October 21, 2015
It’s Back to the Future Day!
And why is that? It’s because the time-travelling characters in the classic 1985 movie chose as their future destination date… today! October 21, 2015.
Lots of media outlets are looking back at the movie to see how many of its depictions of the future world of 2015 ring true. You can check out some of them here and here and here.
This all reminded me that in the very recent past, I used a “Back to the Future” reference in a speech I was hired to write.
Back in July, I wrote a speech for the president of a company that’s celebrating its 30th year in business this year. That’s quite a milestone. Many businesses don’t make it past the first year.
I had a lot of fun writing the speech, and in drafting the intro I decided to take the “looking back” approach. I did a little research to see what the world looked like 30 years ago, in 1985, and what other notable events had happened that summer.
In 1985, Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. That summer, the world came together at a concert called Live Aid. It raised millions of dollars for famine relief in Africa. “We Are The World” … remember that?
What else was happening 30 years ago?
In 1985, Microsoft released Windows Version 1.0 – the very first version of Windows.
In 1985, the compact disc was introduced to America. The CD. It held music. Some of you young people are saying, “the compact what?” “You mean you didn’t listen to music on your phone?”
In 1985, the movie “Back to the Future” was a big hit in theatres everywhere.
And right here, in 1985, the ribbon was cut, and ground was broken for a brand new business…
I also referenced “Back to the Future” again near the end of the speech to set up the closing remarks.
And even though we may not get our hoverboards for a few years yet, right now you can hover your cursor over this link and click to read the speech in its entirety. (PDF)
I’m looking forward to a future where I get to write more speeches that were as enjoyable to write as this one!
