Key Ideas from WOBI 2024 In New York

I covered the World Business Forum in New York this past week. World Business Forum or WOBI for short is a global conference that shares the leading trends in Business. WOBI brings industry thought leaders together to share insights on business topics such as Creativity, Marketing, Innovation, being creative, Leadership, Management, and more. 

My favorite talks were from Gary Hamel, Angela Ahrendts DBE, and Jon McNeill.

Gary Hamel shared an idea called Humanocracy which is the title of his latest book. Gary shows that employees and not just executives should lead at all levels to get things done and improve outcomes. Gary states that AI will not solve organizations’ productivity issues instead he says that productivity issues need to be solved by people which is a different opinion.

Angela Ahrendts DBE shared her insights from leading at Apple and Burberry. One point that stood out is that Angela said that Profit and Loss (P & L) statements do not tell the whole story, instead, she said that leaders need to examine the People and Impact (P& I) along with the (P& L) when examining the performance of the organization and its employees. 

Jon McNeill was the former head of innovation at Tesla. He shared how he used innovation when he was tasked with increasing Tesla’s Digital Sales 20X and the steps he took to reduce customer friction in Tesla’s Online Buying Journey; reducing it from 63 clicks down to 10 clicks to achieve his 20X Digital Sales Goal. 

I enjoyed the lunch and learn by Texas Tech where Gary shared even more insights on how his management and innovation ideas improved healthcare outcomes for patients at a healthcare system.

Attendees did more than just go to talks, attendees had a chance to network, connect with event sponsors, meet the speakers, and get their purchased books signed by speakers at the Barnes & Noble station right after their talk.

Additional pictures can be found on Instagram.

I learned so much at WOBI.

WOBI, thank you for having me as your guest.

If you want to learn more about the latest business trends from industry thought leaders, attend WOBI.

Improving Traffic Safety at the 2026 World Traffic Safety Symposium 

I covered the 2026 World Traffic Safety Symposium at the New York International Auto Show this April. The symposium discussed the holistic safety and mobility of motor vehicles.

Mark Scheinberg, President of the Greater New York Automotive Dealers Association and the New York International Auto Show, opened the symposium.

Guest Speakers included:

John Bozzella, President & CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Jennifer Homendy, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board, Dr. Jeffrey Runge, former NHTSA Administrator, John Adkins, CEO, Governors Highway Safety Association, Mark F. Schroeder, Commissioner, NYS DMV, Governor’s Representative for Highway Safety, and many others.

Jennifer Homendy, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board, shared that there are 110 deaths per day in the United States from automobile crashes and that 95 percent of all deaths from planes, trains, and automobiles are from automobiles. I was shocked to hear this statistic! Some of the crashes were caused by the NTSB’s safety recommendations being ignored.

To help remedy the situation, the NTSB chair advocated for the implementation of safety technology in automobiles, such as alcohol detection and speed monitoring. Alcohol use while driving accounted for 12,000 deaths in the US. 11,00 deaths are the result of speeding, and 3,000 deaths are the result of distracted driving.

The NTSB chair stated that drug use while driving has skyrocketed with the legalization of Marijuana in some states. The NTSB chair recommended bringing driver safety education back. She said that people don’t read owner manuals in cars, and they don’t know about the operating mechanics of automation in cars. The more you use automation in a car, the more distracted you are. 97 percent of traffic crashes are caused by human factors. Auto deaths have dropped to 39500, but it is still too high! This is a 6 percent decline despite vehicles being safe.

Dr. Runge said that automotive safety is a team sport with automakers, auto dealers, states, law enforcement, and traffic enforcement working together to address the problem.

Jon Adkins highlights that bike lane advocacy in NYC has led to a decrease in bike fatalities over the past 3 years.

Marketing Schroder, NYS DMW Commissioner and CGTSC Chair, shared his commitment to road safety in New York State. He described the various task forces working to make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians. He also shared his work making the NYSDMV more efficient.

A new computer system was implemented at NYS DMV over a 4-year project, replacing 96 data lines. Since the Rockefeller administration, there has been only 1 dedicated data line used to process information and transactions. This also improved the customer experience at the DMV, reducing wait times from 2 to 3 hours to 15 minutes to do a transaction. Auto dealers do 1 million transactions with the NYS DMV.

Marketing Schroder, NYS DMW Commissioner, shared how New York is applying stricter enforcement against dangerous drivers

Alcohol and drug convictions now carry an 11-point penalty on your license, with an automatic suspension; previously, no points were added.

Teaming up with law enforcement and the community to reduce drug and alcohol impaired driving, the NYS DMV, DOT, and NYSP are coordinating and improving traffic safety.

The 2026 World Traffic Safety Symposium highlighted issues, insights, and solutions to improve traffic safety.

Advertising Week Turns 20: Highlights from Advertising Week 2024

This week, I covered Advertising Week in New York. Advertising Week is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Advertising Week offers insights on many topics beyond advertising, including marketing, e-commerce, media, retail media, AI, Generative AI, technology, creativity, and beyond.

Smokey the Bear celebrated his 80th Birthday at Advertising Week.

The conference was held at the Penn District in New York City. Panels were held on different stages that were centered on the themes of scaling up, innovation, creativity, the marketplace, technology, media, great minds, podcasting, CMOs, excellence, and women’s empowerment.

There were many great exhibits as well. I enjoyed using Meta’s AI which turned me into Super Man and Iron Man.

Meta had great AI Ray Ban sunglasses that enabled me to use the internet for many tasks.

Attendees also had a chance to make their reels on Meta. 

Advertising Week looked back and looked to the future as well. The founder of Advertising Week Matt Scheckner, shared how he started the conference with an idea. He shared his story from the parade in Times Square in 2004 to today; describing how Advertising Week grew to have a presence with conferences across the globe. Matt Scheckner assembled a panel of leaders from business and entertainers On a panel he shared with Susie Essman of Curb your Enthusiasm, Tim Armstrong, Kim Kellehner, and Claudio Romo Edelman. The panelists shared their journeys and their keys to success: embracing change and growing.

There were many panels about using AI, Data, Storytelling, Global Marketing, public speaking, pitching deals, and selling advertising. Additional panel pictures can be found on Instagram.

I learned so much. If you are interested in trends in advertising, marketing, AI, and beyond, attend Advertising Week.

I want to thank the organizers of Advertising Week for having me as their guest.