Conference

Bernard Desarnauts had a great idea a few weeks ago: the world needs an event to discuss Apple Watch. After recovering from the shock of not thinking of it first and then from the shock that nobody else had either, I immediately agreed and along with Ben Bajarin and Farshad Nayeri, we quickly rallied to organize and anchor this event: Glance: A Deep Look at Apple Watch.

We had some big questions to answer:

• What is the strategy for Apple Watch? Is it an object of beauty and desire, placing Apple in the "luxury sector" or is it a computer infiltrating what is otherwise a technology-free zone with utility in an asymmetric attack?
• How can developers discover the killer jobs to be done? Beyond tentpoles what will the primary reasons people will use the watch? What does the data tell us so far? What can be observed from interviews?
• Given the sales performance to date, what can we expect from the product? What is the addressable market? What will be the installed base? How quickly will it grow?
• What is the platform strategy, especially with the cadence of OS releases? Is Apple treating this as a separate platform? Will it eventually become independent of the iPhone as the iPhone cast off its dependence on the Mac/PC?
• What is the hardware strategy? What are the constraints from manufacturing, materials, battery life and screen space? What will be the replacement schedule? What is the role of modular internal designs?

We realized that we did not have the answers. So we recruited a great cast of participants to help us:

• Bob Moesta, the founder and developer of the theory of jobs-to-be-done marketing agreed to do a live interview to understand what jobs watches, and in particular Apple Watches, are hired to do.
• Josh Clark, the premier UX designer who wrote Designing for Touch will explore the question of user experience in glanceable space.
• Liza Kindred is considered the top expert on fashion tech–she’s writing the book on the future of commerce–brings keen understanding of wearables.
• Abdel Ibrahim the most prominent blogger and writer on the topic of Apple Watch. Has forgotten more about the Apple Watch than you will ever learn.
• Carolina Milanesi one of the most respected technology market analysts, now at Kantar and often quoted on all things Apple.
• Greg Koenig, product designer at Atomic Delights will educate us on the atoms that make up the Watch.

Investors who will participate in panel conversations:

• John Lilly Venture Capitalist, Greylock Ventures.
• Mari Cross of AngelList
• Glenn Solomon  GGV Ventures.
• Josh Stein Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Special guest: Jean-Louis Gassée, former head of Apple Engineering, current VC and everything in-between will have a fireside chat with Tim Bajarin Legendary technology analyst who has been around long enough to see furthest ahead.

We will explore Apple Watch as a very curious interaction between form and function, luxury and utility, exclusivity and ubiquity, tiny screens and big audiences, short attention spans, big data.

We have developers, designers, investors, marketers and analysts contributing to what could be the biggest leap in computing since the smartphone.

If you are interesting in becoming one of the innovators on this newest of platforms or planning a strategy to invest, or even (actually especially) if you are a skeptic, you can't miss this conference.

Join us for Glance, a deep look at Apple Watch, downtown San Francisco, December 10, 2015.

Early bird pricing is $495.

If you miss early bird, and you're an Asymco reader, there is still a 30% discount.

Airshow, now in it's twelfth iteration, is coming back to Boston on the 18th.

This time we have Fidelity Investments as a sponsor and their inspiring venue at ThinkSpace, 245 Summer Street, as our setting.

If you are interested in how data and mobility will revolutionize the art of persuasion, please register for what will be the best Airshow ever.

Seating is limited.

We will be conducting the 11th Airshow event in Seattle on Saturday, 8 November 2014.

The purpose of Airshow is to:

• Understand how data can be used to persuade through an appeal to logic as well as through empathy.
• Understand the basics of "data cinematicism" including the techniques analogous to cinematography and direction.
• Understand story development techniques including how to facilitate the audience's entry into the story.
• Learn how to build a cinematic presentation.

The method we devised borrows heavily from the techniques of cinematography and screenwriting to impart meaning to the audience beyond the literal words spoken or images shown on screen. These techniques are demonstrated with "feature presentations" and then deconstructed in interactive lectures. Throughout we also weave Aristotelian rhetorical tips and present from the Asymco repertoire of stories.

Given the cinematic nature of the event, we thought it would be fitting to use a screening room, so we have reserved the the Auditorium at Fry Art Museum. See Airshow Seattle event page for more information. Discounted registrations for readers of this site are available. Students and teachers may register with an academic discounts.

Fry Art Museum Auditorium

Frye Art Museum Auditorium

I will be conducting our 10th Airshow event in Tokyo on Thursday, 17 July 2014.

The purpose of Airshow is to:

• Understand how data can be used to persuade through an appeal to logic as well as through empathy.
• Understand the basics of "data cinematicism" including the techniques analogous to cinematography and direction.
• Understand story development techniques including how to facilitate the audience's entry into the story.
• Learn how to build a cinematic presentation.

The method we devised borrows heavily from the techniques of cinematography and screenwriting to impart meaning to the audience beyond the literal words spoken or images shown on screen. These techniques are demonstrated with "feature presentations" and then deconstructed in interactive lectures. Throughout we also weave Aristotelian rhetorical tips and present from the Asymco repertoire of stories.

