A faint buzzing could be heard two minutes into the Tapscott-Lopes Business and Society Lecture delivered by Mr. Don Tapscott himself on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 in the Wenjack Theatre at Trent University. The Internet guru and best-selling author of Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business & the World patted his pockets for a moment before pulling out a mobile device.

“I have mail,” Mr. Tapscott admitted sheepishly, while glancing at the screen. “Actually,” he said while turning it off, “I have a tweet.” And with that, a wonderfully entertaining and informative lecture on the impact of the internet began.

Mr. Tapscott, a Trent alumnus from the late ‘60s, is touring in support of his latest book, Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business & the World. His speaking tour brought him back to his old stomping grounds and to the source of some fond memories.

“I had a reputation as a bit of a !@#$ disturber,” he said to an appreciative audience. “I heard that it’s a tradition that lives on here at Trent.”

Mr. Tapscott’s lecture showed evidence of that student rebelliousness. There was mischief in both his tone and his eye as he reported on the downfall of traditional social and economic systems. He dipped into popular culture repeatedly to make his points, quoting voices of his own generation, such as Bob Dylan and slipping into the “netspeak” of today’s youth.

He was continually captivating in mapping the landscape of new media, the evolution of education, and the frontier of information-age economics.

And he sees this new age as one brimming with potential.

“The future is not to be predicted,” he advised. “It is to be achieved.”

Trent president and vice-chancellor Dr. Steven E. Franklin opened the evening. “How fortunate we are to have a remarkable thinker and best-selling author at this lecture; particularly when he is one of our own,” he said.

Mr. Tapscott was more than happy to fly the Trent colours, commenting several times during the lecture on how life at Trent helped shape his career and philosophy. “Macrowikinomics is about civilization entering a new age. It is a ‘big picture’ book. I wouldn’t be equipped to write it if not for what I gained at Trent. I became a big thinker at Trent, you see. I was given the tools to analyze,” he said while addressing the media before the event.

“Research should not be constrained by old paradigms and old models,” Mr. Tapscott noted. “A liberal arts and science education is the best way to equip ourselves to a changing world. It worked for me.”

Mr. Tapscott’s lecture moved effortlessly from politics to economics to culture. The main theme was one of opportunity for societal growth through the collaborative efforts of Internet-age minds and actions. He also expressed caution for the bumpy ride we will continue to experience as old models of politics and economics collapse.

He poignantly wrapped up his lecture with a multi-media spoken-word piece that showed the murmuration of thousands of starlings moving in waves of precise unison, fending off predators, using their complex, orchestrated flight patterns to both stay warm and communicate.

“Wow,” he remarked over the strains of Pachabel’s Canon in D major. “This is a time of great peril and danger, but it is a time of great opportunity. And the murmuration gives me hope that through collaborations, perhaps this smaller world that our children inherit could be a better one.”

To see the Macrowikinomics Murmuration on Youtube, follow the link:

Macrowikinomic Murmurations, by Don Tapscott.

Don Tapscott and Ana Lopes established the Tapscott-Lopes Lecture to bring prominent speakers to the Trent and Peterborough community who will address issues of values and ethics as they pertain to business and society.

For more information on Tapscott and his work, please visit his website: dontapscott.com or twitter: @dtapscott.

Posted on Friday, February 11, 2011.