We are very excited to announce our new event series, Future Human, which begins February 10, 2010 at The Book Club in Shoreditch, London. Here’s the spiel: Brought to you by the team behind The Butcher’s Shop (‘Innovative… a literary bearpit’ – The Guardian), and hosted at the UK’s most culturally connected cocktail bar, Future Human is a unique ‘theatre of ideas’ that promises to reinvent the intellectual salon for a decade of radical change and innovation. At Future Human, guests will be invited to open their minds, become a part of the show and debate important ideas of the age with pioneering thinkers. As they do so, they’ll find themselves immersed in an interactive, brain-spinning spectacle where intellectual exotica can be washed down with a fine lychee margarita. “We’re looking to take our guests to the frontiers of our radically altered near future,” says event organiser Jack Roberts. “Then provide access to strong drink.” The first Future Human event will take place on Wednesday, February 10, and is subtitled ‘Advertising at the Frontiers of Consciousness‘. The event will explore how the advertising and marketing industries are using brain science to map human desires. With the help of audience members, the Future Human team will road test some of the cutting edge techniques that are being used to harness the subconscious mind for commercial gain. Exactly what happens to your brain when you see a 118-118 commercial? And why does a drumming gorilla make you feel happy? What is it that so inexorably draws irrational minds towards particular products and services? All these questions and more will be answered by special guests including Professor Gemma Calvert, a cognitive scientist and neuromarketing pioneer; brand mastermind Greg Rowland; John Phillips, Director of a company that uses ‘multi-sensory’ methodology – including fragrance, sound and touch – to tap into consumer emotions; and popular science-fiction author Matthew de Abaitua, whose debut novel The Red Men is currently being adapted for the big screen. An airy, upmarket and restlessly creative sibling of the Queen of Hoxton bar, The Book Club is the ideal setting, having already captured the imagination of East London’s smart set. “Future Human sums up what the Book Club is all about: Thinking and Drinking”, says Creative Director Heather Lawton. “People want more from a night out nowadays, and Future Human will encourage debate, learning and socialising. The cocktails will only serve to make things more interesting.” Future Human events will take place on every second Wednesday of the month and last approximately two hours. Thereafter, the evening turns into a networking event for guests, who are invited to stay for cocktails, DJs and dancing. Upcoming events will focus on similarly agenda-setting topics, and feature a roster of innovators and experts discussing the urgent ideas that are changing the face of contemporary Britain. Future Human, London’s New Theatre of Ideas launches at The Book Club, London, EC2A 4RH, on Wednesday February 10, 2010 with ‘Advertising at the Frontiers of Consciousness’. The event starts at 7.30 pm and entrance is £8. Tickets are strictly limited, and can be purchased HERE or directly from the venue.

Poster by Bryony Lloyd.