Category Archives: Futurist

A new marketing, innovation and ventures group has formally launched today, withan impressive list of foundation clients.

Rh7thm has been created by Julian Ward, founder and former managing director of creative digital agency We Are Social Australia, and futurist and author Ross Dawson, who is also the founding chairman of Advanced Human Technologies.

Rh7thm integrates a forward-facing marketing, technology and innovation company with a ventures group, including advisory and investment in start-ups and its own ventures.

The group includes VR/AR/MR specialist MultiDimensionCorp, which provides strategic advice and development services, and runs a corporate research consortium in the space as well as a number of other start-ups.

Rh7thm launches with a highly experienced executive team, including COO and chief of brand Rosanna Iacono, who formerly held c-suite and brand lead roles at home and globally for companies such as Nike, Jurlique, Freedom Furniture, and Sass & Bide.

Phil Brown, who comes from a leadership role heading up content strategy at King Content, will be head of content, while industry stalwart Rob Shwetz has joined Rh7thm as head of client strategy.

The company has been operating below the radar for some time, and has already worked with a range of prominent organisations in Australia, Europe and the US.

Rh7thms foundation clients include Commonwealth Bank, Transport NSW and Epson.

Ward said Rh7thm has been completely engineered for new times.

We are putting the right things at our core to deliver more effective, agile and evidence-based marketing, technology and innovation services, with a greater range of ways to look at this both pre and post spending client dollars, he said.

We are bringing experienced and adaptable people who understand client business and will be supercharged by the Rh7thm 7 Drivers Knowledge System, which puts our team members in the actual terrain with game-changing companies, as well as participating in our own ventures as part of their role.

This is built into the culture from day one. It is fundamental to the ability to effectively advise clients as we go forward.

Dawson said Rh7thm actively explores the future to better create success for its clients today.

Organisations need to understand how their business, customer and industry environment will evolve to market effectively and develop the right capabilities, he said.

Our ventures activities are strategically focused on where we see the biggest impacts converging, building our insights and ability to help our clients understand in their current context what they need to do drive growth and opportunity.

Picture (L-R):Julian Ward, Rosanna Iacono, Rob Shwetz, Ross Dawson, Phil Brown

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We Are Social Founder Julian Ward & Futurist Ross Dawson Launch ... - B&T

A bid to save Scarborough's Futurist Theatre from demolition has failed after a High Court judge ruled the council's decision to tear it down should not be reviewed.

It is the latest in a string of attempts to prevent the now derelict theatre from being demolished, a move voted for by Scarborough councillors in January.

Campaigners trying to save the building subsequently employed a team of solicitors to help try and overturn the decision, in which councillors voted 22 to 21 in favour of demolition.

They were seeking a judicial review into the council's decision to demolish the building. However a High Court judge has now rejected their bid to bring proceedings against the council, meaning the vote will not be scrutinised.

Following the council's decision earlier this year to spend 4 million knocking down the former theatre which has been derelict since 2014 the campaign attempted to get the building listed in order to stave off demolition. However, the application was rejected.

A message on Save the Futurist Theatre's campaign page on Facebook said the group would be meeting with its legal team this week.

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Further blow in bid to stop demolition of Scarborough Futurist - The Stage

As is customary, the courtroom's occupants rise when the judge enters. But that ritual is a vestige of a different age: This particular jurist does not require such ceremony. Being an amalgamation of metal and silicon, JusticeBot4000 needs no genuflection and is concerned solely with the ruthlessly efficient resolution of disputes.

Having just processed the parties' respective, figurative mountains of paperwork in mere seconds, she (the robot was given a remarkably lifelike female appearance) uses her sensors to scan the vitals of the litigants, looking for any last-minute data that may skew her ruling.

Two minutes after first being assigned the case, JusticeBot4000 renders her verdict: The defendant owes the plaintiff $68,242.82. Both judge and collection agent, she wheels herself over to the defendant's table and scans the payment dongle embedded in the skin of his forearm. Case closed, plaintiff paid; an outcome that would have taken three years if sought in 2017 took a scant three minutes.