See Airshow Tokyo event page for more information. Registrations are available. Students may register for academic discounts.

Steve Jobs famously said that Apple stands at the intersection of of Technology and the Liberal Arts. He said it more than once because he thought it was an important distinction of the company.

In an intuitive way, the message may have gotten through to the average person, but I don't think professional observers and managers of technology have quite grasped what he meant.

It's not a glib throw-away marketing phrase. I can imagine many other, more evocative ways of saying that Apple blends the hard and the soft; the heart and mind, if you will.

His choice of words makes me believe that he meant it as a fundamental blending of two disparate and considered-opposite concepts, rather like yin-yang: things which do not naturally mix but which are complementary, interconnected, interdependent, and give rise to each other.

This interaction however is not well understood and even more rarely exploited. The reason they don't mix well in business in particular is that individuals are typically not trained in both. Our education systems (from where these phrases originate) are unwilling or incapable of providing us with a grounding in both, so individuals tend to absorb only one or the other.

But it turns out that the interaction between these nominal opposites have determined our world to date and will continue to determine our fate. A cursory review of history shows that the "soft", perceptive and feeling-based disciplines always combined with the analytical and judgmental to create a future which neither could create alone.

I note how Apple uses this combination to an advantage and have also used this methodology myself to understand and sense the future. Taking this method further, I would like to share it with others. I would like to recognize some faint but powerful patterns and bare some of the more audacious conclusions of my analysis.

The method chosen is a forum we are convening called The Post Modern Computing Summit.

It's a small gathering where we are inviting the most enlightened thinkers of the future of computing to lead us into its next age, and perhaps, tentatively, the next era of civilization. ((We'll also answer the questions of where tablets are going, and where they will takes us, what is the future of apparel computing, what does intimate computing mean and who will benefit and who won't.))

We will be conducting our 9th Airshow event in Vancouver next Wednesday, March 26, 2014.

The purpose of Airshow is to:

• Understand how data can be used to persuade through an appeal to logic as well as through empathy.
• Understand the basics of "data cinematicism" including the techniques analogous to cinematography and direction.
• Understand story development techniques including how to facilitate the audience's entry into the story.
• Learn how to build a cinematic presentation.

The method we devised borrows heavily from the techniques of cinematography and screenwriting to impart meaning to the audience beyond the literal words spoken or images shown on screen. These techniques are demonstrated with "feature presentations" and then deconstructed in interactive lectures. Throughout we also weave Aristotelian rhetorical tips and present from the Asymco repertoire of stories.

Discounted registrations are available for readers of this blog, and students.

We will be conducting our 8th Airshow event in London next Wednesday, 26 February 2014.

The purpose of Airshow is to:

• Understand how data can be used to persuade through an appeal to logic as well as through empathy.
• Understand the basics of "data cinematicism" including the techniques analogous to cinematography and direction.
• Understand story development techniques including how to facilitate the audience's entry into the story.
• Learn how to build a cinematic presentation.

The method we devised borrows heavily from the techniques of cinematography and screenwriting to impart meaning to the audience beyond the literal words spoken or images shown on screen. These techniques are demonstrated with "feature presentations" and then deconstructed in interactive lectures. Throughout we also weave Aristotelian rhetorical tips and present from the Asymco repertoire of stories.

Few seats remain. Discounted registrations are available for readers of this blog, and students.

In a world where everyone needs to present, few know the power that lies under their fingertips.

Whether one-on-one or in front of millions on TV, presentations are the primary means of persuasion in business.

Have you ever cringed at text-only slides or puzzled over graphs that made no sense? Steve Jobs saw "PowerPoints" as "rambling and nonsensical" and had them banned internally. But he used visuals for all his keynotes. What made them tolerable, even persuasive?

The problem is that most people receive no training in how to compose the most crucial images they project to an audience and the tools available do not take advantage of motion, touch, processing power, mobility and high resolutions.

• Airshow teaches principles of visual persuasion using techniques of cinematography and visual storytelling.
• Airshow shows how tablets create a new stage for your performance.
• Airshow applies Aristotelian rhetoric, Cinematographic theory and Cinematic storytelling as well as Tufte design principles into a new medium.

You’ll learn how to:

• Persuade with logic, empathy and credibility.
• Present rich data as compelling and emotionally engaging
• Get hands-on experience with modern tools of persuasion including tablets and interactive, touch-based interfaces.

You have the data. You have the audience. All you need is a story and a screenplay. How do you build them?

There are techniques which are proven to work. They’ve been used by writers, performers and playwrights for centuries. Professional presentation coaches will teach you far less and at greater expense.

• Airshow is better and less expensive, especially in terms of time.
• Airshow is an intimate experience. Audience size is limited.
• All the tools and techniques needed in one day of intense, inspirational and engaging training.

Airshow could be coming to a town near you but to make it happen you need to act now.

Here's how it works: For every month in 2014 an Airshow event will be hosted. The location for that month will be locked-in when the first 20 registrations for that city will be recorded. Any registrations that take place before the location is locked-in will be half-price.

