Great Client Feedback

Some Positive Thoughts from our Clients and others that have used our skills appear below.  You are probably also an organisation that is looking for some expertise to help answer some key questions for your future and want to feel comfortable knowing you’ll get the results you want.  Read for yourself what others have said and then contact us with any questions you may have: Email or 613 96 444 588

An excellent facilitator, an inspiring speaker and a knowledgeable mentor!  It has been a pleasure to work with Marcus Barber on the City of Greater Dandenong Ignite 2021 Program. His experience with start-ups, and excellent mentoring and coaching, have allowed our participants to start their businesses, with more confidence, networks and knowledge

Greater Dandenong
Economic Development Team
2021

‘We appreciate the time and effort you spent in preparing for your role as MC and providing a futurist’s view on the conference content. Delegates have commented to me on the smooth running of the event, and we found that your engagement and insights stimulated a great deal of discussion during the Conference.’

Tony Wright
CEO
Victorian Water Association
June 2017

Brilliant – thanks for your presentation last night Marcus, a Platinum highlight for 2013!’!

Andrew Gardner
Managing Director
Investor’s Edge

 

Justin Mansfield @joininthechorus

.@rightfuture thx 4 fascinating, energetic presentation @ #v21 today. Enjoyed it immensely, despite (or because of?) being dragged on stage!

Wordsbyjessica @wordsbymissjess

Marcus Barber from @rightfuture was THAT good … #V21 Note. Change the world … Stop being a douche!

agency marou @AgencyMarou

RT @twenty4_digital: Great presentation by Marcus Barber. We’re busy not productive. #v21 @rightfuture pic.twitter.com/abQvI72Jcj

Rowan Barnes @RowanBarnes

@rightfuture Really enjoyed your preso at #v21. Both entertaining and thought-provoking; I feel inspired to do better things!

Murray Galbraith @MurrayDG

@rightfuture Just wow.

Brad Paton @Brad_Paton

Incredibly thought provoking presentation by Marcus Barber @rightfuture at #V21

Kylie Eddy @KylieEddy

@rightfuture let’s stamp out ‘hairy eyeballs’ syndrome. Inspirational presentation! #v21

Laney Galligan @laneygalligan

@rightfuture thanks for getting the brain ticking. Am working on sorting out a few of the issues you raised today #flexiblework

 

Marcus the Victorian Industry Water Association (VicWater) would like to express its most sincere gratitude on behalf of the Sustainability Task Group…Your presentation provided high quality and pertinent information to the delegates on how to do more with less, balance priorities and engage customers and stakeholders in the sustainability debate…’

Tony Wright
Chief Executive Officer

 

Dear Marcus,

Thank you for the outstanding presentation you gave at our recent conference at the Grand Chancellor in Hobart.

Your captivating talk was inspiring and insightful, there was so much useful information that was of benefit to all those who attended on the day.

You were a big hit with all of our delegates, your energy and enthusiasm was infectious, thank you for such a memorable and enjoyable presentation.

Regards,

Leon Staropoli
National New Business
Development Manager
Australian Scholarships Group – Supporting Children’s Education

 

Good morning Marcus,

A belated thank-you for your contribution last week at the Victorian Regional Produce Summit held in Wangaratta. Your energy and enthusiasm were
definite factors in making the day the huge success that it was. Feedback has been extremely positive and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to think
outside the square for a few hours. Thank you also for your time the following day meeting with Council senior officers to bounce ideas around.
Your customer service in the lead up and during the event was exceptional and greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Kate Green
Manager – Tourism Development
Rural City of Wangaratta

 

On behalf of the Progress Association and the Industrial Park Committee we would like to thank you for doing such as wonderful job as MC and giving such a thought provoking presentation making us think about ideas that will shape the years to come.  You were able to cleverly pull together several threads that were explored in different presentations.

Judging from the positive feedback we have received from the Community, your contribution played a major factor in the success of the day. We have had many comments about the friendly yet professional way you handled the day, and we are sure that the other speakers and audience all appreciated your skill of keeping the program to time. Your expertise was very much appreciated and we would also like to thank you for your other contributions in the lead up to the Forum and post Forum assistance.”