This perhaps inevitable progression terrifies and titillates me in equal measure. Besides the fact that I have heretofore been something of a Luddite, the former emotion is a fear borne out of sentimentality and solidarity with my species. My immediate reaction to the scenario is that only a person has the requisite combination of intellectual and emotional intelligence to be able to decide the fate of another human.

This perspective is foolish because we are no match for the analytical capabilities of a smartphone, let alone a specifically programmed robot judge. And, as I am fond of repeating, emotions are the kink in the works of an efficient mode of conflict resolution. Just because I do not choose to date a cyborg does not mean that I would be opposed to having one sit on the bench.

I like the idea of an automated justice system for the same reason that I welcome the arrival of autonomous automobiles. An occasional GPS malfunction and accompanying fender bender is a fair trade for a network of distracted, potentially drunken idiots plying our highways piloting half-ton hunks of steel.

Similarly, no matter the issues that may arise on a micro-level with JusticeBot4000 and her ilk, they pale in comparison to the ones that we humans have created. We had our shot and blew it by fomenting a system with ludicrous costs, massive delays, inconsistent outcomes and high levels of dissatisfaction.

I am not merely picking on judges: Lawyers could be replaced fairly easily, as well. As full as my head is with legal principles and strategy, I could never compete with a purpose-built Matloq or PRYMSN on that front. Though I suppose I am not totally useless: I have compassion, I am fueled mostly by rotisserie chicken instead of expensive batteries and I flatter myself by thinking I would look better in a bowtie.

Of course, a shift in this direction would require a fundamental restructuring of our sociopolitical system and of the Constitution that governs it. JusticeBot4000 will have a fresh Constitution on our collective desks within the hour, just before she turns to the task of building electronic replacements for the denizens of our statehouses and Congress. You heard it here first: JusticeBot4000 for President in 2024.

T.J. Voboril is a partner at Reynolds, Kalamaya & Voboril LLC, a local law firm, and the owner-mediator at Voice of Reason Dispute Resolution. For more information, contact Voboril at 970-306-6456 or tj@rkvlaw.com or visit http://www.rkvlaw.com.

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Robot judges and related pseudo-futurist musings - Vail Daily News

The High Court in Leeds has refused Permission for a Judicial Review of the Borough Councils decision to demolish the Futurist Theatre.

The save the futurist campaign group has started legal action against the council seeking a review of the decision which was take in January but the high court dismissed the action on Friday afternoon.

The Save the futurist group say they will be speaking to their legal team next week in light of the decision.

Councillor Janet Jefferson, who has been heavily involved in the campaign to save the building, gave us her reaction today's judgement.

The save the Futurist group issued legal proceedings against Scarborough Borough Council on On 7th April 2017seeking permission to judicially review its decisions of 9th January and 17th January 2017 to demolish Scarboroughs Futurist Theatre.

In order to take the legal actionThe Save The Futurist group was required to become a legal entity and reformed as Save The Futurist Theatre (Scarborough) Ltd.

The group engaged solicitors, Squire Patton Boggs LLP of Leeds to work on the action together with a leading London public law QC. A fund raising campaign was started to help fund the legal action.

Speaking in May,Debi Silver from Save the Futurist explained why they were taking the action.

"The reason we're taking legal action against Scarborough Borough Council is because we're not happy with how the whole thing has been dealt with.

At the end of the day, we don't feel what they've done has been done correctly and it's left us with no other option.

I can't tell you the amount of work that's gone into bringing this case forward, presenting it to our solicitors.

This is a huge undertaking that's gone on, it's not been done lightly.

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Judicial Review In To Futurist Decision Refused - Yorkshire Coast Radio

Neo-Futurist alumnae Rachel Claff and Dina Walters curate It Came from ... the Neo-Futurarium XII: Dawn of the Neo-Futurarium! the 12th annual series of staged readings of the best worst film scripts of all time.

