I started using Tumblr a year ago, and because of its easy use of viral tools and instant-post options via Instapaper etc I have build a pretty good following there, already. I usually post interesting snippets I find via Twitter, Flipboard or my 1000+ RSS feeds (no, I don't actually read all of them), and only the most crucial ones are presented. In other words, this is not a river but a drip-feed:) Check it out at Futureof.biz , on any mobile devices try the new Conduit-powered mobile app.
Update: my new book "The Future of Content" was just released on the Kindle
I want to start 2011 in a renewed spirit of generosity and sharing, so here are the complete PDFs of my last 3 books, for free; provided under a Creative Commons,non-commercial, share-alike, attribution license (see below). If you still want to buy the dead-tree versions of these books (or donate something for the free PDFs - yes, that's an option, too;), you can visit my Lulu Store, or go to Amazon.com, or check out my 'Paying for Gerd' page. You can also return the favor by blogging or tweeting of Facebook-liking my stuff. Thanks, and enjoy, and have a great 2011.
Pay with a tweet: Music 2.0 Pay with a tweet: Friction is Fiction Update: my free videos (50+ keynotes and presentations) are here, the iTunes podcast feed is here (just subscribe to download all videos to your iPod / iPad / iPhone, or computers), and my free slideshows (90+) are here, on Slideshare :)
Download Friction is Fiction 6.8MB PDF
Download The End of Control Gerd 8MB PDF
And be sure to check out my free iPhone and Android apps
These free books by Gerd Leonhard are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on various works offered by Gerd Leonhard
Today I am delighted to officially announce my new company, The Futures Agency (TFA). TFA is based in Basel, Switzerland and is currently comprised of 15 amazing people i.e. Associates that are working with me on an independent basis; additional team members will be announced shortly. Think of us as a 'band' of futurists and foresight-experts, visionaries, advsiors and idea-curators ...and you'll get the idea.
I will serve as CEO and plan to grow this company into one of the most amazing agencies on the planet, employing these 5 key principles:
(If you need more of my favorite memes please go here)
I am extremely pleased to have been able to gather some of the sharpest minds and greatest people, anywhere, including:
This amazing team of powerful individuals and collaborators is supported by Project Manager Gabi Ruttloff, in Zürich, and (Multimedia) Journalist, (Social) Scientist, Researcher & Creative Dr. Martin Strickman, in Cologne, Germany.
The purpose of TFA is to provide our clients with a lot more firepower and emotional intelligence when answering this key question: What does the future bring, and how do we prepare for it...?
Or, to put it more proactively (for those inclined to that sort of thing;): Which future do we really want to create?
TFA offers seminars, workshops, think-tanks and advisory sessions ranging from 3-5 hours to 3 days, with anywhere from 2 to 10 people, worldwide. Some of our thinktanks may use a format called the Disruption Experience which I have been finetuning together with my good friend and world-renowned leadership expert Didier Marlier, who lives in Switzerland as well. Other thinktanks may use our "FuturesExperience" format, and additional formats will be announced soon. As an example, a few weeks ago TFA undertook a really amazing mission for a one of the largest mobile operators and telcos in Africa; 3 days of serious future-thinking and plotting with the executive team. Hopefully I can share some of those stories with you in the future.
Some of us were already tweeting together at Futurefeed, but in addition we will now bundle all efforts as follows: Twitter (@futuresagency), the blog (RSS feed), Youtube and Slideshare.
Together with my colleague and Swiss leadership guru Didier Marlier I have been doing some interesting work with one of the leading business schools in Brazil, Fundacao Dom Cabral (more on that soon!). The last time I was there I also managed to do a very special engagement for the very cool people at the NBS agency, see the details and PDF here.
Via the NBS gig and via Twitter (of course), I was introduced to the people that program one of the most accomplished and popular talk-shows on Brazilian Public TV, called Roda Viva, on the TVCultura channel. The show involves sitting in the midst of a circle of 10-15 very smart people that quite literally 'grill' you on some pretty tough issues (in my case, as you may have guessed, the future of content, copyright, marketing, social media etc).
The full video should be available via Roda Viva fairly soon; in the meantime I just discovered an entire set of some pretty good pictures that their really talented photographer (Duda Groisman took during the filming, embedded via the amazing Flickr widgets, below. Enjoy. And stay tuned.