Max Day
President Lockhart & District Progress Association.

 

It was a pleasure to meet you this morning.  As a last-minute replacement to this morning’s breakfast I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I found your presentation to be very informative, inspiring and it was quite eye opening.  You’re clearly very passionate about driving change and sustainability and definitely got me thinking.  I’d love to keep in touch and would be happy to recommend you to clients and other colleagues.

Alice Morden
Principal Consultant
Boston Kennedy

 

Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC)

“A presentation that was both relevant to our sector and stretched us to think outside it.  The delivery style was excellent and engaging combining facts and complex ideas with humour and audience involvement resulting in a session that matched or exceeded expectations of all involved”

Felicity McGrath
Communications Manager

Southport Engineering Pty Ltd

Marcus I just wish to thank you for providing such an interesting, informative & entertaining session AND for all the information I wasn’t able to write down.  I’ve never taken so many notes at a breakfast meeting in my life, nor will I ever take so few again.  I can already see many opportunities to apply your teachings with one of them being a presentation on Monday.

Thanks heaps… Best Regards
David Hilder
Engineering Manager
Dandenong South, VIC

Gold Coast Water

‘…Marcus’s facilitation skills were probably some of the best I’ve seen to date.  A combination of broad multi-disciplinary knowledge and high calibre interpersonal skills were evident in his ability to facilitate and contribute to the industry related discussion without imposing on the clientele…”

Ben Sheppard
Strategic Management Coordinator

 

Fosters Australia Foresight Group

‘The Accelerated Scenarios process was enthusiastically embraced by the team here at Foster’s.  This approach to futures thinking led to a re-perceiving of where we saw the market heading and the future opportunities and threats…”

Steve Tighe

Foresight Manager

Fosters Australia Foresight Group

“Through his teachings Marcus has left a legacy at Foster’s.  Over the past year we have learnt that looking for insights in the ‘safe areas’ provides less value than looking for ‘signals’ in the ‘right’ areas.  This changed perspective has been largely due to the influence of Marcus”

Steve Tighe
Foresight Manager

Gold Coast Water
“Marcus mentored myself and the GCW team in the process of Environmental Scanning.  Marcus kept in touch with the group, coaching us through the practical application…that increased our practical understanding of the process, as well as improving the quality of the outputs.”

Ben Sheppard
Strategic Management Coordinator

Frontier Media & Marketing
“…the team loved it, they are still talking about it”

Neil Hoar
Director

Selbys
We created a branding message that is concise, clear and effective – years on we still get constant feedback that the branding message was a key reason people contacted us”

Marc Selby
Director

UNESCO sponsored ‘ Committing Universities to Sustainable Development’ conference
“… of every presentation I saw here at the conference, yours was the most effective and engaging…”
A-M Fortmann of OIKOS

Fosters Australia Functional Beverages
“Marcus led a fun and informative workshop that focused on gettng the team to take a step back and ask ‘What are we really trying to achieve here?’  He then facilitated a process that enabled us to articulate our thoughts into a format that we could then engage the entire business with.  Fantastic!”

Andrew Fairlam
Fosters Australia Innovation Team

South East Business Networks

“In the multi-company sessions that Marcus facilitated for us, he displayed the uncanny ability to challenge the very essence of the participants’ thinking process and the potential (and often untapped) opportunities within their business, allowing them to leave with not only theory, but the ability to implement!”            

Sandra George
CEO
South East Networks

These are among the many clients and training sessions available – ask away…

Our Experience Means You Benefit

Acquiring this level of skill can only come through well developed ‘travels’ across industry sectors, positions, functions and outcomes.  It requires a willingness to walk the ‘paths less travelled’ and to show how the richness of the journey can be of benefit to those who have enjoyed the alternative.

With direct exposure to the Financial Services, Policing, Education, Advertising, Manufacturing, and Recruitment sectors, we are able to draw upon functional understanding across businesses of all types and purposes.

This means you get access to our ability to identify the very best of ‘cross industry’ opportunities – customer retention strategies; employee engagement methods; sales processes; strategic development initiatives; marketing excellence; innovation creation and many, many more.

