Insights April 1st, 2021

We live in exciting times and today Nikolas Badminton is Chief Futurist over at futurist.com – a web destination established by Glen Hiemstra in 1993 – he first place on the Internet for futures thinking and foresight.

A note from Glen Hiemstra

Futurist.com began in 1993, when I was working on a project in the greater Seattle area to be called ‘Smart Seattle’. From a project team member, Jan Greylorn, I learned about Mosaic, the first web browser that was going to launch that very year, at which point the Internet would start to become the World Wide Web. I also learned that there was an international registry for what would become Home Pages or Domains on this new World Wide Web. I was primed to hear such news because I had literally been studying the future of communication on the Internet since 1980, publishing some of the early academic work on that topic while in academia. And, I’d been using the early Internet in my futurist consulting business for years via AOL. So I immediately inquired about registering the domain Futurist.com and was surprised to learn that neither the World Future Society nor Alvin Toffler nor anyone else had registered Futurist.com. So I did.

And now, 27 years later, as so well expressed by the poet David Whyte, “I turned my face for a moment, and it became my life.”

By 1995 with the help of Brenda Cooper (now an award winning science fiction writer and member of the Futurist.com Think Tank, but then an IT manager for a small city who was experimenting in writing HTML code) I had a website up, and by 1998 it was well established. You can find a version of that early Futurist.com on the Wayback Machine – this is about the oldest version that you can access.

We have always offered free information to the public, written by me and by guest writers, while also acting as a marketing tool for my futurist business of consulting, research, and keynote speaking. At various times I tried to make it more of a team operation, most recently with the creation of the Futurist.com Think Tank in 2013.

You can learn more about the history of Futurist.com on the history page, and here’s a little more about who I am

Futurist.com’s new future

Today I have a very exciting announcement about Futurist.com. Starting a couple of years ago I began thinking about the transition that Futurist.com needed in order to take the next step to a more influential and exciting future, and one that might enable me to maintain a presence while stepping away from day-to-day site management and consulting work. I had the hope of finding someone as dedicated as I have been to promoting a better understanding of the future as well as the building of better futures. Today I want to let you know that this search has been a success, and we are announcing the transition of operation and ownership of Futurist.com to Nikolas Badminton.

Nikolas is a highly successful British-Canandian futurist who works in Canada, United States and globally, and I am pleased to announce this transition to his ownership. With Nikolas leading the charge as Chief Futurist I’ll be spending more time in the mountains, and with Tracie, our family and our grandson. I plan to remain connected to make a contribution to the work of Futurist.com from time to time, as Founder and Futurist Emeritus.

A note from Nikolas Badminton

Over the past couple of years I have had the pleasure to connect and work with Glen and the Think Tank members in creating content and advising clients. 

Over the past 25 years I have benefited from the wisdom gained from studying artificial intelligence and linguistics to delivering large scale data analytics solutions to advancing digital strategy and consumer engagement through advertising and sharing economy platforms. This experience is the bedrock for the futures practice I have built over the past 10 years.

In that time I have worked as a futurist speaker and consultant to keynote and advise over 300 companies, established national TV and radio conversations on the future, published research into the implications of artificial intelligence and technologies’ effect on mental health, and advised A-list Hollywood in producing documentaries. In addition I’ve shared over 750 articles on my website – www.wordpress-717089-2667163.cloudwaysapps.com – in addition to speaking around the world, working with the most impactful companies, and curating events like Cyborg Camp YVR, Dark Futures and Future Camp. 

The parallels between the futures practice I’ve built and what Glen has been delivering for decades are hugely complementary so we’ve decided for me to take the reins on running Futurist.com for the next 27 years, and beyond.

So, what will change? In short, nothing. The site will continue to showcase new thinking, offer speaking and consultancy – provided by myself and the Think Tank members – and Glen’s counsel will be sought and he’ll still be involved. 

In the next few months we will reveal a new look and feel. I have started to work with my design team to redesign the site and refresh it’s look and feel and Glen will provide counsel in that process.

About Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist

Nikolas Badminton is a world-renowned futurist speakerconsultant, researcher, and media producer. He is the Chief Futurist and think Tank member at futurist.com. He helps trillion-dollar companies, progressive governments and the media shift their mindset from “what is” to “WHAT IF…” The result is empowered employees, new innovative products and incredible growth that leads to more revenues and a more resilient future.

Nikolas advised Robert Downey Jr.’s team for the ‘Age of A.I.’ documentary series, starred in ‘SMART DRUGS – a Futurist’s journey into biohacking’, and features on CTV, Global News, Sirius XM regularly. His mind-expanding research and opinion can be found on BBC, VICE, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Techcrunch, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Forbes, Sputnik and Venturebeat. 

Nikolas provides the opening chapter – ‘Start with Dystopia’ in a new book – ‘The Future Starts Now: Expert Insights into the Future of Business, Technology and Society’ for Bloomsbury. He is currently researching and writing a new book that equips executives and world leaders with insights and foresight tools to imagine disruption, strengthen strategic planning, and see unforeseen risks.

Nikolas is a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce – The RSA. The organization has been at the forefront of significant social impact for over 260 years with notable past fellows including Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, and Tim Berners-Lee. 

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Nikolas Badminton

Nikolas Badminton is the Chief Futurist of the Futurist Think Tank. He is world-renowned futurist speaker, a Fellow of The RSA (FRSA), a media personality, and has worked with over 400 of the world’s most impactful companies to establish strategic foresight capabilities, identify trends shaping our world, help anticipate unforeseen risks, and design equitable futures for all. In his new book – ‘Facing Our Futures’ – he challenges short-term thinking and provides executives and organizations with the foundations for futures design and the tools to ignite curiosity, create a framework for futures exploration, and shift their mindset from what is to WHAT IF…

Contact Nikolas