Opening words at presentation

This is what I have drafted to be the sole words we speak at the presentation before allowing our news print to literally speak for itself. Feel free to leave comments and critiques.

Capital Chronicle, the Opening

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to a time portal, this day, twenty nine years into the future; Monday, 20th of June 2040, Wellington City, City Gallery. A place distanced greatly by time and space, but where our wants and needs have remained intriguingly similar to those of twenty nine years ago.

From the turn of the Century we entered into a phase of digital immersion, our interactions with others became apparently more accessible, but actually became more distanced. We gradually shut ourselves off to the world around us, and substituted it with a synergy of pixel, code, and an eye straining square glow.

We so heavily culled three of our five senses that they were near extinction. Sight and sound became almighty, and we actively denied our desire to utilise our most primitive of senses; those of touch, smell, and taste.

However, here in 2040 we have reached an inflection point. We have come to realise the value of the diverse sensory experiences available to us. We have begun to liberate ourselves from the self imposed shackles of the digital world, and are beginning to re-introduce ourselves to a more sensory world; one that engages all five of the senses available to us.

Against many odds but with great appreciation, the founding media of Wellington lives on. The Dominion Post has survived the digital plague, and today we are here to celebrate this fact with the introduction of the Capital Chronicle which you hold here in your hands; safe, honest and reliable.

I now offer you a gift. The knowledge that it is in fact 2011, twenty nine years of digital invasion have not yet forced our senses to grow stale; that we have the ability to perceive the world through five different avenues. We can experience our world directly, and appreciate the subtleties of you often didn’t realise that you in fact missed; the gentle crinkle of the pages, that mild aroma of fresh print, and the knowledge that what you hold in your hands is undoubtedly there.

Without further ado, I now offer you the opportunity to sit down, make yourself comfortable and enjoy this edition of the Capital Chronicle as our wait staff serves refreshments.

Thank you.