"#Google+, +1, Facebook, Twitter, Scoop, Foursquare, Empire Avenue, Klout and more"

Everyone has their trusted sources, Gerd Leonhard is one of mine. Gerd's brilliant insights and forecasts continue to be invaluable to me in my work. 

 

About Gerd Leonhard:

 

In going from jazz guitarist to media futurist, Gerd Leonhard hasn’t quite had a conventional career path.

 

****Since the mid-2000s, Leonhard has been considered an expert in forecasting the futures of the music, social media, leadership and entrepreneurship industries and identifying new growth opportunities.

 

Over time, his expertise has branched into education, travel and the meeting industry.

 

“[A futurist] is not a person who predicts or knows anything that hasn’t happened yet, but one who can develop foresights,” Leonhard explains.

 

As CEO of Basel-based The Futures Agency, Leonhard works with organizations such as Google, Nokia, Sony Music and the European Commission, and also speaks at more than 100 conferences and events each year. A fellow of the U.K.’s Royal Society for the Arts, Leonhard has written several books, including The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution, which launched his career as a futurist in 2005.

 

Although he started off in the music industry, Leonhard is continually broadening his portfolio to encompass additional areas.

 

****He collects data from all manner of sources

 

****talks to as many experts as possible

 

****understands the whole context of what is happening in a given field and

 

****then articulates how trends will most probably move over the next three to five years.

 

****He says his ideas are often things people are already aware of but they either haven’t had the chance to crystallize the new focus in their own heads or haven’t taken appropriate action in their operations.

 

Selected by: Jan Gordon covering "People to Watch"

 

Read more here: [http://www.mpiweb.org/Portal/Business/20111208/Future_Teller

Via janlgordon