Central Texas' Future

This is a blog for the members of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society. It's purpose is to exchange and develop ideas about the future of Central Texas, especially Austin.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

The Wave of the Future: Marshall McLuhan Revisited

Audio (mp3, 1:39)
Slides
Complete set of Recorded Options

This seminar by Paul Schumann will be held on February 15, 2007 begining at 4:30 p.m. (CST). It will be held online in the OPAL Auditorium. There is no charge and there is no registration. The seminar will last two hours.

You will need a PC with Internet Explorer, and speakers. A microphone (available for less than $15 at most computer stores) is optional. With a microphone you will be able to interact verbally. Without it, you will still be able to interact through text. If this is the first time you have used this virtual room, you will need to download some software so you may want to allow yourself a few minutes before the event begins. If you have any questions, e-mail Paul Schumann or call 512.302.1935.

Click here to participate in the seminar a few minutes before the start of the session. You will be taken to the registration for the Texas Forums OPAL Auditorium. You will be asked to enter the name that you wished used in the seminar. (If you are asked for a pasword, just skip.)

This event is sponsored by Texas Forums, Taylor Willingham

Marshall McLuhan (1911 – 1980) was a Canadian educator, philosopher, scholar, academic, professor of English literature, communications theorist and one of the founders of the study of media ecology.

McLuhan's most widely known work, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, is a pioneering study in media ecology. In it McLuhan proposes that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study -- popularly quoted as the medium is the message. More controversially, he postulates that content has little effect on society. He notes that all media have characteristics that engage the viewer in different ways.

McLuhan began his study of media with work on advertising that culminated in his book The Mechanical Bride. He was an academic who refused to act like one. He was criticized for his use of media to get his message out, an undeserved criticism. He felt strongly about the necessity for everyone to 'wake up' and become aware of the invisible effects of media, not the message, on our culture. He was not a critic or an advocate of the changes he was describing. He was like an artist trying to show others what he saw.

McLuhan was a poet and philosopher, not a scientist. He was similar to Lucretius who wrote an epic poem describing his philosophy of the world. His writing is dense, with references to a vast amount of knowledge not possessed by the ordinary reader and filled with poetics, making his work difficult to understand.

His insights into the effects of media are extremely valuable to us today. What he wrote about 40 to 50 years ago is a guide to understanding what is happening now.

This seminar will begin with a description of some of McLuhan's observations - the medium is the message, hot and cool media, pre-literate to literate to post literate, my interpretation of the characteristics of the post literate society, and the four laws. It will close with a discussion of the wave of the future.

Paul Schumann is a practicing futurist with expertise in creativity and innovation. He has lived long enough to see forecasts fail and succeed, including some of his own. He had a thirty year career with IBM in three very different arenas - as a technologist and technology manager in semiconductor technology, as an internal entrepreneur creating the first independent business unit within IBM, and as a cultural change agent developing a more creative and innovative culture. Since retiring from IBM he has been consultant as a business futurist with programs in creativity and innovation. He is the founding president of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society. And he the founder of the Innovation Commons Network (www.innovationcommons.net) More information about Paul can be found on his web sites - www.theinnovationroadmap.com and www.glocalvantage.com.

Heartfelt Conversation About the Future

The Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society will hold its next monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 20, 2007. It will be held at the meeting room of Marie Callender's, 9503 Research Blvd. #400, Austin, TX 78759 (512.349.7151) at 6:00 p.m. Nelin Hudani will be hosting a "Heartfelt Conversation About the Future”

Nelin Hudani is a producer and host of live talk radio shows on Austin KOOP 91.7FM and on the worldwide web at www.koop.org. She is a programmer and media consultant at The Crossings. She is on the Board of AIM; works at The Crossings; and plans retreats which stress pluralism and diversity. She hosts “Heartfelt Conversations” in Austin and San Antonio. Nelin’s mission in life is to empower and inspire humanity to live with passion, purpose and meaning, and to experience unlimited human potential, higher consciousness, as well as participate in universal and global cross-cultural exchange through various forms.

Seating is limited so please reserve your place at:

www.centexwfs.org/index_files/Register.htm .

For more information about the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society, visit www.centexwfs.org.

For more information about the World Future Society, visit www.wfs.org.
Paul SchumannPresidentpaul.schumann@centexwfs.org
512.302.1935www.centexwfs.org

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Becoming Your Own Futurist

Copy of Presentation (ppt, 27MB)

The Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society will hold its next monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 16, 2007. It will be held at the meeting room of Marie Callender's, 9503 Research Blvd. #400, Austin, TX 78759 (512.349.7151) at 6:00 p.m. Paul Schumann will be speaking on "Becoming Your Own Futurist”

Many of us are in the cross hairs of change. Demographic, sociopolitical, technological and economic forces are driving significant, maybe even revolutionary, change affecting us. In times of systemic change, we have to ask ourselves the question, "Do I need to be a prophet in order to have a profit?" I think that the answer is a resounding "Yes!" In this talk I will establish some steps you will have to take to become your own futurist. I will discuss three topics - how to develop insights about the future, how to use those insights to become competitive, and how to become a futurist.

The future unfolds from the past, steered by driving forces for change, and modified through decisions in the present. In this talk, Paul will explore the four types of future and our capabilities and limits of forecasting.

Paul Schumann is a futurist and an innovation consultant. He is the founder and current president of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society (http://www.centexwfs.org/). He is the president of Glocal Vantage Inc. (http://www.glocalvantage.com/) and the editor and publisher of The Innovation Road Map (http://www.theinnovationroadmap.com/). He is a member of the advisory boards of the Marketing Research Association (http://www.mra-net.org/) and ACC’s Center for Community-based and Nonprofit Organizations (http://www.nonprofitaustin.org/) . He is also active in the American Creativity Association and a member of the planning committee for the March 2007 conference in Austin (http://www.amcreativityassoc.org/) and Texas Forums (http://www.texasforums.org/) . Paul is leading an international volunteer effort to understand the principles of a successful innovation commons through the Innovation Commons Network. He has coauthored two books and has written numerous articles and book chapters. He writes extensively on the web on four blogs – http://innovationtravelogue.blogspot.com/ , http://creativity-at-work.blogspot.com/ , http://illuminatedinnovant.blogspot.com/ and http://innovationcommons.blogspot.com/ .

Seating is limited so please reserve your place at:

www.centexwfs.org/index_files/Register.htm .

For more information about the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society, visit http://www.centexwfs.org/.

For more information about the World Future Society, visit http://www.wfs.org/.
Paul SchumannPresidentpaul.schumann@centexwfs.org
512.302.1935http://www.centexwfs.org/