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Featured Videos – Futurist.com: Futurist Speaker Glen Hiemstra

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The Future. You have to see it to believe it.

On this page you will find recent videos of Glen speaking and being interviewed, videos that we produce, and other interesting videos about the future that I think are timely or worth highlighting in some way.

In this short film Glen Hiemstra, Founder of Futurist.com and of DoTheFuture.com, explores what it means to be a futurist and what drives his work. The film was produced by Graymatter Productions, Seattle, Washington. For more information contact info@futurist.com.

Glen Hiemstra, Founder and CEO of Futurist.com, takes us over the horizon into the world of the future. Are we ready to build a preferred future? Lets imagine that the issues of transparency, privacy, data security, openness and information ownership have been solved more or less satisfactorily by 2020.

Glen presents the future of transportation at the 8th Annual Texas Transportation Forum in Austin, TX. The panel discussion includes Co-Moderator Congressman Michael C. Burgess, and Michael E. Cline, Ph.D. from Rice University. More about the event can be found here: txdot.gov/ttf/.

In November 2011, Glen worked with Seattle photographer David Ryder to produce a new Keynote Sample Video with updated highlights and new commentary.

This is an excerpt from the Keynote speech Glen gave at Buhlers 150th anniversary celebration.

Children write postcards to the future the 50 year future in this charming video from ARC, used by permission.

We know that enough sunlight hits the earth every hour to power the worlds energy needs for a year. Someday, sooner than many think, earth civilization will be converting to solar energy. One of the most clever ideas for doing so is the solar road.

This podcast series includes insight from leading futurists Glen Hiemstra and Gerd Leonhard, who are interviewed by Mobile Entertainment Forum Chairman Emeritus and renowned music industry figure Ralph Simon. Produced by Doug Kaye (founder of the Conversations Network), the video series offers 11 podcasts covering a wide range of topics, including the future of communications, the future of entertainment, and Commercial versus Shared Culture.

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Featured Videos - Futurist.com: Futurist Speaker Glen Hiemstra

Futurist Makes A Compelling Argument For Why We Should Bring Animals Back From Extinction

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Last March, scientists met at a TEDx conference to discuss which extinct animals would be good candidates to bring back from the dead, called de-extinction.

One year later, futurist and environmentalist Stewart Brand appeared on Tuesday at a Ted conference in Vancouver to present the status of a few de-extinction projects.

At the paleogenomics lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for example, lab leader Beth Shapiro and a young scientist, Ben Novak, are trying to revive the first passenger pigeon by altering the DNA of the sally band-tailed pigeon, the passenger's closest genetic relative. A flock of band-tailed pigeons, Brand said, "is being groomed to become the first surrogate parents of passenger pigeons."

Keith Schengili-Roberts

The passenger pigeon went from numbering in the billions to being wiped out by the 19th century.

In another part of the world, Russian scientist Sergey Zimov has created a preserve in Siberia called Pleistocene Park that attempts to restore the type of grassland that existed when woolly mammoths called that place home. Zimov hopes to eventually re-introduce these hairy creatures to the environment.

While the thought of having herds of woolly mammoths running around doesn't immediately sound like a great idea, Brand makes a compelling case for why we should pursue the technique.

De-extinction is not just about reversing extinction, Brand says, but about helping to prevent extinction. It "could help revolutionize conservation," he said.

That's because de-extinction can be used to combat what's called the "extinction vortex" when animal populations fall, inbreeding becomes more common and species go extinct by loss of genetic variation. Endangered species like the black-footed ferret could potentially be saved by introducing old genes into current populations, Brand said.

Brand is the founder and former editor of the Whole Earth Catalog and the co-founder of the Long Now Foundation, an institution that supports projects that promote long-term thinking.

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Futurist Makes A Compelling Argument For Why We Should Bring Animals Back From Extinction

hired to help New Smyrna Beach plan

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Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 4:57 p.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 6:36 p.m.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH Protecting the Indian River Lagoon, preserving land for public use, redeveloping U.S. 1 and managing growth on State Road 44 should be top priorities for city officials.

Thats according to surveys filled out by residents and visitors, feedback that will be used as part of a wide-ranging effort to craft a plan that charts the citys course for the next 25 years.

I know were over 500 in terms of surveys received, which is just awesome, City Manager Pam Brangaccio said Monday.

City officials are also seeking the publics help to steer the planning process during a day-long community forum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Brannon Center, 105 S. Riverside Drive.

Rebecca Ryan, a nationally renowned futurist from Madison, Wis., will be the keynote speaker and lead the forum, in part talking about how national and international trends can impact the citys planning. The city is paying Ryan about $11,375, plus travel expenses, an amount approved by the City Commission in December as part of the total funding for Saturdays visioning event.

