Michael Adams

Canadian Futurist and Market Researcher

Fee Range: $5,001 to $9,999

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About This Speaker

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Timely data delivered with whimsical humour and charm.

Books

Profile

Michael Adams is the president of the Environics group of research and communications consulting companies which he co-founded in 1970 and which today employ over 200 professionals in offices located in seven cities in Canada and the United States.

In addition to numerous articles, frequent commentary in the broadcast media and presentations at conferences, seminars and annual meetings in North America, Europe and Asia, Mr. Adams is also the author of four Canadian best sellers: Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium (published in 1997), Better Happy Than Rich? Canadians, Money and the Meaning of Life, (2000) and Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, (2003), and American Backlash: The Untold Story of Social Change in the United States, (2005). All four books have been published by Penguin.

Fire and Ice won the prestigious 2003/04 Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy and was selected in the fall of 2005 by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 100 most important books ever published in the country.

His current book project entitled Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph of Canadian Pluralism, being published in November 2007, focuses on the promise and challenge of Canadian multiculturalism.

In 2006 he founded the Environics Institute to sponsor survey research that will contribute to the discussion of important public policy issues. To date, the Institute has sponsored a survey of Canadian Muslims as well as a survey of the people of Afghanistan on issues related to the NATO mission in that country. The Institute is currently in the early stages of a research project on aboriginal life in Canada, to be undertaken in partnership with diverse First Nations communities throughout the country.

Michael Adams holds an Honours B.A. in Political Science from Queen's University (1969) and a M.A. in Sociology from the University of Toronto (1970) and was named as one of the 100 most influential people in Canadian communications according to Marketing Magazine’s Power List 2005.

Outside the field of research consulting, Mr. Adams has a variety of other interests including partnership in the Robert Craig Winery in Napa Valley, California, which has been rated by The Wine Spectator as one of the top 25 wineries in California.

Clients Comments

"Adams's findings titillate because they fly in the face of conventional wisdom." — Seattle Times

Topics

UNLIKELY UTOPIA: THE SURPRISING TRIUMPH OF CANADIAN PLURALISM

In this provocative talk, Michael Adams answers No: Canada's so-called experiment with diversity is in fact a remarkable success. Using both demographic and public opinion data, Adams shows that the vast majority of newcomers to Canada are ready to integrate into their new society, and the vast majority of 'old Canadians' are ready to welcome them. In terms of both social and economic outcomes there is plenty of cause for optimism.

FIRE AND ICE: THE U.S., CANADA AND THE MYTH OF CONVERGING VALUES

Mr. Adams demonstrates the counter-intuitive thesis that the values of Americans and Canadians are diverging in significant ways, and that these divergences have implications for public policy, consumer marketing and human resources.

SEX IN THE SNOW: The Changing Social Values of Canadians - From Deference to Autonomy

In this presentation, Mr. Adams describes Canada's thirteen social values tribes and shows how Canadians in this first decade of the new century are developing new personal strategies to cope with complexity, change and stress.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME: AN OVERVIEW OF THIRTY YEARS OF CANADIAN PUBLIC OPINION

This presentation offers a long-range look at evolving Canadian public opinion, and offers insights into how existing trends are likely to play out in the future.

MONEY AND THE QUEST FOR TRUSTED INTERMEDIARIES

Drawing upon his 2000 bestseller Better Happy than Rich? Canadians, Money and the Meaning of Life, Michael Adams presents ten empirically-based insights on Canadians' orientation to money: making it, spending it, saving/investing it, and giving it away.

PHILANTHROPY: THE NEW MOTIVATORS FOR CHARITABLE GIVING

This presentation shows the evolution of Canadians' attitudes toward money with an extended analysis of their orientation to philanthropy and the idea of legacy.

THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP

This presentation outlines the revolution in social values that has altered individuals' relationships with each other and with the institutions in their societies over the 20th century, most notably the decline in deference to institutional authority.

THE GREEN ECONOMY: ARE CANADIANS READY TO FACE THOSE INCONVENIENT TRUTHS?

In this presentation, Michael Adams examines Canadian public opinion on such environmental issues as climate change, pollution, and the ecological responsibilities of governments, corporations, and private citizens.

LIFTING THE VEIL: MUSLIMS IN CANADA

Presenting the results of the first-ever survey of Muslim Canadians, as well as a major survey of the Canadian public on their attitudes toward the Muslim minority in this country, Michael Adams reveals a picture of Muslim integration in Canada that is both unique and optimistic.

AMERICAN BACKLASH: THE UNTOLD STORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE UNITED STATES

Based on Michael Adams' newest book of the same name, this presentation examines evolving American values in depth, paying special attention to the relationship between social and political change.