ACG keynote speakers.

• Author: Lewis, David

Jack Uldrich

Futurist sees big changes coming in small packages

Jack Uldrich is a futurist and an optimist. This means he recognizes the lining of silver shot through our decidedly cloudy present.

"Recessionary times can actually be quite good for innovation, in the sense that people are trying to figure out how to do things better, faster, with less money. All that is at the heart of innovation," Uldrich says. "Counterintuitively, the lean times are the biggest engine for us to get back on track."

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Otherwise. Uldrich's message to business in a nutshell is: Get ready for change. A lot of change, coming at you fast.

Forces such as regulatory approvals and public opinion might slow change, but it's coming.

Here's an example:

"For the last 40 years they have been figuring out how to make circuits ever smaller and put them on a computer chip," Uldrich says. "Now the circuits are smaller than the DNA and protein in our bodies, and Intel and other companies have publicly stated, 'We think the future of our devices is not just in the cell phone or laptop computers, it is inside the human body.'"

The FDA approval process takes a minimum of four to seven years, Uldrich says, after which the next set of forces seeking to slow or block change come into play.

"The other question with regard to some of these innovations is how well will they be accepted culturally," Uldrich adds. "When I talk about your chips inside the human body half the audience tends to recoil."

Uldrich's books have included 2004's "Investing in Nanotechnology: Think Small, Win Big"; works on Lewis and Clark and George Marshall in 2003 and 2005, respectively; and this year's "Jump the Curve: 50 Essential Strategies to Help Your Company Stay Ahead of Emerging Technologies." He's working on a book about "unlearning" now, he says.

Terry Jones

Travelocity founder ran with his first hit

Terry Jones broke out of the box with the first company he ever ran.

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In 1996 Jones founded Travelocity and ran it for its first six years.

Jones started in the industry in Chicago in 1971 as a travel agent and before Travelocity had worked his way...