Glen Hiemstra
Owner
Futurist.com
USA
Leading Futurist from Seattle, Washington

Lessons from the Future: Creating the Knowledge Society

Change the form of information, the speed of information transmission, and the level of access to both creating and consuming information, and you will change society. In his keynote to the Summit for the Future 2005, Glen Hiemstra, Founder of Futurist.com and professional futurist from Seattle, Washington, will examine the dynamics creating a new kind of society. This will be an insightful exploration of the powerful and sometimes surprising dynamics taking us through a techno-social-economic revolution. The most potent technology developments underlying this revolution go beyond information technologies and encompass nanotechnology and the coming energy transformation. The techno-social-economic revolution, underway for perhaps thirty years and now more than half-way finished, is changing the basic pillars by which we organize life, including the job, the home, retirement, government, and education. Along the way old orders die and new orders emerge, and through this process old Europe may emerge renewed while the new world, America, may struggle to maintain leadership. At the same time, resistance to the future emerges and plays out on the global stage. The entire presentation is framed in the context of three questions about the future, what is probable, what is possible, and what is preferred.

Glen Hiemstra has been listening professionally and then sharing compelling lessons from the future for two decades. The Founder of Futurist.com, Glen is a highly respected consultant and speaker for business, government, and associations.

Those who hire him are looking for an engaging program on the long range future for their business, conference, enterprise, or community. They are seeking a program that has a lasting impact. They are seeking a program that changes things for the better. They are seeking a response like this one from an audience member in 2003…

“This is the most excited I have felt about the future since [I heard] Gene Roddenbury way back in graduate school.”

What kinds of clients have experienced impacts like this? Examples include Microsoft, Adobe Systems, Attachmate, Boeing, Northern Telecom, Burlington Northern, Weyerhaeuser, Hewlett Packard, Regence, Premera, U.S./Mexico JWC, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle Sonics & Storm, Wonderware, Ernst & Young, PaineWebber, APAX Partners, Costa Rica Hotel Association, and Tulsa 2025. Television projects have included Technical Advisor to Steven Bochco Productions for the development of a pilot set in the year 2069, advising Universal Pictures on the new CBS series, Century City, set in the year 2030, and Technical Advisor to 20th Century Fox Television for the revival of the series, Lost in Space..

Glen is the co-author of Strategic Leadership: Achieving Your Preferred Future, and is an expert in Preferred Future Planning. Prior to going into business in 1987, Glen was an award-winning educator, selected Most Influential Professor at Whitworth College. Glen is a Visiting Scholar at the Human Interface Technology Lab at the University of Washington, which works on virtual and augmented reality technology.

At Futurist.com, you can read Glen’s newsletter, FuturistNews, along with a wide variety of information about the future. Glen is often cited as a resource for articles about the future, for example in Scenario & Strategy Planning, The Futurist, the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, the Los Angeles Times, and the Detroit Free Press.

The way it is...is not the way it will be. Glen’s presentations offer insight into surprising developments shaping the 21st Century, and then go beyond that to the deeper challenge of understanding our new world and creating our preferred future. The hallmark of Glen's speaking is the dynamic connection he makes with his audience. His message is clear and heartfelt. His style is crisp, warm and engaging. People feel hope and begin to move in new directions, as a lasting impact is created which goes far beyond the initial experience.

Glen was educated at Whitworth College, the University of Oregon, and the University of Washington. Glen lives in Kirkland, Washington with his wife Tracie. Three college age and adult kids drop in from time to time. Tracie and Glen began a new entrepreneurial venture in late 2003, Bella Rose Fine Gifts & Furnishings, in Seattle's "Madison Valley" neighborhood.
http://www.futurist.com