The summer 2017 festival features four of the clunkiest, junkiest movies ever made (details below), brought to life by past and present Neo-Futurists and acclaimed guest artists. Includes a Pride weekend show and gender-bending casts.

The festival will take place Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. (performances run 75-90 minutes without intermission):

Caged! (1950), June 24, 2017 Face/Off (1997), July 1, 2017 Suspiria (1977), July 8, 2017 Someone I Touched (1975), July 15, 2017

All events take place at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60640. Some street parking; Berwyn El stop (Red line); #92 (Foster) bus; #22 (Clark) bus.

Online tickets at neofilmfestxii.eventbrite.com. $15 for each performance; $12 for students (with ID); $50 for a festival pass (all four shows)

ABOUT THE FILMS:

June 24: Caged! (1950) - Nave teenager Marie is thrown into the ladies' slammer for being an accessory to robbery. Will she come out a woman ... or a wildcat? Bust out and come to this over-the-top Pride Weekend reading featuring an all-female-identified cast! Directed by Neo-Futurist alumnus David Kodeski (Wicked Woman; The Flaming Urge) and festival curator Rachel Claff.

July 1: Face/Off (1997) - In our 2009 reading of Cool as Ice, Dina Walters played the role she was born to play: Vanilla Ice. This year she plays the other role she was born to play: Nicolas Cage. Trying to take her down (via sketchy surgical science) is Neo-Futurist Kristie Koehler-Vuocolo as John Travolta. Bullets and doves will fly in this face-swappin', gender-swappin' spectacular! Walters also directs.

July 8: Suspiria (1977) - From the moment she arrives at the prestigious Tanz Academy, ballet dancer Suzy Bannion senses that something horribly evil lurks within its walls. So what if Suspiria's got gorgeous cinematography and buckets of gore? Director and Neo-Futurist alumna Stephanie Shaw is out to prove that this gonzo Italian horror film is as chock full of cheese as a good manicotti.

July 15: Someone I Touched (1975) - Man, made-for-TV movies were so different in the 1970s. Like, remember that one where a pregnant Cloris Leachman's husband cheated on her with a teenager and got syphilis? And then Cloris was worried her baby wouldn't have arms? But she still found time to sing the movie's theme song? *Sigh* Those were the days. Directed by festival veteran Edward Thomas-Herrera (Devil Girl from Mars; Sorority Girl).

Production team: Neo-Futurist alumna Rachel Claff (Creator, Head Curator), Neo-Futurist alumna Dina Walters (Assistant Curator), Jeremy Hornik (Selection Committee; Production), Jason Meyer (Selection Committee; Production), Bob Stockfish (Selection Committee; Production), and Neo-Futurist alumna MeLinda Evans (Technician).

It Came from ... the Neo-Futurarium! (staged readings of the best bad films of all time) was founded in 2002 by Neo-Futurist alumna Rachel Claff. Since then, over 60 terrible, awful movies have been staged, from sci-fi schlock (Devil Girl from Mars; Night of the Lepus) to deplorable drama (Day of the Dolphin) to miserable musicals (The Apple; Purple Rain) to appalling animation (My Little Pony: The Movie).

The festival has featured countless Neo-Futurists as well as theater companies from Chicago and beyond, including The House Theatre, The Plagiarists, Barrel of Monkeys, WildClaw Theatre, and Dad's Garage (Atlanta, GA). The "film fest," as it's affectionately called, has consistently played to sold-out crowds of movie aficionados and has garnered attention from the Chicago Tribune, Time Out Chicago, A/V Club, and more.

More information about ICFTNF is at http://www.facebook.com/ICFTNF, and for more about the Neo-Futurists, go to neofuturists.org or call 773-275-5255.

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12th Annual IT CAME FROM...THE NEO-FUTURARIUM! Lineup Announced - Broadway World

Iowa Ideas

Jun 15, 2017 at 4:26 pm

Rachel Hatch, program officer for community vitality at The McConnell Foundation, will keynote the regionalism / workforce track at Iowa Ideas 2017. Hatch will speak Thursday, September 21in Cedar Rapids.

