Glen Hiemstra, Gerd Leonhard

Futuretalks.com

Media Megatrends
12 minutes, 5.9mb, recorded 2007-08-17
Glen Hiemstra, Gerd Leonhard

Megatrends are things that are happening in society, technology, and culture at large that are impacting media. Glen Hiemstra and Gerd Leonhard talk about the important megatrends that are shaping the future of media. They discuss a number of topics, including user generated content and its impact on media, globalization, and access versus ownership. They talk about how availability has gone from scarcity to ubiquity, as well as the impact of changes on both the digital natives and the aging baby boomers. They also talk about what is likely to happen to news and how it will be delivered, and much more.

This program is also available in video. You can click on the player below or download the video file (QuickTime/MP4, 204MB).


Based in Switzerland, Gerd Leonhard has spent over twenty-five years in the technology and entertainment industries. In 2005, Gerd co-authored the critically acclaimed book "The Future of Music" which has become a must-read for music industry professionals around the globe. Gerd's second book "The End of Control" is now available for free at www.endofcontrol.com, further expanding the scope of his work into TV, Film, Radio and Print Media. Gerd's clients include the EBU/ ABU, SonyBMG, the BBC, RTL, Granada International, Nokia-Siemens, ITV, Unisys, Gracenote, and the European Commission. He is much in demand as a speaker at many leading events and conferences around the globe, and is considered a leading blogger and visionary.

Gerd is an expert on the drastic changes that are impacting content, media and communication companies as a consequence of the rapid deployment of new, disruptive technologies, and of convergence; he is equally fluid in technology, legal issues, social and cultural contexts, business models and general trends that affect media and communications. Gerd is also a serial entrepreneur, with a focus on digital music, currently serving as CEO of Sonific LLC, a San Francisco based company that provides music applications and widgets for blogs, social networks and online communities. He also holds a Jazz Performance (Guitar) Diploma by Berklee College of Music (87), and is the recipient of Berklee's Quincy Jones Jazz Masters Award (1985).

Glen Hiemstra is the founder and owner of Futurist.com. Glen has advised professional, business, and governmental organizations for two decades. He is the author of Turning the Future into Revenue: What Businesses and Individuals Need to Know to Shape Their Futures, from John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Previously he co-authored Strategic Leadership: Achieving Your Preferred Future.

An expert in preferred future planning, Glen has worked on projects that range from science and technology, to economics, demographics and transportation, and energy and the environment. He has also served as a technical advisor for television programs set in the future. In a first career, Glen was an award-winning educator. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Human Interface Technology Lab at the University of Washington, which works on virtual and augmented reality technology. He is on the Advisory Board of EcoMedia.

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