Strategic News Service - FiReGlobal : West Coast

About FiReGlobal : west coast

What if a single day changed the rest of your life?

FiReGlobal : West Coast is a new 12-hour conference model created by the team at Strategic News Service, producer of the annual Future in Review (FiRe) conference since 2003. (The Economist calls FiRe "the best technology conference in the world.") The purpose of this new FiReGlobal conference is to bring global and local thought leaders together to solve problems of broad and shared impact. The FiReGlobal series launched in October 2009 with a focus on the Pacific Northwest, in Seattle.

The purpose of the first FiReGlobal conference was to focus on "what's real" in technology and economic trends, and to apply global technical solutions to local problems. We initiated a rational dialog between the global technology and local communities, one which will hopefully continue after the conference is concluded. FiReGlobal: West Coast was a meeting among the thought leaders of the major sectors in the Northwest and many of their global counterparts. Problem-solving occurred collaboratively on threads pre-selected by the FG:WC Steering Committee, by local and visiting Chief Technology Officers. Their solutions and ideas were presented at the conference.

FiReGlobal FAQs:

1. What is SNS? The Strategic News Service was the first paid online news service on the Internet, founded in 1995. Its readers include Steve Ballmer, Ray Ozzie, Craig Mundie, Michael Dell, Mark Hurd, and many other global industry leaders in technology and finance. (See www.stratnews.com.)

The company publishes:

The Strategic News Service Technology Newsletter (which Fortune magazine calls "the best technology letter, period"
SNS Interactive News (SNS iNews): www.snsinews.com
The SNS blog, "A Bright FiRe": www.abrightfire.com

And produces these programs and events:

SNS Project Inkwell (www.projectinkwell.com)
The Future in Review (FiRe) conference, annually in May
The SNS New York Predictions Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria, annually in December
The SNS London Dinner
FiReGlobal : West Coast
[And, coming in 2010:] FiReGlobal : Europe

2. Who should attend FiReGlobal : West Coast?

Technology and Finance executives;

Local thought leaders from the Northwest interested in working with global counterparts in solving local problems;

Global thought leaders interested in meeting their Northwest counterparts;

C-level executives interested in the pragmatic application of technology to problems.

Smart, open-minded leaders who favor action.

Attendees include thought leaders from Education, Science, Technology, Energy, Healthcare and Medicine, Ocean Systems, Business, and Government.

3. What are the goals of this conference?

To identify and explore leading-edge technology trends, markets and ideas;
To identify key local thought leaders, and include them in the problem-identification and solution aspects of the conference;
To identify key local / regional problems where technology can provide new solutions, and provide them in real time;
To identify and include key global and local technology leaders in chosen solution sectors;
To identify and encourage local and global companies ("FiReStars") capable of positive world change;
To identify and include local and global funding sources capable of assisting these companies;
To establish ongoing relationships and dialog between technology executives and executives in other sectors, local and global;
To form new friendships and alliances between local and global leaders; and
To provide a discussion platform which will begin before, and may continue after, the FiReGlobal conference.

4. Are these goals really achievable? And can a few thoughtful people really find new answers to old problems in a limited period of time?

Yes. We've been doing this with increasing success over the last seven years, at our FiRe conferences. In the last two years, our CTO Design Challenge teams have created new systems for fighting urban wildfires and for providing safe, secure drinking water to cities. In both cases, these systems have been, or are in the process of being, implemented initially by local governing agencies.

In part, we envision the FiReGlobal series to be a broader iteration of these proven successes.