Hatch will bring a unique perspective to Iowa Ideas as a Cedar Falls native who has spent nearly a decade in Northern California, working with some of the world's largest companies to study and act on emerging trends.

The McConnell Foundation, which is based out of California, focuses on building better communities through philanthropy and awards money to non-profits, public education agencies and government agencies in Northern California. Hatch is currently concentrating on downtown revitalization in the community of Redding, California.

She previously served as the research director at the Institute for the Future, a think tank based in Palo Alto, California. She worked with Fortune 100 companies, government groups and philanthropic organizations to focus on trends and disruptions that are likely to influence their work in the next decade.

The aim of foresight is to anticipate the future in order to make better decisions in the present, she said in a reflection about her time with the Institute for the Future.

Rachel is also co-curator of TEDxRedding, which brings together practical visionaries from the Redding area and beyond to share ideas.

The Iowa Ideas Conference, Sept. 20-22, will include 80 sessions and more than 250 speakers across eight tracks. The statewide gathering will mix panel discussions, interviews with state leaders and thought-provoking experiences to help move complex issues forward. Iowa Ideas is for anyone: doers, industry leaders, policy makers, lifelong learners and those who want to lead the conversation about the future of our state.

Other topics to be discussedin the Regionalism / Workforce track include new approaches to workforce development, the impacts of technology on Iowa's employers, the role of immigrants and diverse populations in Iowa's workforce, rural community vitality and regional efforts.

Iowa Ideas 2017 will kick off Wednesday, September 20, with an opening celebration and keynote address from best-selling author and innovation expert Alec Ross.

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Rachel Hatch, futurist and community vitality expert, to keynote regionalism / workforce track - The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines

JAMES CROOT

Last updated07:57, June 14 2017

PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES

Futurist Derek Handley finally lost patience with the gloomy discussions on Tuesday night's episode of What Next?

REVIEW: "Idon't know about this whole episode.I'mnot able to get to grips with thisstuff. That makes me feel like we're not dealing with it in the right way...We're getting a little bit bespoke withthis stuff."

It's What Next? night three and frustrations with the show's format have finally boiled over.

Surprisingly it was one of the tight-five "Futurists" who broke ranks, but the monk-like Derek Handley seemed to be channelling the mood of home viewers and those interacting on Facebook with his mild-mannered rant. It moved even Nigel Latta to crack a gagthat shouting at the tele won't do you any good.

Breakfast

The broadcasting dream team hasn't quite lived up to expectations .

Tuesday night's topic was jobs and money, which saw hosts Latta, John Campbell and their Eggheads (seriously, squashed around that table the Futurists look like an all-conquering pub quiz team) attempt to tackle issues like poverty and inequality.

READ MORE: *What Next: Campbell and Latta show us a depressing future *What Next? Bugs are NZ's farming future Nigel Latta and John Campbell declare

PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES

Squashed around their table, the Futurists look like an elite pub quiz team.

That meant covering a little of the same ground as Sunday (automation, the need for retraining), as well as introducing ideas like democratic workplaces and the Universal Basic Incomes (UBI). Accountants were once again singled out for having dire future prospects, while those playing the Shay Wright-mentions-his-far-north-background or the boys'-plug-the-University-of-Auckland's-longitudinal-attitudes-study drinking game would have finished the hour happy.

But while the show's twin bedevilments of an ill-conceived set (Latta and Campbell really should be issued with sneakers) and bizarre graphics (are they a pie graph or a speedometer) continued, at least there was some passion on display this time around.

Handley urged everyone on the show "to be a bit more upbeat and positive" and came up with the quote of the night when he said that "the only place that poverty belongs is in Te Papa". He also lashed out at the idea of democratic workplaces, suggesting "we need to get more people to vote once every three years" before we could even consider that.

PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES

When the TV cameras aren't on them, it looks like the Futurists are having way more fun.

