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FoST Explorers Club
Seth Farbman — The Signal and the Story
Seth Farbman — The Signal and the Story
As CMO of Spotify, Seth Farbman believes in “telling stories by listening.” Rather than manufacturing elaborate ad campaigns, Spotify leverages its wealth of data to discover the stories that will resonate with its audience, and shares those stories in a way that feels perfectly tailored to every user.

With more than 30 million users, Spotify is able to identify trends as they happen: whether that’s an uptick in “Moving to Canada” playlists after each presidential debate, or a flurry of excitement around Pope Francis’s surprise release of a rock album. Farbman’s team is responsible for sorting through these trends to identify the most meaningful insights and then finding creative ways to share them with a larger audience. More than ever, successful marketing is a combination of art and hard data science.
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FoST Explorers Club 2023
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Meow Wolf: Immersive Experiences as a Tool for Transformation
Meow Wolf cofounder and director Vince Kadlubek and senior creative producer Marsi Gray discuss the company's new Omega Mart experience in Las Vegas and how immersive storytelling holds the potential to transform individuals and society.
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2020 FoST Summit Trailer
In the spirit of participation and inspiration, the FoST Summit aims to break the fourth wall and make attendees a vital part of the event.
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Adobe: The Creative Class
In 2012, Adobe approached FoST with the desire to change the perception of its company, both internally and externally. They wanted to supplement their stature as a software developer for creative professionals by delivering an inspiring message that would resonate with a general audience and bolster a sense of pride within the company.
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Chet Faliszek— Redefining Gaming: Plot-Building in Real-Time
Chet Faliszek, who has written some of the most loved video games of all time, is creating a new kind of game—one that uses AI to create deep characters and a world that allows players complete agency.
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Jill Cress — Co-Creating with your Audience
Cress discusses why Nat Geo’s approach is to engage people around shared passions, and to spotlight the individuals who have something to teach us. The goal, always, is to create opportunities for audiences to join the discussion.
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John Hanke — Teaming Up: Hacking Social Nature for Gaming
John Hanke, CEO of Niantic Inc. and creator of Pokémon GO, is coming up with new forms of entertainment that are helping us return to our natural, social states.
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Alexis McGill Johnson — Examining the Hidden Self: How Implicit Bias Manifests
Alexis McGill Johnson, Executive Director and cofounder of the Perception Institute, believes that in order to overcome implicit bias we need to look at the science of bias.
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Mark Sagar — Growing Up Android: Optimizing Artificial Intelligence for the Next Generation
Mark Sagar, CEO of Soul Machines, wants you to imagine a future with emotionally intelligent, digital humans.
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Grace Boyle — Tasting Sounds. Hearing Flavors: Multisensory Storytelling
Grace Boyle, founder and Director of The Feelies, believes that opening up greater realms of our perception for storytelling–painting with more of that sensory palette–can allow audiences to form intuition and connect with the experiences of others and the world around them.
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