Lecture audio.

Please join us for the third installment of the What’s Next Lecture Series: The Revolution of Work on June 24, 2010 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center at 7 pm.

The nature of work is fundamentally changing. Technology, demographics, an increased emphasis on environmental sustainability, and a renewed quest for good, old-fashion sanity are driving this once-in-a-century shift in how, where, and why we work.  Join our all-star panelists as we discuss how this shift will (or maybe won’t?) make us more productive, happy, and profitable. Panelists include best-selling author Rom Brafman; Joyce Shimizu, VP of Innovation at Plantronics, and Beau Trincia; Senior Environments Designer at IDEO. Sandy Skees, CEO of Communications4Good will moderate.

What’s Next Lectures is a collaboration between UC Santa Cruz, NextSpace Coworking + Innovation, and the City of Santa Cruz. Upcoming topics in the year-long series will include Breakthroughs in Research & Development (October 4), and Gaming & Social Media (December).

The previous What’s Next Lectures have sold out early, so buy your ticket today.

Rom Brafman is an author and psychologist. He teamed up with his brother Ori (a noted business consultant) to write the New York Times bestseller “Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior.” Their newest book, which hits the shelves on June 8th, is called “Click: The Magic of Instant Connections.” The books explores why we click (or don’t) with other people in the workplace and in our personal lives. The Brafmans also talk about seven key “click accelerators”: vulnerability, proximity, flow, similarity, environment, engagement, and (of course) a little magic. In addition to his writing, Rom runs a private psychology practice in Palo Alto, CA.

Joyce Shimizu serves as Vice President of Innovation at Plantronics, where she is responsible for exploring new areas of growth and product innovation across the company’s enterprise and consumer business units. Ms. Shimizu joined Plantronics in 1983, and has held several key positions in product management, marketing, business development, sales, and general management.  She led the Mobile Communications Division from 1998 to 2002 before taking on worldwide portfolio and product management responsibility for consumer and business solutions from 2002 to 2005.  From 2005 to 2009, Shimizu was the Vice President and General Manager of the Home and Home Office business unit. Shimizu received a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from The Monterey Institute of International Studies and a Bachelor’s Degree in Japanese from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Beau Trincia is a senior environments designer at IDEO, a design and innovation consultancy, where he applies his expertise as an architect to the design of great experiences in workspace, retail, hospitality and education. He has worked with clients that include The American Red Cross, Bank of America, The New School, HP, and The Stanford d.School. Before joining IDEO, Beau practiced architecture in San Francisco, Baltimore, Rotterdam, and Vienna. His work includes projects exhibited in the Vitra Museum and published in Transmaterial, Network Formations, and Metropolis magazine. Beau received a Master of Architecture degree at the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture with Honors from North Carolina State University. He taught several design studios at Berkeley while researching architecture’s intersection with video production, digital fabrication and network culture. In his spare time, Beau can be found laser-cutting everything he can get his hands on, playing the synthesizer, and immersing himself in the chaos of city life.

Sandy Skees, president and founder of Communications4Good, provides businesses, early stage companies and organizations withsustainability analysis, communications counseling and program implementation. At Communications4Good, a public relations/communications agency, Sandy is creating a language of goodness that gives business a way to focus, talk about, share, motivate and implement change in the world — change that values people, respects planetary resources and fosters prosperity.  Her trademarked methodology assesses organizational assets, legacy, vision, human capital, business goals and market conditions to unlock the goodness inside of business through the power of language, stories, and communication.   Clients include a cleantech venture capital firm, and companies in solar, LED lighting, green media, energy management, social innovation, climate change consulting and environmental economics strategy, green consumer research and sustainable design software industries.Sandy Skees, president and founder of Communications4Good, provides businesses, early stage companies and organizations withsustainability analysis, communications counseling and program implementation. At Communications4Good, a public relations/communications agency, Sandy is creating a language of goodness that gives business a way to focus, talk about, share, motivate and implement change in the world — change that values people, respects planetary resources and fosters prosperity.  Her trademarked methodology assesses organizational assets, legacy, vision, human capital, business goals and market conditions to unlock the goodness inside of business through the power of language, stories, and communication.   Clients include a cleantech venture capital firm, and companies in solar, LED lighting, green media, energy management, social innovation, climate change consulting and environmental economics strategy, green consumer research and sustainable design software industries.