The really important thing to note is that we do not bring a ‘cookie cutter’ with us.  Whilst your business may share similarities with others in the same sector or different sectors, it is unique.  Applying ‘model x’ regardless of what you really need is not our style.  EVERYTHING will be tailored specifically to what you need and for the purpose you need it.

Key Personnel

All of our personnel and facilitators bring with them extensive trainng and real life operational experience.  Specifically it is probable that our personnel will have qualifications in at least one of the following disciplines:

  • Post Graduate Qualifications in Strategic Foresight
  • Certification in Spiral Dynamics from the National Values Centre in the United States
  • Certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

When you add these exquisite and precise thinking skills to extensive experience across a wide variety of business sectors, you have available to you an exceptional business asset that will transfer skills into your business.

 

Queensland Rail Strategic Foresight & Planning Session

Preparing for your future corporate strategy

Jul 15, 2010

A series of recent activities has me writing on the idea of ‘future strategy’ and how different organisations are approaching their future development. What is interesting is the strong sense that preparing for your potential future requires multiple paths forward, not a single ‘home run’. To that end I’ve recently considered sporting bodies and local…

Read More >

The Crisis of Capital

Jul 4, 2010

Stephen Downes is one the handful of bloggers I follow consistently. I do so because Downes (unlike many others unfortunately) like to write about his thinking AS WELL AS promoting the thinking of others, whether or not he agrees with them. In that way you get a solid collection of alternative views within his field…

Read More >

Catching Up on some ‘Light Reading’

Jun 27, 2010

Coming off what has been undoubtedly my busiest period (3 months) in the past decade, I’m in the throws of catching up on some light reading. I usually have at least two books on the go and my preference is for the books to be about diverse topics because it allows the mind to seek…

Read More >

Nanotechnology Moves from idea to Application

Jun 15, 2010

Every now and again you have an opportunity to listen to some rare insights to an industry sector. These opportunities are typically rare because the insights need to come from someone who not only ‘knows their stuff’, they need to be able to translate their knowledge in a way that the average person in the…

Read More >

Another side to the Super tax on Mining

Jun 7, 2010

The ‘Supertax’ debate is an interesting one and as expected, both parties are heavily invested in their own outcomes. One thing the Mining Companies understand is that the tax will lower the size of their profits in boom times for the resources sector – they’ll still be raking in billions, its just that some of…

Read More >

Design Thinking as a Competitive Advantage

May 3, 2010

As more organisations look to gain an understanding of how to both identify and prepare for their potential and desired futures, Design Thinking is on the current radar screen as a skill set likely to provide significant value. On the 25th to 27th of may you can attend a highly interactive and practical conference on…

Read More >

Surviving the Hoons

Apr 13, 2010

One of the current affairs TV programs did a story recently on the efforts by NSW police to crack down on ‘hoon’ drivers through a specific squad targeting them. The Victorian Police recently announced a similar project with the squad headed up by one of Victoria Police’s most effective senior officers, Inspector Bernie Rankin. Unusually…

Read More >

Hamilton Hoons and Five more die

Mar 28, 2010

Lewis Hamilton, the former automotive Formula One ‘number one’ had his car impounded on Friday night for alleged ‘hoon’ driving, having been spotted by police spinning his wheels at a busy intersection in St Kilda. Whilst many character witnesses have already jumped to his defence, with one interesting observation from Mark Webber suggesting we have…

Read More >

The Future of Australia’s Dairy Industry

Mar 9, 2010

Following on from the highly rated ‘Skimming the Cream’ forum in Brisbane on the 9th of February, members of the Young Dairy Network and SubTropical Dairy groups reconvened to consider the impacts of Climate Change on the dairy sector in Australia using the high-impact ‘Accelerated Scenarios process’. The ‘2030 Dairy Scenarios’ brought together the members…

Read More >

Thinking outside the cloud – a new tourism angle for Queensland

Feb 17, 2010

Queensland is one state that leverages its weather to the hilt – and the fact is the ‘Sunshine State’ earns its reputation. The odd thing is that in the past week I’ve spent in the Gold Coast experiencing the warm, humid and often wet weather it has occured to me that Queensland might be missing…

Read More >