Press Releases
For Immediate Release
Andrea Sanchez
IFMA
1-713-623-4362
Date Posted: April 10, 2008
IFMA ANNOUNCES KEYNOTE SPEAKERS CHIP HEATH AND JONAS RIDDERSTRALE FOR WORLD WORKPLACE 2008 CONFERENCE IN DALLAS
The International Facility Management Association’s World Workplace 2008 Conference & Expo — Oct. 15-17 in Dallas, Texas — will bring industry leaders from the world’s top business and government organizations together with educators and exhibitors to focus on the future of the built environment. Today IFMA announced the distinguished keynote speakers who will open and close this year’s conference.
Chip Heath will deliver the conference’s opening address, “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die,” on Wednesday, Oct. 15. In his presentation, based on a book he co-authored of the same name, Heath discusses how to use “naturally sticky” ideas to design more effective messages. A professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Heath’s research examines why certain concepts survive and prosper in the social marketplace of ideas while others do not. He has also taught at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
“One of the most important challenges of making ideas stick is to find a ‘portable message’ that resonates with the different kinds of people working together on a complex project,” said Heath. “Today’s facility professionals are like Hollywood movie producers — weaving together the efforts of people with many kinds of skills and hopefully coming up with a product that not only appeals to our senses, but also makes money. I can’t think of many other industries where the idea-sticking challenges are higher.”
Dr. Jonas Ridderstråle will close the conference on Friday, Oct. 17, with his keynote speech, “Funky Business Forever,” which will offer evolved thinking and commentary on the state of business in the latter half of this decade. Ridderstråle is a visiting professor at Ashridge Business School in the U.K. and a former assistant professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. His research focuses on new organizational models and leadership styles in the information age. He also acts as an advisor and consultant to a number of multinational corporations and is co-author of three international best-selling books, including “Funky Business Forever.”
“You can respond to the challenges of today’s world in two different ways,” said Ridderstråle. “You can retreat into your own foxhole and be constantly surprised by today’s global economy. Or you can focus on being the surprise, the shocker of your industry — being the change you want to see. As anyone who attends World Workplace knows, you don’t have to be an economic expert to realize there is a lot to be won by taking a global perspective.”
World Workplace 2008 will be held Oct. 15-17 at the Dallas Convention Center in downtown Dallas, Texas. Early registration is available until Aug. 1. To learn more about World Workplace 2008, or to register for the event, visit www.worldworkplace.org.
IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,000 members in 60 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 15 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition. For more information, visit www.ifma.org.