Collective Future

This is the second year of the Collective Future conference. It is a participant-driven conference, meaning that conversations flow at each session as if you are having a dinner party. Each hour had 8-11 sessions going at once. There is a tech slant to this event, so the conversations were about anything from reindustrialization to wearing all hats as a founder to algorithms and AI.
Someone said Artificial Intelligence means less User Intelligence, although if you want to use AI through your own lens, you need to enter user intelligence to get the desired effect. AI is something I continue to think about on how we can use AI to make Gotham run smoother. Can we use AI to look at past successful campaigns and repurpose that content to use with a new angle? What can we use to make accounting much easier? Are there operational tools that help run the store easier? If anyone has any AI platforms that they are using for retail or ecommerce that has been successful, please send them my way.
I led a conversation with Julie Samuels, the President and CEO of TechNYC, titled “What Would Make NYC a Better Place to Work and Live?” We asked everyone to say their name and what they loved and hated about NYC. Not shocking, everyone in the room gushed about their love for the city. The frustrations are not surprising. The high cost of living here, the lack of affordable housing, the surge of mentally ill people on the streets, and the illegal cannabis shops. What is all pointed to was lack of government leadership over the past 12 years has taken a toll on our city.
This city has always run on help from the private sector, and everyone in the room has the means and smarts to help if that means running for an office, getting behind an organization that is making a difference, or joining a non-profit board. Civic engagement is essential.
One thing is that I got into the tech industry back in 1996, and through Fred even before. It is exciting to see how mature the industry has become. Seeing young entrepreneurs starting their second or third company, many people I knew when they were not even dating, having a family of young kids, and navigating the city’s school system. Best of all is hearing from the majority of people that kids coming from college want to be in NYC not SF where the tech industry continues to grow and make impact in every single industry in the city.
The event always gets me thinking, which is very good.