IBTM announces final keynote double bill

IBTM has revealed a double bill of not one but two inspiring speakers for their third keynote speaker slot, as well as a brand new ‘TED talk’ style speaker showcase event for IBTM World 2019, taking place at Fira Barcelona from 19-21 November.

Aric Dromi and Margarita Mayo

The third keynote speaker session, taking place on Wednesday 20 November, will this year be shared by two outstanding speakers who will each give a 28-minute talk: Aric Dromi and Margarita Mayo. Aric Dromi, founder of the strategic think tank Tempus.Motu and in-house futurologist of Volvo Cars Group, will present an exciting session on future trends and new technologies, applying disruptive thinking to question how we experience the world, the way we think about thinking, and the way we understand change. Margarita Mayo, Professor of Leadership at IE Business School in Madrid, keynote speaker and author, will discuss how to remain authentic in both leadership and life. Margarita features on the Thinkers50 ‘Guru Radar’ as one of the world’s top management experts and was a nominee for the 2017 Leadership Award, considered the “Oscars of Management Thinking” by the Financial Times.

TED talk style speaker showcase

Immediately following the two keynotes will be a brand-new TED talk style speaker showcase; a fascinating bite-sized programme of three 23-minute speakers, sponsored by Thinking Heads Speaker Agency. Moderated by event MC and keynote speaker Oisin Lunny, the speaker showcase will open with ex-Formula one racing driver Jaime Alguersuari. The subject of Jaime’s talk is personal re-invention, and to illustrate this he will take us on a journey from competing in the Hungarian Grand Prix aged just 19, to his transition to electronic music producer and DJ. Next up will be CEO and founder of Wordly, Lakshman Rathnam. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Worldy provides real time simultaneous translation into 15 different languages. Lakshman will discuss why re-thinking how we communicate across different cultures is so important. Concluding the showcase will be Mariano Sigman; neuroscientist, two-times TED speaker and author of books including ‘The Secret Life of the Mind’. Mariano will use his extensive knowledge of neuroscience to explore the fascinating workings of the brain and the factors that influence the decision-making process.

New perspective

David Thompson, Event Director, IBTM World, said: “We know from speaking to event attendees that an important part of attending an event is to gain new knowledge and ideas, and perhaps a new perspective on the world. We’re excited to introduce our new speaker showcase and third keynote double-bill, which is packed full of engaging content and speakers to leave attendees feeling invigorated and inspired to apply some of these ideas to their own lives and businesses.” The IBTM World Knowledge Programme is a three-day schedule of diverse and high-profile talks designed to provide relevant and tangible take-home learnings to attendees. The full Keynote Programme is Lucy Bloom, award-winning business expert, author and international master communicator (Tuesday); Aric Dromi and Margarita Mayo and the speaker showcase (Wednesday); and John Volanthen, the world-record holding British cave diver who played a major role in the astonishing 2018 Tham Luang Thailand cave rescue (Thursday).