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What Is A Salon?

Fourth Places to rethink what’s possible, together.

The First Place is home. The Second is work. The Third is a public space for connection. But what we need are "Fourth Places"—spaces for co-creating the future. Enter Imagination Salons, where we imagine and shape what’s next together.

A group of people engaged in a thoughtful discussion in a modern living space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean. Seated on a large, neutral-toned sectional sofa and stools, they are illuminated by warm natural light. The serene coastal backdrop adds to the relaxed yet intellectual atmosphere of the gathering.

Social systems are breaking down. It's time to reboot the operating system. Reinvention begins with better questions.

A diverse group of people engaged in a discussion at a round table under a white event tent, surrounded by greenery. A woman in glasses and a black sweater gestures as she speaks, while others listen attentively. The table is covered with notes, documents, colorful index cards, and a small decorative pumpkin. Additional participants are visible in the background, seated at other tables, fostering a collaborative and engaged atmosphere.

What is a Salon?

Imagination Salons are 3-day immersive celebrations + accelerations of global leaders tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Salons harness the power of openness + curiosity by focusing on better questions. They cultivate the conditions of imagination to design and act upon new futures. Salons are environments that work across typical boundaries and focus on the longer-term horizon.

What to expect

Remarkable Experiences

Imagination Salons are crafted by experience designers who understand the dynamics of meaningful gatherings. This expertise has led a series of guiding principles to create transformative experiences for Salon guests.

Black and white photo of a woman presenting in front of a projected map, speaking to an audience with a thoughtful expression, while holding a presentation remote.

  • Pierce the fourth wall as the space between the performer and the audience. Recruit unique thinkers, doers, and changemakers who provoke audacious ideas. Invert the traditional power and hierarchy of knowledge-based programming. Blend extraordinary talent across diverse worldviews.

  • No sage on stage. Imagining the future is an active sport, not for passive spectators. Design the conditions for hands-on, visually charged, dialogue-based co-creation. Build cultures for distinguished guests to drop their guard and pull up their sleeves. Egos are checked at the door, we do necessary work.

  • The environment is an active actor in any conversation. Awe shifts what we know, upends our previous worldview. Awe focuses attention away from yourself and enables you to think outside of your usual thought patterns. Salons unfolds upon stages, theaters of awe as possibility sites.

  • A Salon is a micro-festival of joy. Choosing joy, wonder, and celebration; particularly in difficult times, are powerful acts of resistance. It is a strategy for catalyzing complex change. We embody the boldness of what we seek to build – through music, food, courageous ideas, cultural performances, and respect for the history that came before us and that we are making.

  • It didn’t happen if it isn’t documented. The revolution will be televised. To create centers of excellence, we codify our methodologies. We package them as insights and raise their profile by creating accessible, useful, beautiful artifacts that build movement + marketplaces from shared thinking. Salons result in tools for leaders to lead the century ahead.

How do we enact lasting change?

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou

  • Two speakers stand at the front of a historic library addressing an attentive audience seated in rows of chairs. One woman gestures expressively while speaking, and a man beside her listens with hands clasped. The elegant room features high bookshelves, framed portraits, and a Union Jack flag in the background, creating a refined and intellectually engaging atmosphere.

    Better Questions

    Society has trained itself to move swiftly towards solutions. So fast, that too often we leap straight into answers before knowing the right questions. Taking the time to ask deeper, more fundamental questions can yield exponential outcomes.

  • Lighthouse on a rocky coastline at sunset, surrounded by dense trees with gentle pink and orange hues in the sky and dark waves in the foreground.

    Long-Term Timelines

    Conventional metrics of success are marked in quarters and annual reports. But thriving in a systems economy requires generational horizons. We are the inventors of century-scale design.

  • Three people engage with a collaborative brainstorming wall covered in colorful sticky notes, writing and arranging ideas. A man in a black jacket and a woman in a plaid shirt reach up to place notes higher on the board, while another person observes. The notes contain handwritten reflections, drawings, and responses, fostering an interactive and creative discussion.

    Holism Systems Thinking

    Today’s systems aren’t systems at all. They are a patchwork of products and services, a collage of constituent parts. We need to see the whole picture. To see gaps, adjacencies, interdependencies, and invisible variables that prioritize the whole.

  • A woman with blonde hair, dressed in a black blouse, gestures towards a window covered with handwritten notes taped to the glass. She appears to be leading a discussion or presentation in a warmly lit room with beige curtains in the background. The notes contain key discussion points about ownership, agency, and culture, suggesting a brainstorming or strategy session.

    Diverse Mental Models

    Our default solutions are often driven by inherent biases and the replication of old playbooks. We embrace alternative mental models to challenge limiting beliefs.

Areas of Focus

The 5 Human Experiences

Imagination Salons are forms of action-based research that explore emerging human conditions. We focus on long-term, generational change, moving beyond short-term metrics to target deeper shifts in society.

Silhouette of a person wearing a wide-brimmed hat watching the sun rise over misty mountain peaks, creating a tranquil and reflective moment in nature.

  • The ability to adapt to life’s challenges, navigating mental, social, and physical health as an individual and a community to realize potential.

  • The awareness of how we think, unpack and apply knowledge, link our mental models with our values, and harness these processes in conjunction with tools.

  • The fundamental need to connect with a social group, rooted to a place, a desire to be seen, and create intimate trust with others.

  • The sustaining & thriving of life through a balanced exchange of nourishment, renewable energy, and a relationship between natural and built ecosystems.

  • The reflection of our shared values and beliefs expressed through creativity, our institutions, social customs, storytelling, and behavior.

Black and white view of The Shed, a futuristic cultural center in Hudson Yards, New York City, with its distinctive quilted facade, surrounded by modern glass skyscrapers and adjacent to the Vessel sculpture.

Our Next Salon

50 for 2050 Imagination Salon

October 7-9, The Shed, New York City

Join 250 VIP changemakers to time-travel 6-months in 60-hours as we codify the 50 most essential questions shaping the year 2050. We are conducting an experimental inquiry into what it means to be human a generation into the future. We cultivate collective imagination because it is the most valuable natural resource on Earth.

Learn More
Two women embrace warmly at a networking event, expressing joy and connection. One woman, holding a microphone, wears a patterned sleeveless dress, while the other, in a black top, smiles with her eyes closed. In the background, two other women engage in conversation, adding to the lively and welcoming atmosphere of the gathering.

Our Impact

It’s Been an Epic Decade, thus far.

58
Topical Salons held across the globe
4,000+
Leaders attending past Salons
150+
Projects sparked at Salons
50+
Fortune 500 Companies represented
5
Books published by Curiosity Society imprint
A black-and-white photograph of four women engaged in a lively conversation at a round table during a networking event. They are smiling and leaning in as they talk, creating a warm and engaging atmosphere. The background features a buffet table with refreshments, suggesting a relaxed yet professional gathering.
Musician Susa performs an intimate electric guitar set for a seated audience in a small, modern gallery space, with a projected black-and-white photo collage displayed behind them.

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