Even Latta finally showed his true colours when he near-goaded Campbell for not believing that Kiwis would be in favour of trialling a UBI. "It's true, I poo-poohed it," aslightly ashen-faced Campbell intoned, perhaps relieved that they were coming up to a break.

It was an episode that Campbell described as "segueing wildly" around the topic, but while it seemed like a positive step forward for the series, we're more than halfway through and still not sure about it's actual purpose.

Yes, it's important to discuss these big picture ideas, but What Next? feels like a telethon crossed with an election night and party political broadcast. Slight squabbles aside, the Futurists are seemingly of one mind, while the journalistic dream team of Campbell and Latta have been disappointing because they are simply too similar to each other.

PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES

Either John Campbell or Nigel Latta needs to go rogue for What Next? to make for compelling viewing.

We desperately need one of them to play "bad cop", or get some disruptors into the mix like a Gareth Morgan, Winston Peters, Sir Bob Jones, Richard Prebble or even Bill Ralstonwho could challenge the Futurists.

In the end, it all feels like the Christchurch City Council's "Share An Idea" campaign after the 2010-2011 earthquakes. It's a great way to get community engagement (and TVNZ more "subscribers"), but you can guarantee the politicians won't have a bar of much of the discussion that has taken place.

-Stuff

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What Next? Nige and John mind the economic gap | Stuff.co.nz - Stuff.co.nz

In Brief Renowned author, futurist, inventor and Google's head of engineering, Ray Kurzweil, spoke on his reticence to embrace bitcoin. He is not the only expert to have their qualms about the burgeoning digital currency.

Ray Kurzweil, a leading futurist, author, inventor, and the head of Googles engineering lab, has made some impressively accuratepredictions about the future. However, this may not be the best news for the burgeoning cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Kurzweil spoke at the Exponential Finance Summit in New York City late last week and he had some less than flattering things to say about the currency. While he may see the value in the decentralizationof currency, he doesntfeel like Bitcoin is the way forward.

He explained:

Currencies like the dollar have provided reasonable stability. Bitcoin has not. And its not clear to me that the whole mining paradigm can provide that type of stability Weve seen tremendous instability with bitcoin, so I wouldnt put my money into it. I certainly do think there could be alternatives to national currencies emerging in the future. Algorithmic ones are a possibility, I just dont think weve arrived at the right algorithm yet.

Kurzweil is not the only high-profileBitcoin skeptic or opponent. Billionaire investor Mark Cubanspoke out about Bitcoin last week, denouncing it as a currency and discussing it as a bubble. Kurzweils comments echo these sentiments, especially with his view of the cryptocurrencys instability. However, Daniel Roberts from Yahoo! Financesees Kurzweils view of that instability as an oversimplification. When looked at in the long term, Bitcoin is showing steady gains.

Bitcoin has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent weeks as prices have surpassed $3,000 (albeit briefly). In the first moments of 2017, Bitcoin could barely reach the $1,000 mark. As of today, the cryptocurrency stands at more than $2,550.

Bitcoin is powered by blockchain technology. A blockchain is a decentralized ledger that allows for complete anonymity, security, and transparencyfor all transactions taking place on the ledger. Kurzweil is more optimistic about blockchain, saying, I think once we can demonstrate confidence, then yes, a blockchain currency makes sense, and being able to document transactions securely, but theres a lot to work out.

In an effort to work out those kinks, many companies and even some countries are adopting blockchain technology. Some countries are even exploring switching their national currencies over to cryptocurrencies. We are in the early stages of its development, but this could go down as one of the few predictions Kurzweil gets wrong.

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Ray Kurzweil Says He Wouldn't Put His Money in Bitcoin but Doesn't Dismiss Blockchain - Futurism

Futurist, strategist, best-selling author and academic, Graeme Codrington, addressed the Western Cape Chapter of the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) on Leading in a Changing World'. Attended by a host of Cape-based industry professionals, the Primedia Unlimited Malls-sponsored event offered insights into the not-too-distant-future. The future is near, Codrington proclaimed, and individuals, brands and corporates need to constantly evolve to keep up with change.

