This Quickfire Storytelling session brings together some of the world's leading futurists (see below) to share bold ideas and conflicting predictions of how the world might look in 10 years' time. This video (which we shot ourselves using a Kodak HDCam and Sony bluetooth mic) shows the first 10 minutes i.e. Gerd's introduction, the 5 minute talk and brief discussion with the other speakers and the audience. Twitter buzz is here
You can download the 10MB PDF of my presentation (unfortunately, the slides are not visible in the video), here.
Today is a very big day for me. My new Kindle book "The Future of Content" just went online at Amazon, and is already gaining a lot of traction. You can view a very short video greeting about the book on my GerdTube channel (Youtube:)
Of course I would be very happy if you would consider buying the book for yourself (only $3.90, Kindle-only) but beyond that it would be really great if you could help me spread the word via rating and / or 'liking' the book on the Amazon.com page, tweeting about it or just forwarding this mail to some friends that may be interested.
This review is from: The Future of Content (Kindle Edition)
"I challenge you to expand your brain and read this book. What Gerd Leonhard is always doing is informing the global brain (or the collective brain) in ways that help us all get where we're trying to go. He builds the buildings in front of us.
This collection points toward several compelling answers for content creators. As a writer who is already swimming in the changing currents of "content," I found it intensely informative. Leonhard shores up my courage to continue embracing a digital world without DRM, and ebook prices "for the masses." He makes the all-important concept of curation crystal clear. If you are providing any kind of content in print or on the web, it's relevant. If you want to stay on the front edge of content creation and publishing, it's basic. I'm making this book mandatory reading for my epublishing circles"
ABOUT "THE FUTURE OF CONTENT" Futurist Gerd Leonhard has been writing about the future of content i.e. music, film, TV, books, newspapers, games etc, since 1998. He has published 4 books on this topic, 2 of them on music (The Future of Music, with David Kusek, and Music 2.0). For the past 10 years Leonhard has been deeply involved with many clients in various sectors of the content industry, in something like 17 countries, and it’s been a great experience, he says. “I have learned a lot, I have listened a lot, I have talked even more (most likely:) and I think I have grown to really understand the issues that face the content industries - and the creators, themselves - in the switch from physical to digital media.”
This Kindle book is a highly curated collection of the most important essays and blog posts Leonhard has written on this topic, and even though some of it was written as far back as 2007 - “I believe it still holds water years later. I have tried to only include the pieces that have real teeth. Please note that the original date of each piece is shown here in order to allow for contextual orientation.” Leonhard’s intent to publish this via the amazing Amazon Kindle platform, exclusively, and at a very low price, is to make these ideas and concepts as widely available as possible while still trying to be an example of what digital, paperless distribution can look like, going forward.
This ITU’s Quickfire Storytelling session brings together some of the world’s leading futurists to share bold ideas and conflicting predictions of how the world might look in 10 years’ time. -> October 26, 2011, Palexpo, Geneva, starting 16h, Storytelling Session #2 F17
The adoption of connected technologies is driving change at an unprecedented rate. ICTs will transform the very nature of business, education and the way that global citizens communicate and share information. Short snappy stories will offer insights into the future, from a variety of perspectives in a variety of styles. These science-fiction tales will be based on science-fact; sometimes contentious, sometimes irreverent, but always thought-provoking, will catalyze dynamic debate.
All stories will be presented in the Quickfire Format: 10 slides // 30 seconds per slide // up to 10 words or an image per slide // once they click they can’t stop. This session was co-curated with The Futures Agency.
Join me for this event next week - should be fun (and it’s free :)smarterplanet:
Join our next live, interactive virtual panel discussion on the IBM Global Business Services Video Channel on Livestream. SIGN UP HERE
Date: Thursday, September 8, 1230pm ESTTopic: Mobile commerce is poised to take a great leap forward over the next ten years. How will it change the digital landscape in the process?Panelists:Alon Kronenberg, Practice Lead, Mobile Applications Practice, IBM Global Business Services (Host)James Wester, Editor of Mobile Payments Today (@jameswester)Molly Garris - Director, Digital Strategy at Arc Worldwide (@girliefromthed)Gerd Leonhard - CEO and Founder, The Futures Agency (@gleonhard)Set a reminder to join IBM and our virtual panel of thought leaders to examine how mCommerce may reshape our lives over the next ten years.See all our past vPanel webcasts (as a bit.ly bundle), and subscribe to the vPanel Series.
