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As stage sets go they probably don’t come much better than that on show at this week’s opening conference at TFWA World Exhibition.
Reflecting the ‘Brand the World, Ask for the Moon’ tagline of the exhibition and the background of keynote speaker Neil Armstrong – the first man to walk on the moon – the set was suitably themed to outer space, with deep evocative blues and a stark lunar backdrop.
Cleverly, the video screen that captured the speakers in close-up was shaped like a moon, a nice touch in Mr Armstrong’s case.
It was, of course, a privilege to see the great man in person, though his speech didn’t contain many revelations (“I don’t know what the breakthroughs are but I know they will happen”). But there were some nice wry observations – “We cannot predict when all new ideas will become workable technologies… when we may be able to turn bad wine into jet fuel, or maybe even the day when people travel by air because the food is so good”.
“A great idea is the end result of human curiosity,” he added in his genial, slightly academic way.
And we liked his conclusion – “Our largest shortcoming is the human himself – our ethics and our morals need a lot of work.”
Certainly this great man has no shortcomings in either area. Even as a silver-haired, aging old man, he remains an inspirational and – dare we say it – down to earth figure.