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Watts Wacker
Watts Wacker is one of the most celebrated and influential minds in modern business.
Mr. Wacker -- lecturer, best-selling author, political commentator and social critic -- is one of
the world’s most respected futurists. His uncommon versatility and
vision has allowed him to help the world’s top corporations and organizations
navigate the sea of change that is taking hold in the new millennium. He
has been the futurist at SRI International, the legendary Menlo Park think tank, and spent ten years as the resident futurist at the preeminent social
research organization, Yankelovich Partners.
While Watts’ personal client list is a veritable who’s who, it is what is said
about him that is the most intriguing…
- "One of 21 socially important people we selected to make a
prediction for the 21st century." ...The Science Channel
- "On our list of the 50 most influential business thinkers in the
world" ...Financial Times
- "When government gets serious about reinventing, Watts will be
in the president's cabinet." ...Fast Company
- "A skilled raconteur" …Fortune Magazine
- "The inheritor of the Marshall McLuhan tradition"
…Wired Magazine
- "He is one of the 21 best speakers in America"
…Successful Meetings Magazine
- "We featured his wizardry practice on our front page."
...USA Today
- "Time magazine 2006 person of the year"
As founder and director of FirstMatter
LLC, Mr. Wacker has focused his attention on creating a
new kind of think tank and he describes himself as a twenty-first century
alchemist as well as… "a cross between James Brown and the unknown comic,
(the hardest working nobody in the business.)" His speaking style has
created many references to Mr. Wacker as being one of the best storytellers alive
today. His book, The
500 Year Delta was an international bestseller having been
translated into ten languages and was an "editors choice" top
five selection on the Amazon.com book list for 1997. "The
Delta" was also selected for the NASA library. Watts' second
book, The
Visionary's Handbook is required reading at many of the world's
finest business schools and received outstanding reviews. Both books
were coauthored with Jim Taylor.
Recent work has included contributing, editing and ghost writing numerous books, broadcast
commentary as well as magazine and journal articles. His third book, The Deviant’s Advantage
received a tremendous reviewer response including from Time Magazine, Fortune, The N.Y. Times, and
The Harvard Business Review. His fourth book, What’s Your Story? Storytelling to move markets, audiences, people and brands, was released in August 2007. What's Your Story? was a finalist
for advertising/marketing book of the year. Both books are co-authored with Ryan Mathews. Mr. Wacker and his "wizardry practice" has been featured in the
media the world over. He has been labeled a "must quote" by the Associated Press.
Mr. Wacker was the original consulting pollster to the Fox News Division and directed the
Time Magazine Poll, while at Yankelovich Partners he also managed the preeminent trends prediction service
in the United States, for ten years. Mr. Wacker’s additional previous experience also includes management positions in the health, beauty, toy and food industries, and ownership and operation of two radio stations outside Corpus Christi, Texas.
Mr. Wacker’s matriculative background includes degrees from both Tulane University and the University of Texas in Austin as well as a research fellowship at The Institute for Constructive Capitalism. He has lectured at many colleges and universities around the world.
When asked to
state his most memorable professional accomplishments, Watts responds... "The
most memorable work accomplishments? ... the two humbling events in my life...
the renowned speaking series I've been privileged to speak at, and, having been
selected as a 'Significant Sig' by the national Sigma Chi Fraternity."
Watts Wacker resides in
Westport, Connecticut with his wife and partner of 30 years and
one of their two
children.
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