This video summarizes the key messages of my 2009 book "Friction is fiction" (free PDF). The bottom line is that in a networked and digital society we can no longer merely rely on FRICTION i.e. planned hurdles and carefully placed obstactles to enforce payments or otherwise get paid for something. Most traditional friction points - whether in media / content, communications / marketing or business and commerce - can now be easily bypassed (see free music streaming vs itunes, Youtube / Netflix vs cable-tv, whatsapp vs sms etc), and this trend will only accelerate. IMHO I think it will suit us better to get used to it now, i.e. we may want to lessen our dependence on friction and increase our efforts to monetize based on radical user empowerment. Think Zappos not Barnes & Noble. Be sure to watch this related video recorded at TedXWarwick on the same topic.
... Looking beyond the obvious:) From Ross' blog-post on this:
Here are a few of the topics we discuss:
* A key role of futurists is to develop and share foresights * Someone who helps people think about the future to make better decisions today * To examine and distinguish between trends and uncertainties in order to work out the best path forward * Clients are interested in having help thinking about things they don’t have time to think about * It is not a luxury but a necessity to think about the future, but it is useful to get help doing that from people who spend all their time doing that * Going beyond the obvious is a special skill, but it is also about drawing out the implications of the obvious * Stepping outside of beliefs and orthodoxies can be more easily done from outside organizations * While some companies have resident futurists it is highly valuable to bring in people who can be disrespectful and challenge internal thinking * Being a ‘provocateur’ means provoking not just thoughts but sometimes emotions
Ross Dawson and me recently met in Sydney (where I spoke at the Google ThinkTravel event, on The Consumer of Tomorrow) to do some videos together. The first episode is now live on Youtube, on the Future of Money. I think this turned out quite well and provides some interesting brain-teasers. You?
Ross has a good summary of what we discussed:
* The world of money is opening out in a big way today * Facebook credits are becoming an important alternative currency * Cash will phase out for digital payments * The rise of Bitcoin is important in shifting transactions out of the purvey of governments * In many developing countries mobile phones are becoming the predominant banking platform * Micro-payments for content could work through social media and dominant platforms such as China’s QQ * These could flow into crowdfunding for creative endeavors * Behaviorally we are some way from micro-payments working well * Money will inevitably shift to the cloud
It's about time to get a bit more precise about what my new company - The Futures Agency - actually does; and so I did what I do best - make a presentation:). We are very lucky to be extremely busy; with many think-tanks, workshops and seminars already booked for 2011, with many really amazing clients. Be sure to also visit (and LIKE:) us on Facebook, Twitter, Slideshare, Youtube and LinkedIn. Let me know how you like my preso, below.
I was invited to do the opening keynote at Ericsson's 'Shaping the Networked Society' event at this year's mobile world congress (MWC) in Barcelona, on February 14, 2011, see my blog at http://gerd.fm/i9Dh9I. Some of the topics I covered include the challenges and opportunities of convergence (TV-Web, Mobile-Fixed, real money - virtual money), new currencies and paying with facebook credits, companies becoming platforms not empires, what is beyond the current social media enthusiasm, the new paradigm of 'interaction before transaction', the tough but inevitabe switch from ownership to access (both in content / media as well as in general), the rise of the 'following paradigm', how the media and content industries are changing, and much more.
Take a look and please spread the word if you like it. Thanks.
My new company, The Futures Agency, just launched its own company page on Facebook, here. Many of TFA's partners will be posting regular updates here, and share videos, slideshows and images, so be sure to come by and LIKE us to stay connected. Thanks!
I really enjoyed doing this event with Jeff Cole, Stephen Berlin Johnson, and the Mikkelsen brothers (Refugees United), at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, on Monday. My slideshow is below, and you can watch the 11-minute video here, as well.
Increases brain power for content creators, October 25, 2011
Twitter
Future of Business
Green Futurist
Facebook: gleonhard
Flickr: gleonhard
FriendFeed: gleonhard
LinkedIn: gleonhard
Skype: gleonhard
Tumblr: gerdfuturist
Twitter: dailywisdoms
YouTube: gleonhard
