Talent. Guest talent Giovanni Livera brings his special brand of entertaining inspiration and insight to thinkAbout.

If Giovanni Livera is in the room, you know it. Whether its his booming voice, gale-force laugh, or the crowd of people that inevitably gathers around him, Gio is a man who makes his presence known. He is practically a force of nature. He’s also a man with a message, which is why he’s such a great fit to kickoff thinkAbout.

thinkAbout had its first brush with the Gio effect in 2005. A bit of scene-setting is in order. The location: Keystone, Colorado, a picturesque mountain resort. It’s early September – a magical time in the Rockies when the aspen trees start to turn their golden hues in brisk but comfortable weather. That year thinkAbout was designed as an out-of-the-way retreat from the hustle and bustle of corporate life – secluded time to think and explore ideas featured in The Experience Economy.

The amazing Gio: Motivation & transformation with a twist of magic	Live A Thousand Years

Tom Peters, the brash ambassador for business innovation, was our guest talent and had just wowed the group with a rapid-fire diatribe against standard business practices. Peters, who has described The Experience Economy as “a brilliant, absolutely original book,” provided an equal opportunity tongue lashing about the pitfalls of unoriginal thinking.

Set on a nearby meadow awaited the manmade Field of Experiences – a veritable hamlet of encounters promising myriad
insightful interactions. Assembled here were nearly two dozen stations, each meticulously designed to teach a singular lesson about envisioning, staging, and experiencing experiences. It was the most ambitious thinkAbout undertaking to date.

Then, with little warning – and notably in complete violation of assurances from the weather-savvy locals – an ominous storm cloud raced down the mountains and unleashed a torrent of wind-whipped snow. Chaos immediately ensured! Experience stations, so carefully prepared, collapsed into wind-shorn piles. Participants fled for cover and were eventually gathered into a nearby ballroom at the conference center. It looked grim for the thinkAbout Learning Excursion.

Then arose a man from the crowd . . .a first time thinkAbouter and relative unknown to the group. A man who originally signed on to thinkAbout to learn about the Experience Economy, share his own ideas, and meet interesting people.

Behold! Giovanni Livera, Creator of Experiences (says so right on his business cards!). The CoE, with a nod from Pine & Gilmore, then proceeded to engage and entertain that group for more than 60 minutes with equal parts astonishment, humor, and insight. It was ad hoc, in the moment, and it saved the day.

And so in 2008, Gio makes a triumphant return to thinkAbout. This time as the featured talent, fully prepared to inspire and provoke. His newest message, Live A Thousand Years, is as remarkable as it is powerful. In a world where most of us measure our time by clocks and calendars, Live A Thousand Years reveals the power of measuring your time and your success by moments and experiences. It’s what Gio calls “Living the Dash” – those experiences you gather, pursue, and cherish between the moment you’re born until the moment you leave this earth. If it doesn’t stir something deeply emotional in you, check your pulse.