Atlanta — ECIA’s 2024 Executive Conference Committee is pleased to announce it has selected one of the keynote presenters for the conference scheduled for October 20-22 at the Loew’s Chicago O’Hare. Peter Leyden, former managing editor of Wired Magazine will guide attendees to better understand what’s coming next.

Leyden came to Silicon Valley at the beginning of the digital revolution to work with the founders of Wired magazine and has built an extraordinary network of technologists and entrepreneurs over time. He gets tech and innovation. Leyden ran Wired as managing editor in the heyday of the 1990s and subsequently founded and ran two of his own media startups focused on new technologies and the future. He gets what it takes to run an organization. Leyden’s presentation is entitled ‘The Inexorable Technologies and Trends to Come’.

“This year’s theme is ‘Navigating the Tides of Change,” reflecting the committee’s forward-looking vision for the conference program,” noted Conference Chair and President of Schaffner, Ken Bellero. “It seemed only natural that we would be looking for a keynote speaker with a vision for the future of technology; Peter Leyden worked closely with the pioneers of the futures business, most recently at The Long Now Foundation, and has mastered how to track megatrends and the art of strategic foresight. He now advises senior leaders of top companies on the strategic choices that lie just ahead. The committee believes he will be both thought-provoking and informative.”