Graeme Codrington

Autonomous vehicles reduce road risks by up to 90%, which means that insurance companies will be impacted because if there are less accidents on our roads, how will they make profits? Shopping and retail will change because this takes online shopping to a completely new level. Autonomous vehicles will be used for instant deliveries - people order online and then an autonomous car will be dispatched with orders.

"Furthermore, autonomous cars will not need to park in the traditional sense, so shopping centres can reclaim parking bays that make up to 15% of the property. Now retail can expand or use the space for entertainment. We need to be more proactive and less reactive. The world is changing and we need to be ahead of it.

1. Switch on your radar Read, research and keep yourself informed about what aspects of the world are changing. Be informed about new technology, new forms of energy and new ways of streamlining ways of doing things. Also, change your sources of information and surround yourself with forward thinkers. Stay away from fake news.

2. Be curious Ask better questions and do not be afraid to ask these questions.

3. Experiment more If you are in a position to make key decisions then experiment a little. Try new ways of attracting new business through trial and error. You have nothing to lose.

4. Embrace difference The world is changing. Do not be afraid to change, it forms part of our evolution.

5. Confront your limiting orthodoxies Do not limit yourself. Confront your inhibitions.

"On the other hand, consumers too, need to switch on their radars'. They need to be careful not to be taken for a ride. Do not run for every new toy that comes up. The latest gadget, the latest version of your phones and you stand in line for three days to make sure you get it, I see it as a trap there. Consumers need to become more purposeful and more deliberate in how we live our lives, he concluded.

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Futurist Graeme Codrington on leading in a changing world - Bizcommunity.com

Consider yourself fortunate not many people get to visit Wakanda as a guest of the king.

The Black Panther teaser trailer has just dropped, providing our first journey deep into the fictional African nation that is part of our world, yet another one all to its own.

The movie doesnt open until February 2018, but fans have been waiting years to see the homeland of Chadwick Bosemans royal hero. As TChalla, he rules over this unconquerable kingdom. As Black Panther, he makes sure it stays unconquered.

The trailer for director Ryan Cooglers film begins in plain circumstances, with villain Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis, The Hobbit) being questioned in a Korean holding cell by CIA operative Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman, also The Hobbit.)

In that scene, they play the audience surrogate, says Coogler. One person knows quite a bit about Wakanda, and another person thinks they do but they dont. Its just a teaser, so we dont want to give away too much. But I thought it would be awesome to start with a character who has seen Wakanda in its true light.

Watching this interrogation through one-way glass is TChalla and the woman who stands as his right hand, the warrior Okoye (The Walking Deads Danai Gurira) who heads the Dora Milaje protective core. They need to contain this problem. Its a matter of state. Wakandas secrets must stay secrets.

What makes Panther different from other Marvel superheroes is, he doesnt seem himself as a superhero. He sees himself as a politician, Coogler says. He wakes up thinking, How am I going to fulfill my duties as king of this place?

While Klaue promises there is more to Wakanda than anyone has ever seen, we dont have to wait long to lay eyes on it ourselves. A wealth of the ultra-rare mineral Vibranium, which has almost mystical technological properties, has allowed Wakanda to become a futurist paradise. Theres no question it is the most advanced nation on Earth, and it has used its expertise to shield itself from view.

But within its borders, there are fissures: rival tribes who have different ideas about how it should be guided. Klaue and Michael B. Jordans Erik Killmonger, an exile from the nation plan to exploit those divisions and pry open Wakanda for plunder.

Have a look at the trailer; theres almost more to decode than even hardcore fans of the comics could hope to solve. Fortunately, we have some help: HeresEntertainment Weeklys frame-by-frame gallery of the Black Panther trailer, with more clues and insight from Coogler and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.

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Black Panther trailer reveals the futurist wonders of Wakanda - EW.com (blog)