Due to COVID-19, and a resulting need to reinvent the Institute, we suspended our weekly columns for a few months.
In January we produced our first symposium. Titled “An Educated Person in 2035” it was a major success in that more than 225 people attended at the beautiful Neel Performing Arts Center on the State College of Florida campus. The entire day was live-streamed to 13 different countries around the world. You can see the edited video, some of the keynotes, and the entire live-stream here: https://sarasotainstitute.global/video-podcasts/symposiums/an-educated-person-in-2035/
On Saturday February 29, we produced “A Leap Year Look at Climate Change” with more than 250 people in attendance. The audience was largely composed of environmentalists and those wanting an update on the crisis at hand. Comments included, “the best climate change conference I have ever been to” and “the best climate change conference ever on the Gulf Coast of Florida”. To view the summary video, many keynote speeches and the entire live-stream (this time to 16 countries), please go here: https://sarasotainstitute.global/video-podcasts/symposiums/a-leap-year-look-at-climate-change/
March 1st was when we learned that there were several COVID-19 patients in local hospitals. On Monday March 2, we decided to cancel both the March 7th symposium “The New Health Age of the 21st Century”, and the “Future of Capitalism and Democracy” scheduled for April 25th. We think that we were the first conference cancelled in the U.S. due to the pandemic. We try to be ahead of the curve in everything we do.
In April we hosted four webinars on how COVID-19 might affect higher education, democracy, capitalism and climate change. These webinars can be accessed only by TSI members who can view all four behind the member sign-in wall. If you are a member and have not yet viewed these webinars, we invite you to do so.
Since April, we have determined that in this time of pandemic, the Institute must continue to protect the health of our members. We also needed to respond to international inquiries from individuals and businesses concerning membership.
Therefore:
- We have restructured our membership to be completely on-line and virtual.
- We have cut our membership price in half to $125 for 12 months from day of sign-up.
- We will be producing 10 monthly webinars and two virtual symposiums every year starting with this September. We are in active discussions with experts from the world over to participate in the September / October / November / December webinars and are scheduling the first virtual symposium in January 2021.
- The webinars will each be 90 minutes and will have 2-3 short presentations and a panel discussion, all with plenty of time for member’s questions
- The two symposiums will each be held on a single day, most likely a Saturday with a 10-12n and a 2-4p eastern time U.S.
- All of our programming will be available to members only. Programming can be viewed either live or recorded and archived.
- All existing members, as of April 2020, will have an extra year (through 12/31/2021) added to their membership at no-charge.
We hope that you become a member soon. If you are undecided, please at least connect with us online. Our Twitter name is @sarasotainst and our LinkedIn address is https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-sarasota-institute-think-tank-2837961b4/
Our mission is a clear and urgent one. We have entered the most disruptive decade in human history. What happens during the 2020s will largely shape the trajectory of humanity at least through 2050… if not longer. We are of this time, of this decade, of this century. Many influential think tanks were launched in the second half of the 20th century. We are joining this elite group of institutions, but with a twist. We are not of the last century, nor of the legacy thinking that belongs to it.
We have chosen to focus on 10 topic areas that will most affect humanity over the next decade: Capitalism, Climate Change, Democracy, Education, Health Care, Intelligence (human and technological), Marketing and Media, Natural Resources, Public Policy and Technology.
Our vision is to shape and articulate the essential questions that we must find answers to, and then lead informed discussions among experts in each field (and across fields) to arrive at the answers.
We are a 21st Century Think Tank. Please join us in these discussions.
NOTE: If you are an expert in any of these 10 topics, and might want to submit a thought piece for publication on our site, please reach out to me.
Thank you!
David Houle
david@sarasotainstitute.global
Co-Founder
Managing Director
The Sarasota Institute
