{"id":7441,"date":"2012-06-26T13:24:50","date_gmt":"2012-06-26T06:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/?p=7441"},"modified":"2012-06-26T13:33:03","modified_gmt":"2012-06-26T06:33:03","slug":"traveling-to-go-further-with-ford-trend-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/traveling-to-go-further-with-ford-trend-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling to Go Further With Ford Trend Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

by<\/span> Lori Cunningham\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m excited to attend Ford’s annual Trend Conference at their headquarters in Detroit, MI this week. \u00a0This visit is my second, the first conference I attended was last year, surmised in this post, \u00a0Forward with Ford: \u00a03 Days in Detroit<\/a>. \u00a0Ford brought in experts from various fields to speak about the research behind the decisions Ford made in their vehicles. \u00a0I found the safety sessions particularly interesting and wrote about them:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Safety for All Ages<\/a><\/p>\n

5 Tips When Talking to Your Teens About Car Safety<\/a><\/p>\n

Protecting Children and the Elderly in a Car Crash<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This year, the conference will focus around four major trends (as per the Go Further With Ford invitation):<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Eco-psychology<\/span><\/h2>\n

People are becoming increasingly conscious of the impact of their everyday consumption on the environment. Owning or using fewer goods\/resources or divvying up consumption with others is seen as helping the planet.\u00a0 In this session,\u00a0Eco-cycology<\/em>\u00a0will explore the psychology (and solutions<\/em>) behind the next ‘green’ movement and how consumer preferences and choices will shape what it really means to be eco-friendly.<\/p>\n

\n

2. \u00a0Urbanization<\/span><\/h2>\n

We are part of the fastest urban boom in history. \u00a0Consumers are being drawn to new opportunities in urban centers and are demanding innovation tailored to their unique circumstances more than ever.\u00a0 With this urban boom, there\u2019s never been a more pressing need to rethink the rise of urban centers and communities.\u00a0 From health issues and quality of living, to the need for transportation, discuss and experience how the rapid growth of mega cities is driving the future of mobility, technology and consumer consumption.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

3. \u00a0Streamline & Simplify<\/span><\/h2>\n

Technology – If there\u2019s one category in which consumers are willing to commit, it\u2019s tech. Worldwide, high-tech devices and services are fast becoming as integral to people as food and clothing. The latest technology is much more than just a luxury, from the advancements in voice recognition, DIY health solutions and affordable touchscreens.\u00a0 But when does all of this tech, become too much?\u00a0 This session will explore the rapid growth and expectations of consumer technologies, as developers and brands battle information overload and consumer sentiment to actually ‘de-tech’ their lifestyles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

4. \u00a0Age of Accessible Design<\/span><\/h2>\n

Consumers today are what some could call “design aficionados”.\u00a0 From Fashion and electronics, to housewares and automobiles, consumers have come to expect products that not only deliver the functionality and quality but also the style, personalization and in most cases, a designer label without the “designer” price tag.\u00a0 The consumer’s eye for design and aesthetics has transformed product expectations and in this session you will hear from designers, product developers and architects to discuss the age of democratization of design, exploring the new trends and philosophies that will shape consumer goods in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ford has brought in over 14 speakers from various professions and field to discuss these trends at the conference. \u00a0Bill Ford will also be one of the keynotes. \u00a0I heard him speak in Orlando earlier this year during the Car of Tomorrow<\/a> event I attended. \u00a0Bill Ford has vision and an entrepreneurial spirit. \u00a0During the conference, I will focus on the Urbanization and Streamline & Simplify sessions and report back to you what I learn. \u00a0Follow me @wellconnectdmom on twitter to get the latest updates from Ford.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Ford paid my expenses for the flights and lodging. \u00a0All opinions are my own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The WellConnectedMom.com traveled to Detrioit, MI to attend the Go Forward with Ford Trend Conference and report on the top trends Ford is building into their cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[747,6,14,20],"tags":[751,748,1183,1182],"class_list":["post-7441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cars-2","category-dads","category-moms","category-technology","tag-detroit","tag-ford","tag-ford-conference","tag-go-further-with-ford","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/p-content\/themes\/atahualpa342\/images\/articles\/2011\/11\/SANY0235-400.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wellconnectedmom.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}