Welcome to The Next 20 Years project.
Since 1997, the project has always been about engaging and more importantly connecting, industry leaders, visionaries, press, policy makers, VCs, analysts, local entrepreneur’s and start-ups in a long-range exploration of what lies ahead. Connecting interesting with the interested, has always been ground zero for us.
The Next 20 Years project, affectionately known as TNTY, was originally born from a series of SF industry salons called LastSaturdays held the last Saturday of every month in a private SF home or lounge. These smaller gatherings through generous support of executives at Ziff Davis publishing (most notably Terri Holbrooke and Dan Farber) morphed into a larger ongoing lecture and showcase series which eventually traveled to 7 US cities and London. TNTY was, at its heart an industry insider’s preview of the future, covering technology, science and medicine. Between 1997 and 2001 the live events featured more than 500 sponsoring companies, famed futurists Paul Saffo and Michio Kaku among others, top line VC’s and journalists from around the world- all speaking on what they saw coming in the next 20 years. Some of the transcripts of those shows will be posted on this site soon.
The TNTY live lecture series took a sabbatical in 2002 while our executive producer Bob Ayres contributed on the prestigious Board of Advisors for the TED Conference and became in 2006-2008 the inaugural 
Executive Director of THE TED PRIZE. TED Prize winners include, among others Bono and Bill Clinton.
By late 2008, Bob returned to his Bay area roots to begin work on an important personal project, his former Haight-Ashbury comedy club The Other Café’s 30th reunion show. That reunion show, a benefit for KQED Public Media took place on Sat Sept 25th 2010 in SF and was hailed by one critic as possibly “the most amazing comedy show in Bay Area history“. Among the 30 comedians performing that night included Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Bob Goldthwaite, Paula Poundstone, Kevin Pollak, Will Durst, Bobby Slayton, plus many others.
Between 2008 and 2011, The Next 20 Years project went back to its roots and began to sponsor a series of small salon’s – cocktail parties really, with invitations out to former speakers, fellow TEDsters, scientists, technology leaders and young start-ups. These vibrant receptions held in private residences and small lounges were for folks in converging industries and organizations and began to be known as TwoDegrees, a wildly eclectic mix of industry insiders, entrepreneurs and their beloved friends. Curating beloved colleagues of beloved colleagues turned out to create a remarkable core community.
Coupling the years working in and around the TED conference then a return to deeply comedic minds thru The Other Cafe comedy reunion, together with the vibrant new SF Bay Area community gleaned from a few years of TwoDegrees salons The Next 20 years project is now set to launch a most unusual live show in 2013.
TNTY is about to morph again into something very different in 2013. Watch for the announcement.
Our series of TwoDegrees receptions will inform and populate that 2013 show. We encourage you to request an invitation to TwoDegrees here.
Suffice it to say the 2013 show will include a few amazing visionary thinkers, plus a small array of comedian outliers, commenting on the craziness that is, today’s world. The event will bring together a deep invite only guest list, chosen by a remarkable and diverse set of TNTY curators and beloved colleagues.