Those who attend will break into groups to discuss what steps need to be taken to address each of the citys biggest concerns, Brangaccio said. Several provocateurs, or experts on each topic, will help lead the discussions. They are: Mike Abels, a University of Central Florida instructor and former DeLand city manager, who will speak about neighborhood preservation; Ken Parker, retired Port Orange city manager, who will discuss State Road 44 development; Clay Henderson, an environmental attorney, will talk about the Indian River Lagoon; New Smyrna Beach Vice Mayor Jason McGuirk, who owns the Dairy Queen on North Dixie Freeway, will talk about redevelopment of the blighted corridor: Doug Weaver, former director of Volusia Countys Land Acquisition and Management Department, will discuss preservation and management of parks and open space, and Denise Mott, Team Volusias director of business development, will talk about economic development and job creation, said Holly Smith, the citys public information officer.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. For more information contact the citys Planning Department at 386-424-2132.

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hired to help New Smyrna Beach plan

In the age of wearable technology, don't forget who wears the trousers

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Computers are getting bigger and smaller at the same time, but Intel futurist Steve Brown says what's most important about wearable technology is the person doing the wearing.

CuteCircuit's latest fashion line reminds us that wearable technology doesn't have to sacrifice beauty.

From smartwatches to smart shoes, in the age of wearable technology computers are getting bigger and getting smaller at the same time -- but according to Intel future-gazer Steve Brown, the most important thing about a wearable device is the person doing the wearing.

"Anything can become a computer," says futurist Steve Brown speaking at the Wearable Technology Show in London. Gazing into his crystal ball, he sees three things happening in technology: "Computing is becoming smaller, computing is becoming bigger, and computing is becoming more natural."

How can computers get smaller and bigger at the same time? "Computers becoming smaller is the key thing," says Brown. As chips and computers shrink, "computers are getting closer to merging with us... computers are getting closer and closer to our brains."

At the same time, computers are getting bigger -- somewhere. Huge data centres that can crunch huge numbers can connect to Google Glass, Samsung Gear or any device we carry or wear, and "the experience you get is that you have one of these giant computers on your wrist, on your eyes, on your feet," says Brown.

Finally, our interaction with computers is becoming more natural. "For the first years of computing we have talked to computers in the way they need us to. But we're now in the era of touch, and we invented a whole new language to communicate with devices. We need to do that again for wearable devices."

Be your best self

But the success of wearables depends on more than just the technology. "The things that you wear say something about you," says Brown, highlighting the cultural meanings of spectacles or watches. "There are some things that wearables signify that are unintentional... What do you think when you see someone wearing a Bluetooth headset?"

Brown's advice to those developing wearable kit is to always think about the person doing the wearing. "Be bold," he advises. "Don't let engineers lead you. A device has to fit in with what is important to people... how do people use it? How does it help people be their best selves? They must help people be the best parent they can be, the best employee they can be, the best friend they can be.

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In the age of wearable technology, don't forget who wears the trousers

Future of Baltic States, European Union Economic Outlook, Estonia, Latvia – Futurist Speaker – Video

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Future of Baltic States, European Union Economic Outlook, Estonia, Latvia - Futurist Speaker
Clip from a Keynote by Patrick Dixon at Sampo Liidrite Forum on the Estonian economy. How could Estonia work within the Eurozone. Risk management and respond...

By: Patrick Dixon Futurist Keynote Speaker for Industry Conference

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Future of Baltic States, European Union Economic Outlook, Estonia, Latvia - Futurist Speaker - Video

Next Big Thing: Location-Based Marketing / mobile advertising. Future Of Marketing Futurist Speaker – Video

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Next Big Thing: Location-Based Marketing / mobile advertising. Future Of Marketing Futurist Speaker
Location-based mobile marketing is the Next Big Thing - using Big Data to map customers to products. Location Big Data means marketing teams can map consumer...

By: Patrick Dixon Futurist Keynote Speaker for Industry Conference

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Next Big Thing: Location-Based Marketing / mobile advertising. Future Of Marketing Futurist Speaker - Video

How Mystery Shopping helps better customer experience – Future of Marketing Keynote Speaker – Video

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How Mystery Shopping helps better customer experience - Future of Marketing Keynote Speaker
Mystery Shopping is a brilliant tool to gain customer insight. Pretend to be a customer and shop in your own store, phone your own call centre, try to buy on...

By: Patrick Dixon Futurist Keynote Speaker for Industry Conference

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How Mystery Shopping helps better customer experience - Future of Marketing Keynote Speaker - Video


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