Cross Cultural Management Summit Set for March 22-24 in Orlando

Adam Lowenstein November 30, 2017

Buzz Aldrin to be Honored;
Registration Now Open

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Registration is now open for the 2018 Cross Cultural Management Summit in Orlando, Florida, a gathering of experts from academia, government, military and the corporate world to discuss cultural challenges facing global organizations and learn how to handle them.

Convened by Florida Institute of Technology’s Institute for Cross Cultural Management in partnership with the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute, the summit will run March 22-24 at Caribe Royale All-Suite Hotel and Convention Center.

The 2018 summit will unfold along three topic tracks:

Culture And Innovation: The Balance between Technology and Humanity
Culture And Problem Solving: The Balance between Risk and Reward
Culture And Well-Being: The Balance between Work and Life

The summit, with the theme “Going Beyond Global,” will feature presentations by thought leaders, interactive discussions, and one-on-one networking opportunities that combine to create a productive and fun learning environment.

The first day will include comments by famed moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, who will appear ahead of the opening dinner and welcome reception. He is expected to speak about space, Mars, and the cultural challenges associated with colonizing the Red Planet.

Aldrin will also be presented with the Institute for Cross Cultural Management’s Trailblazer award. Given to professionals who have changed the paradigm of cross cultural management, the award recognizes Aldrin’s ground-breaking inclusion of cultural competenence as one of the mission-critical areas of Mars colonization.

The following day, Florida Tech President Dwayne McCay will offer opening remarks. Other highlights on Friday include a presentation from Carolyn Fennel, senior director, public affairs and community relations for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, and a keynote address from KPMG’s Fons Trompenaars.

Saturday will offer a series of capstone exercises utilizing the Buzz Aldrin Space Institute. Representatives from BASI will present a set of cultural challenges they face when completing their mission of establishing and sustaining a permanent human presence on Mars. Through expert-facilitated discussion, participants will work with their tablemates to brainstorm, discuss challenges, identify questions to be answered, and develop a set of recommendations. These solutions will be presented to BASI, which will help inform their research agenda to support a permanent colony on Mars.

Closing remarks Saturday will be from astronomer Jill Tarter, co-founder of the SETI Institute, who will discuss how international cooperation will be necessary for the survival of our species.

Though learning and sharing cross-cultural management experiences benefit most people, the summit may be of particular interest for the following groups: