1. Life @ the Center of the Universe Tom Peters/NACE/Anaheim/0531.06

2. The Monumental Opportunity @ the Center of the Universe Tom Peters/NACE/Anaheim/0531.06

3. Agriculture Age (farmers) Industrial Age (factory workers) Information Age (knowledge workers) Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers) Source: Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind

4. “ Human creativity is the ultimate economic resource.” —Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class

5. From “1, 2 or you’re out” [JW] to … “Best Talent in each industry segment to build best proprietary intangibles” [EM] Source: Ed Michaels, War for Talent

6. “Income Confers No Immunity as Jobs Migrate” —Headline/USA Today/02.2004

7. “THE FUTURE BELONGS TO … SMALL POPULATIONS … WHO BUILD EMPIRES OF THE MIND … AND WHO IGNORE THE TEMPTATION OF—OR DO NOT HAVE THE OPTION OF—EXPLOITING NATURAL RESOURCES.” Source: Juan Enriquez/As the Future Catches You

8. “The Creative Age is a wide- open game.” —Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class

9. Our Mission To develop and manage talent; to apply that talent, throughout the world, for the benefit of clients; to do so in partnership; to do so with profit. WPP

10. Omnicom's acquisitions: “not for size per se”; “buying talent;” “deepen a relationship with a client.” (Advertising Age/07.05) “Omnicom very simply is about talent. It’s about the acquisition of talent, providing the atmosphere so talent is attracted to it.” (John Wren)

11. “The role of the Director is to create a space where the actor or actress can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.” —Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance

12. DD$21M

13. A review of Jack and Suzy Welch’s Winning claims there are but two key differentiators that set GE “culture” apart from the herd: First: Separating financial forecasting and performance measurement. Performance measurement based, as it usually is, on budgeting leads to an epidemic of gaming the system. GE’s performance measurement is divorced from budgeting—and instead reflects how you do relative to your past performance and relative to competitors’ performance; ie it’s about how you actually do in the context of what happened in the real world, not as compared to a gamed-abstract plan developed last year. Second: Putting HR on a par with finance and marketing.

14. “Leaders ‘do’ people. Period.” —Anon.

15. “The leaders of Great Groups love talent and know where to find it. They revel in the talent of others.” —Warren Bennis & Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius

16. “This is the true joy of Life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one … the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” —GB Shaw/ Man and Superman

17. Chicago: HRMAC

18. “support function” / “cost center”/ “overhead” or …

19. Are you … “ Rock Stars of the Age of Talent”

20. Are you the … “Principal Engine of Value Added” *Eg: Your R&D budget as robust as the New Products team?