Conferences

12 participants come together to present their opinion and then discuss a chosen topic.

Everyone prepares a presentation that shares and argues the main idea of a participant.

Participants take turns. An express discussion takes place after each speech.

After everyone spoke, the participants gave each other feedback, sharing their thoughts and insights. 

The conference takes one full day with coffee breaks and lunch break. The day ends with dinner in a friendly atmosphere. The day ends with dinner and some friendships.

How a high level of discussion is ensured

1. Participants register for an off-line conference no later than three weeks before the date of the conference and prepare for a chosen topic: they study the terminology, collect the necessary information, think over the structure and theses for their speech.
2. All participants have to be well prepared, without exception. Participation without preparation is not allowed. The finished presentation or mindmap of your future speech has to be sent to the organizer one day before the conference.
3. Moderators always participate in the conference –   they coordinate the discussion, maintain the atmosphere of constructive interaction, as well as mutual respect and trust.

The uniqueness of the format

1. Active perception of information is provided by switching the roles of speaker/listener.
2. Participants receive and share a huge benefit due to thoughtful and in advance prepared arguments and facts Thanks to this, the already existing understanding of the chosen topic is being reconsidered and completed.
3. Each participant receives 11 alternative points of view in addition to their own, which allows them to form a complex and multi-level perception of the issue during the discussion. The joint amount of the worked out information significantly exceeds the amount of individual study.
4. Participants get the opportunity to practice their public speaking skills, train to create high-quality, bright and clear presentations, test new ideas, communicate and discuss with other participants.
5. Each conference is intensive training and improving the ability to correctly formulate ideas, build an evidence base, analyze information from various sources, draw conclusions, defend your own point of view, and offer your own views.

What else Club members get

1. Broad outlook and knowledge in various relevant contemporary topics
2. New ideas and insights
3. Ability to conduct cross-disciplinary research
4. Motivation and additional incentive for self-development, mutual learning, cognition
5. Synergy of teamwork
6. Meetings and friends outside of their professional environment

In addition to closed conferences for the whole day, the Club also hosts public conferences and online discussions.

There are also open events. To take part in them, preliminary preparation is not required. The Club’s members speak at such events, touch upon some aspects of the declared topic, stimulate the comprehension of “hot” issues, and involve the audience to exchange opinions and points of view. 

Various formats of public conferences and online discussions are possible. The program of such events is easy to find in the announcements.

Benjamin Franklin’s Club Private Conference Regulations

1. Participants come together to discuss one chosen topic.
2. The maximum number of participants in such a conference is 12 people, the minimum required number is 5 people.
3. Registration for meetings is considered open from the date of publication of the conference plan for the year on the official pages of Benjamin Franklin’s Club on the Internet. Registration closes when the number of registered participants reaches 12. Registration in any case closes no later than 21 days before the date of the event, even if there’s less than 12 of registered participants, but already more than at least 5.
4. One of the participants is a moderator. The moderator chooses an assistant among the participants (see the role and tasks of the moderator).
5. Registration of conference participants closes three weeks before the date of the conference. This is the minimum time required to prepare for the topic of the conference including preparing the presentation.
6. Preparation for the meeting is required. Each participant is both a listener and a speaker (see preparation rules).
7. Ready presentations or mind maps of the future speech are to be sent to the organizer no later than 24 hours before the conference. If this rule is not followed, the participant is not allowed to the conference (without refunding the money deposit).
8. The order of speeches is determined at the beginning of the conference by mutual agreement of the participants.
9. Performance timeline is 20 minutes. Time for questions to the speaker and discussion at the end of the speech is 10 minutes.
10. Each conference starts with answering the question “Why are we here?”. Specific goals and meanings of each participant for a given conference are determined. At the end of the conference, a check is made against the goals set at the beginning.
11. Each conference ends with a “Feedback” block. Participants give each other a feedforward response: what turned out well + which growth zones are determined.
12. During the conversation, phone calls and chatting in messengers are not allowed, the phones are to be switched to quiet mode. To answer the urgent call, you must leave the audience.
13. Video recording of conferences is being kept. Conference recording is available to all members of the Club. Outside the Club, the recording can only be distributed by the speaker himself upon his own request.
14. Photo sessions are held at the conferences. The Club has the right to use the materials of the photo session for its informational and marketing purposes.
15. Participants’ presentations are saved in the library of the Club materials and are available to all members of the Club Only the speaker can distribute his own presentation outside of the Club upon his own request.
16. Conference time takes one day 9:00 – 21:00.
17. Dates, topics and cities for holding conferences are approved by the Council of the Club and published in the conference plan for the year on the official public resources of the Club (website, facebook, instagram, telegram).

Club conference topics

1. Rational thinking
2. Experience economy
3. Dependence of the standard of living on the culture and values of society
4. Big Data
5. Control and manipulation of the masses
6. Alternative education
7. What to do with people when reaching a technological singularity
8. The future of the institution of statehood
9. Rights of artificial organisms and intelligences
10. Religions in the future. Are they needed
11. Free will
12. Global warming
13. Rights of artificial organisms and intelligences
14. Sex and sexuality in the modern world
15. How to make money to have enough for everything
16. Dependence of the standard of living on the culture and values of society (repeat for new participants)
17. Is the future possible without wars
18. The boundaries of tolerance
19. The right to the body
20. Money-free relationship
21. Elite criteria in the modern world
22. Lie. Truth. True
23. Transformation of society
24. Toxic people
25. 500-years old man
26. How media shape consciousness
27. National idea of Ukraine
28. Conscious self-identification in the context of personality
29. Accumulation and inheritance in modern realities
30. The role of personality in history
31. How to measure happiness
32. What makes us human
33. Biohacking. The consequences of intervention in the body
34. How beliefs about money affect my income
35. How to make the right decisions
36. New energy resources for the development of civilization
37. My life in a world where no one has to work
38. Paradoxes of justice. How not to be mistaken in choosing retribution?
39. How covid changed civilization
40. Private currencies. Reality and perspectives
41. Respect. What is it and how do you apply it?
42. Space exploration as an element of human development
43. How to distinguish reality from illusion?
44. Where will I and the world be in 10 years?
45. Professions of the future. How will humanity earn in ten years?
46. Why does humanity need the concept of sustainable development?
47. Conspiracy of the 21st century: a virus or an alternative for civilization
48. Euthanasia: Mercy or Murder?
49. A world without borders. Is it possible for a single society to exist?
50. The impending extinction of humanity. How? When? Why?
51. Purpose in life. Does it exist and why?
52. The future of social media
53. Exploration of the oceans as an element of human development
54. Digitalization risks. How to prevent a digital apocalypse