Monthly Archives: February 2014

As modern technology continues to change the way humans interact with one another, businesses are being forced to adapt as well.

One expert says smartphones alone are having a "huge impact" on small businesses in a good way.

Tim Longhurst - a futurist who works with clients to examine how the world is changing - believes customers have become like cyborgs: part human, part mobile.

"For us in business, if we're not using these devices to their full potential, then we may be missing out on huge opportunities," says Mr Longhurst.

It used to be common for businesses to pay for focus groups, where people would gather to share what they wanted out of a product.

"Social media is like a massive focus group with thousands of our customers sharing that information for free," says Mr Longhurst.

"Sometimes, as small business owners, there's so much for us to be across we can feel a little overwhelmed and it doesn't occur to us that there's actually gold."

Watch the video in the player above to see the full interview.

3 News

See the article here:
Smartphones turning consumers into cyborgs - futurist

Fort Collins, CO (PRWEB) February 10, 2014

Launch Haus LLC, a local venture catalyst firm along with its co-organizers Steve Hamaker and Kari Henley announces the first ever Fort Collins Startup Week May 20-25th.

Register at http://www.ftcstartupweek.co.

Gerd Leonhard, the well-known futurist and five-time author, will kickoff the 5 day event thats slated to unite the entrepreneurial community across the Front Range of Colorado while bringing in global entrepreneurial rock stars to the local scene.

Learn more at http://www.ftcstartupweek.co/keynote.

The event will explore and celebrate success from local leading companies, provide inspiring speakers, uncover real innovation and share game-changing ideas happening in the City, State and Nation.

The City of Fort Collins is pleased to participate in this event, which will help highlight many of the small businesses and entrepreneurs in our community and help them connect with resources, said SeonAh Kendall, the Citys Economic Policy and Project Manager, who works with businesses on retention and expansion.

This event is not only at the right time, following Boulder Startup Week May 12-16th, its in the right place according to the 2013 study by the Kauffman Foundation which named Fort Collins number 2 of its Top 10 Metro Areas for High-Tech Startup Density.

Fort Collins Start Up Week is slated to highlight everything entrepreneurial in Northern Colorado, from leading-edge tech to social innovation, maker labs to music, tasty hops to leaps in bioscience, and some of the coolest and quirkiest main street establishments anywhere in the country said Chris J Snook, Organizing Chair and Co-Founder of Launch Haus, LLC. Were blessed to have the week culminate with the unprecedented size and energy of the Blue Ocean Enterprise Challenge.

Fort Collins Startup Week tracks include: Capital Access, Design Thinking, Talent, Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, & Public Policy. Stay tuned as the panelists and session leaders reveal their content for the program.

The rest is here:
Launch Haus Announces Fort Collins Start Up Week Headliner Futurist Gerd Leonhard Keynotes