Edie Weiner Returns to POC

 

It was one week after the horrors of September 11, 2001. The country was still reeling in the aftershock of that horrible day. Airlines had just resumed some service, but travel was chaotic at best. The Pacific Oil Conference was held even with the turmoil that surrounded our nation and our industry. Edie Weiner braved the skies and airports making her commitment to speak to POC attendees.

 

For most, if not all, of us that saw her speak that day it was one of the most memorable moments in POC history. Her reflections on what just happened, on the trends and counter-trends that were at play and the unusual observations she provided on understanding the powerful forces of history and culture unfolding before our eyes were nothing short of remarkable.

 

Edie will be the POC keynote opening session speaker at that Pacific Oil Conference next year. She is hard to “peg” as a speaker. Part futurist, part social commentator, part trend analyzer; she will provide attendees with new ways to look at their situations, new ways to understand driving forces influencing your life and business, and unusual tools to apply to complicated problems. You need to mark your calendar (9/17/08), making this a can't-miss date for 2008.

 

Edie Weiner Background

 

Edie Weiner is president of Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc., a leading futurist consulting group in the United States . Formed in 1977, WEB has served over 300 clients (corporate, academic, government) in identifying opportunities in the areas of marketing, product development, strategic planning, investments, human resources, public affairs and advertising.

 

WEB was the pioneer futurist consulting firm in providing strategic scanning services. Continually tracking social, economic, political and technological trends, WEB serves client organizations by enhancing their capacity to look ahead and to respond effectively to change. Services include:

 

Clients have ranged from the U.S. Congress to many of the Fortune 500. She is acknowledged as one of the most influential practitioners of social, technological, political and economic intelligence-gathering.

 

Ms. Weiner was the youngest outside woman ever elected to the board of directors of a major financial institution when she joined the board of Union Mutual Life Insurance Company (now UNUM Provident Corporation) at the age of 29. She has been a guest lecturer at Wharton, Harvard, Brown and a number of other universities. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications, including The Harvard Business Review, The Futurist, and The Wall Street Journal . She has co-authored four books with her partner Arnold Brown: Supermanaging ( McGraw-Hill 1984), Office Biology (MasterMedia 1993), Insider's Guide to the Future (Bottom Line, 1997), and FutureThink (Prentice Hall, 2006).

 

She serves on numerous Boards and Advisory Boards, including the US Comptroller General's Advisory Board, the U.S. Council of Competitiveness, The Women's Leadership Exchange, ThinkQuest New York City (Chair) and Boardroom Inc. In the past, she has been on the Board or Advisory Board of the José Limón Dance Foundation (Chair), UNUM Corporation, First Unum Corp., CompUSA, the Fashion Group International and Avon 's Women of Enterprise Awards. Ms. Weiner is a member of the Women's Forum, the Belizean Grove, and she is the first recipient of the Fashion Group International's Entrepreneur of the Year Award (1998). In 1992 she founded and chaired the Esteem Teams, an innovative program in which dozens of inner city, at risk girls are mentored by executive women.