WorldFuture 2008 has come to an end, and the first couple of videos are now posted.
The first is from the Q&A during the opening plenary session, during which business futurist Edie Weiner gave a presentation on why the world is NOT flat yet. (Audio from the entire session will be available from the World Future Society soon; please check back.)
Edie Weiner, The Truth About Diversity
The second video is from the closing plenary session. Michael Marien, long-time editor of Future Survey, receives the distinguished service award from World Future Society President Tim Mack. Marien will step down from FS by the end of this year after having been the sole editor of the newsletter since 1979, a position he describes as "unsupervised play."
Michael Marien, World Future Society Distinguished Service
Thanks to all those who worked so hard to put the conference together, the meeting went smoothly. The Meet the Editors session for FUTURIST staff was a lot of fun (no tomatoes thrown!) and there was a lot of interaction throughout the meeting.
Since this IS a personal blog, I'll mention a couple of personal things...
During the Future of Men session, I was soooo tempted to raise my hand when speakers Amy Oberg and Joe Bourland of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation sought an archetype of the future adaptive male with the nurturing/caring skills necessary for the service economy. (Archetypes of males of the past included Steve McQueen and Fred MacMurray, and the two archetypes of the present confused male are the Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer characters on Two and a Half Men.)
Yes, I would have said UNICEF ambassador and inclusion-advocate Clay Aiken, but unfortunately, through no fault of his own, his name is something of a punchline these days. Eh, whatever. He's a long-termer. I'll save my thesis on why he's a perfect futurist for another blog, but there was a short article on him in Futurist Update awhile back.
Speaking of future men, I'd like to thank the sweet fellow who paid me a nice compliment at the end of the meeting. Sorry he ran away so fast. Are we future females all that scary?
Love, hosaa
futuring and trying to figure it all out
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Olympians - On Their Way
I've been watching the Olympics since I was a kid and am always so moved by human achievement and perseverence. This tribute includes some vintage clips found on YouTube, set to Clay Aiken's song "On My Way Here." Enjoy!
love, hosaa
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Somalia's Children
Education and children's advocate Clay Aiken recently returned from a Unicef mission to Somalia to observe and report on the status of children in this "forgotten" country, "one of the poorest and most volatile countries in the world."
He reports on his mission in the UnicefUSA field notes blog. He writes:
Read more on how Unicef is helping in that struggle to survive: UNICEF Seeks Emergency Support for Somalia's Undernourished Children.
Clay Aiken in Somalia. Photo by Denise Shepherd-Johnson, UnicefUSA
He reports on his mission in the UnicefUSA field notes blog. He writes:
One of the most incredible things I learned on my trip is that there are only 350 doctors left in the entire country, mostly because of the violence and insecurity. And many of these doctors are older than the average life expectancy in Somalia, which is only 45. I can't help but wonder, what is going to happen in a couple of years when there are no more doctors? What will happen to the children who struggle to survive?
Read more on how Unicef is helping in that struggle to survive: UNICEF Seeks Emergency Support for Somalia's Undernourished Children.
Clay Aiken in Somalia. Photo by Denise Shepherd-Johnson, UnicefUSA
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Respect
A reader e-mailed me yesterday to comment on my losing the Little Miss Christmas pageant mumbledy-ought years ago. He told me:
Since most of my non-working mind is occupied by thoughts of Clay Aiken (whose voice brings me great joy and solace), I filtered my reader's comment to help understand what is going on with his new album, which sold well the first week, thanks to loyal and attentive fans, but hasn't yet caught on with the general public.
So far, Clay Aiken hasn't received much in the way of respect from music critics or radio programmers, but his recently released studio album, On My Way Here, was supported by some very well respected musicians. This Yahoo! video shows some of them in action:
An exceptionally well-researched blog, The ConCLAYve, profiles the musicians and their credentials:
"Clay Aiken's 'On My Way Here' - Measuring the Gap between the Critics and the Truth."
What I hear in the music supporting Clay's voice is respect: genuine appreciation for a voice that has the power to touch other people's lives. His voice is the instrument of a master musician, and the artists who recognize and support that gift also deserve respect.
love, hosaa
listening
You cannot live an authentic life while worrying about what others think. The people who win contests for approval are generally so eager to please that integrity escapes them.
Since most of my non-working mind is occupied by thoughts of Clay Aiken (whose voice brings me great joy and solace), I filtered my reader's comment to help understand what is going on with his new album, which sold well the first week, thanks to loyal and attentive fans, but hasn't yet caught on with the general public.
So far, Clay Aiken hasn't received much in the way of respect from music critics or radio programmers, but his recently released studio album, On My Way Here, was supported by some very well respected musicians. This Yahoo! video shows some of them in action:
An exceptionally well-researched blog, The ConCLAYve, profiles the musicians and their credentials:
"Clay Aiken's 'On My Way Here' - Measuring the Gap between the Critics and the Truth."
What I hear in the music supporting Clay's voice is respect: genuine appreciation for a voice that has the power to touch other people's lives. His voice is the instrument of a master musician, and the artists who recognize and support that gift also deserve respect.
love, hosaa
listening
Friday, May 16, 2008
3 a.m. Paper Chase
Some people fear outliving their money; others fear not outliving their money. Either approach to life will have some consequences for your loved ones.
