and the dreamers.
I write because one day someone will tell me that my emotions were not a waste of time.
I write because God loves stories.
I write because one day I will be gone, but what I believed and felt will live on.”
― Shannon L. Alder
About the Grey Swan Guild
Making Sense of the World’s Biggest Challenges and Next Grey Swans — through content, experiences, intelligence, learning, community and ventures 🦢.
Our website hub: https://www.greyswanguild.org/
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