FFWD Advertising and Marketing Week 2015 asks: Is the Internet the Answer?

FFWD Advertising and Marketing Week 2015 asks:  Is the Internet the Answer? --Opening lunch features noted digital gurus Andrew Keen and Mitch Joel in thought-provoking debate on the Internet’s influence on the future--

The Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA) www.icacanada.ca will present acclaimed internet entrepreneur and author, Andrew Keen (http://www.ajkeen.com/) and digital marketing evangelist and author, Mitch Joel, president, Twist Image (www.twistimage.com) in Toronto’s Arcadian Court in a stimulating, controversial and significant debate at the FFWD 2015 opening lunch at noon on January 26.  The two highly regarded champions of digital will debate their views on the future of the Internet and the role it will play in the advertising and marketing industries and our lives.   Mr. Keen will lay bare his concern and skepticism about what the Internet and associated technologies are doing to our lives.  Mr. Joel will take the opposing view, vigorously expounding his optimism on the massive potential of such technological change.  Mathew Ingram, an award-winning journalist who has spent the past 15 years writing about business, technology and new media as a reporter, columnist and blogger will lead the debate, as moderator.  Tickets are now available at http://www.advertisingweek.ca. From innocent beginnings to multi-billion dollar monopolistic companies Andrew Keen -- dubbed “The Anti-Christ of Silicon Valley”-- returns to Canada following his provocative and controversial presentation to a select audience in May at the ICA’s Future Flash, in which he discussed his books, Digital Vertigo and the Cult of the Amateur.  He will mark the Canadian debut of his new book, The Internet is Not the Answer (http://www.ajkeen.com/) at FFWD 2015.  In it, he argues that the Internet was supposed to create what Marshall McLuhan called a global village of networked citizens.  But the networked economy, he says, has actually created an increasingly fragmented society, a digital echo chamber, in which people are more and more isolated from anyone, particularly those with different opinions and beliefs. “By 2039, almost everyone alive will be online,” explained Mr. Keen.  “Before it’s too late, it’s up to us to stop the corruption of the Internet and return it to its founding principles to foster creativity, self-expression, small business and personal freedom.  What we have now is a top-down, winner-take-all economy run by a plutocracy of lords and masters.  What we need is a networked society that enriches citizenship, not consumption.” Delivering Big Delta Mr. Joel -- dubbed “The Rock Star of Digital Marketing” -- author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete believes in a digital first posture for marketing programs.  His success has created a wide North American recognition of Twist Image’s digital focus at the brand level and operationalizing it through an organization that moves clients from an area that was either nascent, or non-existent, to being a powerhouse driver of business growth. “We deliver big solutions for big companies experiencing big problems,” stated Mr. Joel.  “We guide our clients through an exploration of how and why new media has changed business forever.  Then we create solutions for them to pivot their business to capitalize on just how much our world has changed with the Internet.  We call that delivering Big Delta.” “FFWD 2015 is an agent of change and inspiration,” said Gillian Graham, CEO, ICA.  “Both Mr. Keen and Mr. Joel are two of the leading minds in the world of digital entrepreneurship, are passionate about their views and will deliver their arguments in a stimulating forum.  This debate will be an exciting and controversial kick-off to our week of thought leadership, that exposes our industry to new perspectives on future opportunities and challenges.”