Virtual or live, which one do you prefer when it comes to keynote speaking?
I love doing virtual conferences. I have two kids, aged four and two, and I’ve traveled a lot over the past decade for work. It can be taxing on your body and mental health, so obviously staying in town is amazing from the family aspect. But in-person is always better. You can’t replace the energy of people in the room or the connections you make. With that being said, there’s so much value in virtual, even though it’s fundamentally different. I couldn’t even compare the two, and I’d love for both to continue. For example, in-person, I’d make a joke and people would laugh, and virtually, you can’t really test the room, can’t see the energy, smiles, etc. And it’s not about me – people are coming to connect, to experience; they come for the magic and collision at events.
If you had to pick one person today, that’s leading the way in innovation, who would that be?
There are a lot of people that are doing some really exciting things. There’s a company in Vancouver, Dapper Labs, that created an NBA Topshop. The CEO Roham Gharegozlou has done a remarkable thing in creating the next generation of blockchain products. They are a digital collectible site and that project is a catalyst of the next revolution and operating system, which is blockchain. Roham understands the connection between culture and technology, and it’s so clear that he understands where the world is going. The fact that he’s in Canada and is building one of the most disruptive companies in the world is really inspiring. Elon Musk is definitely someone who is able to challenge slow-moving industries like energy, automotive, space…he’s been able to push the boundaries of those traditional industries, push the narrative – it’s remarkable.