In other words, early registration means you get half off! ((If your registration is not part of a quorum (fewer than 20 total) then it's automatically re-issued for the following month. You may also request a refund.))

Now is the time to learn presentation skills for the post-PC era. Just like there is no writing which does a movie justice, I can't write here how it's done, you have to see it live.

Register now.

HERE'S WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT AIRSHOW

“Airshow was amazing. Business stories with cinematic impact made easy with perspective”
— Paul Brody, Global Business Leader, IBM

“Airshow has fundamentally changed how I give client and industry presentations. It is an important tool in my toolbox which allows me to showcase my data and my story in ways that help audiences gain deeper insight and perspective.”
— Ben Bajarin, TIME, TabTimes, Techpinions

“Nobody brings numbers to life like Horace Dediu does.”
—Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Fortune/CNN

“The unhurried nature of Airshow is just terrific and in contrast to many other events. Anyone who goes will gain their own purposes.”
—Steve Crandall

“Airshow is a treat [...] showing how to make the audience wonder.”
—Bertram Gugel

“Airshow is surpassing my expectations. Very interesting deep content.”
—Ryan Singer, 37signals.

Airshow New York was our best Airshow ever. We sold out to an audience who engaged and challenged us to our best performance. We are learning more each time and after three shows we have honed the show to a fine performance.

Due to the demand met in New York we decided to return there in December 5th but to also present in my home town of Boston on December 3rd. We are also presenting in my second home town of Helsinki in November.

You can sign up for any of these events at Airshow.asymco.com.

The purpose of Airshow is:

• To explain how to present rich data in a compelling and emotionally engaging way.
• To explain the principles of visual persuasion.
• To offer hands-on training with the tools of persuasion: iPad and  Perspective.

The method we devised borrows heavily from the techniques of Cinematography and screenwriting to impart meaning to the audience beyond the literal words spoken or images shown on screen.

This includes:

• Framing
• Light and Color
• Depth
• Motion
• The Reveal
• Texture
• Establishment
• Characterization
• Point of View

These techniques are demonstrated with "feature presentations" and then deconstructed in interactive lectures. Throughout we also weave Aristotelian rhetorical tips and present from the Asymco repertoire of stories.

The day ends with a hands-on exercise. iPads are required.

At the end of the seminar you should be able to:

• Understand how data can be used to persuade through an appeal to logic as well as through empathy.
• Understand the basics of "data cinematicism" including the techniques analogous to cinematography and direction.
• Understand story development techniques including how to facilitate the audience's entry into the story.
• Build a cinematic presentation.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the next Airshow.

 

I'm delighted to once again have the sponsorship of IBM for the presentation of Airshow. This time it's in New York City on Wednesday, 25 September at the IBM Building, 590 Madison Ave. My thanks again to Paul Brody for being so gracious and earnest in his support.

Seating is limited but there are still 25 20 3 available.

This will be the third Airshow, having started in June in San Francisco and rolling into Chicago in July. The event keeps getting better with a plan to introduce a hands-on module allowing participants to build cinematic data-driven presentation during the afternoon.

Airshow is intended as both an exhibition of technique and as an explication of   the methods for creating persuasive presentation enabled by new technologies.

Without revealing too much, the gist of the theory espoused is that presentations can benefit from:

• The use of directly manipulated visuals
• Cinematic effects honed by cinematographers over a century
• Aristotelian presentation principles

Together, these techniques solve the "job to be done" of persuasion—a job universally in demand but deeply underserved by current tools and techniques.

The participant should come away from the event with the ability to:

• Use the iPad as their primary presentation tool, with or without a projector to large and small audiences
• Use a cinematic technique of presentation where a layer of implicit yet easily sensed meaning is overlaid upon the words spoken and images viewed
• Appeal with empathy, logic and credibility to all audiences.

You can register for Airshow New York here.

See also: The end of the projector.

 

We're excited to bring the second Airshow to Chicago in July. Thanks to Ryan Singer and Jason Fried of 37signals.com for offering to host us this summer.  Their venue is ideal for our particular pedagogy.

Speaking of which, I should explain what it is.

Our first Airshow (San Francisco, June 9th) had several objectives:

• To explain a theory of narration with data, especially big data
• To narrate this explanation with a tool called Perspective
• To reveal and test a new feature within Perspective called airshow

Now that we have revealed the feature (mirror your presentation including your direct manipulation of the visuals to any member of the audience—wherever they may be—on their own device, available in version 3.0) we can talk more freely about the structure of the show.

It's in three parts:

1. Performance
2. Cooking Show
3. Theory

The Performance is the "keynote story" whose recipe we show in the Cooking Show and whose motivation and foundations we deconstruct in the Theory. You can think of the sections as as answering "{What, How and Why} make a great story."

The show is self-referential in that we use the process we teach to do the teaching. In other words, we use a great storytelling tool to tell great stories about storytelling. Furthermore, Airshow, as a show, uses a tool whose feature  is itself called airshow.

It's not that complicated; at least not if you understand recursion.

Register here: airshow.asymco.com (Limited to 37, bring an iPad).