Videos Posted by World Future Society
The World Is Not Flat
In the opening plenary session of the World Future Society's 2008 annual meeting, Edie Weiner, president of Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc., takes on the idea that "the world is flat".
WorldFuture 2008:Seeing the Future Through New Eyes
I will never forget attending my first World Future Society annual conference. It was the summer of 1996 in Washington, D.C. The opening keynote speaker was former Colorado governor Dick Lamm, who was rumored to be considering a run for the presidency of the United States. Lamm was as prescient as ever, having nailed the aging and health crisis that was already on the horizon and would soon be the challenge of public policy wonks for years to come.
It was heady times, and what I remember most was the sheer excitement of seeing hundreds of people from all over the world engaged in serious debates about the future. The Hilton bustled with scientists, economists, historians, philosophers, business people, academics, teachers, ordinary people debating and presenting new ideas about the social, political, economic, and technological trends and events for the next hundred years.
I was like a child in a candy store. I attended sessions from morning until late at night before catching the last train out of D.C. to carry me back to the home of a friend who lived in Maryland. By the time I left D.C.—having been a guest of the Professional Members' Forum—I knew my life had been changed and that there was no way I would ever miss another meeting of the World Future Society.
I had seen the future through a new set of lenses.
So why am I writing this letter? Because as chair of the 2008 meeting, I encourage you to join hundreds of others who will gather in D.C. to explore the future through new eyes.
Futurists are loath to make predictions but I am going to go out on a limb to make one exception. If you attend WorldFuture 2008: Seeing the Future Through New Eyes, July 26-28, 2008, in Washington, D.C., you will not regret it!
Looking forward to seeing you this summer.
Nat Irvin, II
Nat Irvin, II
Conference Chair
It was heady times, and what I remember most was the sheer excitement of seeing hundreds of people from all over the world engaged in serious debates about the future. The Hilton bustled with scientists, economists, historians, philosophers, business people, academics, teachers, ordinary people debating and presenting new ideas about the social, political, economic, and technological trends and events for the next hundred years.
I was like a child in a candy store. I attended sessions from morning until late at night before catching the last train out of D.C. to carry me back to the home of a friend who lived in Maryland. By the time I left D.C.—having been a guest of the Professional Members' Forum—I knew my life had been changed and that there was no way I would ever miss another meeting of the World Future Society.
I had seen the future through a new set of lenses.
So why am I writing this letter? Because as chair of the 2008 meeting, I encourage you to join hundreds of others who will gather in D.C. to explore the future through new eyes.
Futurists are loath to make predictions but I am going to go out on a limb to make one exception. If you attend WorldFuture 2008: Seeing the Future Through New Eyes, July 26-28, 2008, in Washington, D.C., you will not regret it!
Looking forward to seeing you this summer.
Nat Irvin, II
Nat Irvin, II
Conference Chair
The FUTURIST Magazine's Top Ten Forecasts for 2008
Each year since 1985, the editors of THE FUTURIST have selected the most thought-provoking ideas and forecasts appearing in the magazine to go into our annual Outlook report. Here are the editors' Top Ten.