Case in point: Mommahosaa's hip surgeries earlier this year (three surgeries from one fall and two dislocations of the new joint) landed her in a rehab facility; with the post-op complications, she lost a lot of strength and will now "graduate" to the long-term wing of the facility.
Medicare and her federal-retiree insurance covered most of this stay, but this week that ended. We were then presented with a bill that could not be paid. She simply had not saved enough. Now we are collecting all the necessary paperwork to apply to Medicaid.
By "we," I mean "me." My brother and I cleaned out Mom's apartment, and the important papers got conveyed to a little pile by my kitchen window. The three "important papers" boxes seemed to have what we needed, but they were not exactly organized--old letters were mixed with new photos, old address books mixed with recent Comcast bills. Almost everything but what I needed: Social Security card and birth certificate.
It seemed to me that I had seen the SS card at one time, perhaps just long enough to put it in "a safe place" - i.e., a black hole.
After searching for that one bit of paper till 3 a.m., I finally did find my "safe place," and the black hole coughed up the SS card, birth certificate, an expired passport, and one or two other goodies.
The moral of the story is, if you're going to outlive your money, get your important paperwork organized enough so that your loved ones don't create black holes trying to do it for you.
And by "you" I mean "me." I see several future black holes in my own important messes. No one needing to deal with my paper has a chance of finding the long-term-care policy I took out on myself (to avoid outliving my money).
Oh, but here's one of the other goodies I found in the black hole: my very first newspaper clipping, from my old pageant days.* Herewith, the Montgomery County Sentinel's coverage of the Little Miss Christmas pageant, November 30, 1961:
Love, hosaa
front and center
* My one and only pageant. The young lady front left won the competition. I believe I came in dead last, after chastising the announcer for mispronouncing my name. At age five, I showed strong tendencies toward correcting other people and questioning authority. Heh!
Case in point: Mommahosaa's hip surgeries earlier this year (three surgeries from one fall and two dislocations of the new joint) landed her in a rehab facility; with the post-op complications, she lost a lot of strength and will now "graduate" to the long-term wing of the facility.
Medicare and her federal-retiree insurance covered most of this stay, but this week that ended. We were then presented with a bill that could not be paid. She simply had not saved enough. Now we are collecting all the necessary paperwork to apply to Medicaid.
By "we," I mean "me." My brother and I cleaned out Mom's apartment, and the important papers got conveyed to a little pile by my kitchen window. The three "important papers" boxes seemed to have what we needed, but they were not exactly organized--old letters were mixed with new photos, old address books mixed with recent Comcast bills. Almost everything but what I needed: Social Security card and birth certificate.
It seemed to me that I had seen the SS card at one time, perhaps just long enough to put it in "a safe place" - i.e., a black hole.
After searching for that one bit of paper till 3 a.m., I finally did find my "safe place," and the black hole coughed up the SS card, birth certificate, an expired passport, and one or two other goodies.
The moral of the story is, if you're going to outlive your money, get your important paperwork organized enough so that your loved ones don't create black holes trying to do it for you.
And by "you" I mean "me." I see several future black holes in my own important messes. No one needing to deal with my paper has a chance of finding the long-term-care policy I took out on myself (to avoid outliving my money).
Oh, but here's one of the other goodies I found in the black hole: my very first newspaper clipping, from my old pageant days.* Herewith, the Montgomery County Sentinel's coverage of the Little Miss Christmas pageant, November 30, 1961:
Love, hosaa
front and center
* My one and only pageant. The young lady front left won the competition. I believe I came in dead last, after chastising the announcer for mispronouncing my name. At age five, I showed strong tendencies toward correcting other people and questioning authority. Heh!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Speaking of the future...
A word from our sponsor:
The World Future Society has also posted some other videos of conference speakers on their YouTube channel, which can give you a better idea of what they actually talk about during these conferences.
Dr. Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love, addresses the World Future Society's 2007 conference, describing the impacts of antidepressants on the brain systems associated with romance and attachment.
Biomedical researcher Gregory Stock, author of Redesigning Humans, speaks on "Biotechnology and Health Care: The Road Ahead" in this excerpt from his presentation at the World Future Society's 2007 conference.
Business professor Nat Irvin II (University of Louisville) tells a personal story about his partial blindness and his insights as a futurist at the World Future Society's 2007 conference. He will chair the Society's 2008 conference in Washington, D.C.
The World Future Society has also posted some other videos of conference speakers on their YouTube channel, which can give you a better idea of what they actually talk about during these conferences.
Dr. Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love, addresses the World Future Society's 2007 conference, describing the impacts of antidepressants on the brain systems associated with romance and attachment.
Biomedical researcher Gregory Stock, author of Redesigning Humans, speaks on "Biotechnology and Health Care: The Road Ahead" in this excerpt from his presentation at the World Future Society's 2007 conference.
Business professor Nat Irvin II (University of Louisville) tells a personal story about his partial blindness and his insights as a futurist at the World Future Society's 2007 conference. He will chair the Society's 2008 conference in Washington, D.C.
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