When all was said and done at the symposium this past May, I had several people who attended comment to me about the keynote speech by Robert Sawyer. They told me they loved it! So much so, that they suggested the next time someone like that gives a speech, that it be done at the beginning of the first day so that attendees have the rest of the conference to debate and think about it.

If you missed it, read below. There’s a summary and then a link to a video of his actual speech. And, if you do listen to his address, make sure you make it all the way through to the end because there’s a very entertaining back-and-forth between Sawyer and Ann Cavoukian. Needless to say, they didn’t see eye to eye on some pretty big fundamentals for our future.

The thought-provoking nature of Sawyer’s speech was quite something, fully intended to push the audience out of its comfort zone, but I’m reminded recently that you don’t always have to attend a big conference for good learning and networking opportunities. Last Friday, I was in Vancouver for the special full-day IAPP KnowledgeNet, which featured three separate discussions. As I observed the first two and led the third, it reminded me that we have the benefit of working in a very engaging and dynamic industry. Definitely great discussions all day long. Kudos to the volunteers on the West Coast who put the effort into such a nice event.