Chicago—This year’s NeoCon theme, “Design Ahead,” will come to life through an exceptional conference program headlined by three thought leaders: Annie Jean-Baptiste, Author, Building for Everyone; Alice Rawsthorn, author of Design as an Attitude and Co-Founder of the Design Emergency podcast; and Chris Barton, Founder and Creator of Shazam.
Programming registration opens April 1.
Annie Jean-Baptiste
Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. CDT
Annie Jean-Baptiste is a business disrupting tech executive who builds for the 21st century needs of consumers. She transforms companies into human centered, authentic brands that can tap into unlocked growth opportunities. She’s brought her forward-looking, data driven approach to game-changing products serving billions of customers globally. Her talk will demonstrate how designers of all kinds can leverage lived experiences to fuel innovation, creating more holistic experiences for everyone. Learn More.
Alice Rawsthorn
Tuesday, June 10 at 9:00 a.m. CDT
Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives, and the most exciting. Alice Rawsthorn, author of Design as an Attitude and cofounder of the Design Emergency podcast, will share her vision of design at NeoCon 2025 as an eclectic, open-ended agent of change that can help us all to live safely, fairly, and prosperously by developing ingenious solutions to the complex social, economic, and ecological challenges we face. Learn more.
Chris Barton
ednesday, June 11 at 9:30 a.m. CDT
Technology & A.I. are dramatically changing what’s possible in our world. Our challenge as we create new things is to dislodge from the comfort of what we already know. Chris created Shazam after being told by every “expert” that his outlandish idea was impossible. It was an idea far ahead of it’s time — eight years before iPhone apps even existed. In this presentation, Chris helps audiences imagine and then create new visions for the future. He inspires with jaw-dropping stories about creating Shazam and shows how innovation comes from not just an idea, but from a series of insights to overcome obstacles along the way. Learn more.