The Family Firm: Fee-only Financial Planners and Investment Advisors, Maryland, Virginia, DC

Visionaries Gatherings

Ideas That Are Transforming Our World

One of the missions of The Family Firm, Inc., is to connect its clients to the world in which they live. Money and investments are only part of our world, and often a small part.

Beginning in 1998, The Family Firm began hosting an annual dinner and presentation, which we call the Visionaries Gathering. For one evening, we explore developments in science, technology, and human relations that have the potential to transform our society.

While these ideas might eventually become businesses or industries, our Visionaries Gathering is not about investment opportunities. Our purpose is much broader: to engage, to think, to entertain, to dream. We look at ideas that have not yet reached the mainstream of society, but which will have a huge impact when they do.

The Visionaries Gathering is a casual, low-key event that includes a cocktail reception, dinner, and a presentation. All of the Family Firm staff members are present, but we’re not here to “talk shop.” We’re here to learn alongside our clients. It’s a chance for all of us to get to know each other better, without the pressures and formality of an office environment.

The presenters are selected very carefully. They come from academia, corporate consulting, think tanks, scientific research centers, media, and more. We bring in people who don’t think in straight lines—people whose visions may influence how our world will look in the future.

Visionaries Gatherings often have been several years “ahead of the curve.” In 2005, we assessed energy consumption and production forecasts. In 2003, we looked at the impact of China’s growth on the world economy. In other years, we have considered advances in biotechnology, money dynamics between the sexes, and research to create bionic humans. Here’s the complete list of our events:

2008 -- Avatars and Virtual Worlds: The Telegraph, the Telephone, Radio, Television, the Internet…What’s next? (Bill Bainbridge, National Science Foundation)

2007 -- The Retirement Transition and the Challenge of Change (Dr. Nancy Schlossberg, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland)

2006 -- Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing our Minds, Our Bodies, and What it Means to be Human (Joel Garreau, Washington Post)

2005 -- The Coming Energy Revolution? (Jane Woodward, Mineral Acquisition Partners)

2004 -- Men, Women and Money: Challenges of the Road Ahead (Olivia Mellan, president, MoneyHarmony)

2003 -- China’s Rise: Threat or Opportunity? (Dr. Harry Harding, Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University)

2002 -- What’s Next: Thoughts from a Futurist (Peter Leyden, Global Business Network)

2001 – Biotechnology (Collins Jones, Ph.D., Biotechnology Program, Montgomery College)

2000 -- Washington and the Investment Markets: The Beginning of the End of the Good News (Edward Garlich, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.)

1999 -- The Seven Stages of Money Maturity (George Kinder, author, The Seven Stages of Money Maturity)

1998 -- The Changing Face of Wealth in America: What Does it Mean to You? (John Cammack, T. Rowe Price)

Across many disciplines, developments are moving at breakneck speed. These developments can have significant impacts on how we live, and how our children and grandchildren live. The Visionaries Gathering gives us a framework for information we get from the evening news, newspapers and magazines, and online.

The Family Firm is proud to bring the Visionaries Gathering to our clients each year. It is part of our commitment to enrich our clients’ lives, not just to manage their money.