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My mobile phone apps for iPhone and Android were just released a few weeks ago and over 1000 people are already using them - very cool. And they will remain 'free' as well - the only thing you'll have to pay is... attention. As promised, and in-line with my new "Mobile First" mantra, I have been busy (re)-creating and formating exclusive content that you can only get via the iPhone or Android apps, such as various new podcasts and audio-only versions of my presentations, audio/mp3 versions of select chapters of my books, previously unpublished pictures etc. Check out the Flickr screenshots below and go get your app, now. For mobile phones users that don't have an iPhone or Android device, check out my mobile lifestream page and the mobile version of my Music 2.0 book.
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As Google's Eric Schmidt said at the Mobile World Congress a few days ago: from now on, it's MOBILE FIRST. Right he is! He probably didn't know this (or disguised it cleverly) but incidentally my iPhone app, powered by the very swift and happening MobileRoadie people in LA, was approved 2 days ago and is now live in the app store.
The app will provide you with a much simplified and quicker way to access pretty much everything that I publish (now that's a scary thought), including my videos, my podcasts, my blog, my tweets, my lifestream, my images and illustrations, and of course my slideshows - pretty much everything but my bank account;).
Talking about 'bank': I will be creating a lot of app-exclusive content in the next few weeks, and will really build up my mobile presence in order to be ready for the iPad and other tablet devices which I intend to use for 'futuristic' publishing purposes, i.e. for monetizing my work in new ways. Therefore - and in keeping with the Freemium theme - the first 1000 users will get this app for free, afterward my costs will go up a bit and the app will cost a whopping $1.99.
So hurry and get your free version now, while you still can (several hundred have already been downloaded in the past 24 hours). I would also be delighted if you could share this news with anyone that may be interested; it looks like lots of students and university folks are already downloading it and that sounds like a good fit, too. Please re-tweet and spread the word.
I will, of course, offer an Android app as soon as MobileRoadie comes up with the goodies, and the same goes for iPad-ready formats (I have some very special plans for that... too early to share but... it will be exciting). As to the Freemium: I will probably try to offer both a basic, free version as well as a paid version, in the future - it all depends on the demand. You tell me.
If you don't have an iPhone, don't despair: you can still use my mobile lifestream site, read my blog's mobilized version, or get the entirely mobilized Music 2.0 book for free, as well.
Lastly, if you like this app and want one, too (does anyone not?), I do have some discount codes for the MobileRoadie platform - ping me to find out more.
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I have been very busy compiling my best essays, blog posts and other writings from the past 3 years, and have finally uploaded the most recent version to Lulu (my favorite print-on-demand book store). The new book is now called 'Friction is Fiction' and is available in 3 versions: 1) 158 pages, 6x9 inches / U.S. trade format, full-color, for $60.40, here (yes, it's quite pricey because of the cost of printing 4-color, on-demand) 2) the same dead-tree version, but in black & white only, for $19.98, here (much cheaper but a lot less cool;) 3) as a PDF, for a token price of $7.50, here.
I would be delighted if you would consider buying whatever works best for you - what better Christmas present could you possibly think of! Please note that this book will be updated every 3 months, to include my latest writings. If you want to share the book page please just send people to www.frictionisfiction.com - thanks.
As to giving away the free PDF, here is the deal: you can contact me anytime (via email, Facebook or Twitter) to request a free copy of the PDF if you just don't want to (or can't) spend the $7.50, and I will send you the download link. In return, what I ask from you is to pay me with attention, i.e. to write a review on Lulu, a blog-post, or a tweet about my book, with a link (all 3 is best;). Deal?
As to the title: I used to simply call this compilation 'The Best of Media Futurist' but while looking through all those posts - and spending a lot more time revising them - I found an important thread that goes through almost all of it and which therefore has become the new title: Friction is Fiction. So what does that mean? It means that if you are currently basing your success on maintaining or even constructing hurdles, difficulties or other bottlenecks somewhere in the system - i.e. if there is something that impedes the flow of information, or a transaction or purchase so that a higher price point or some other form of control over the can be obtained - then you are very likely to face diminishing revenues in the next few years. Building obstacles for users (fka consumers) used to work just fine but... no longer. Building walls is the fastest road to suicide in the digital economy.
The web has been utterly ruthless about finding these glaring points of friction, such as paying for eMail (remember that?), paying a ton of money for long-distance phone calls (remember those pre-skype days?), or consumers not having any access to travel booking systems, flight information or seating. These hurdles are being removed, one-by-one, and those 'people formerly known as consumers' are getting more powerful every single day. Banking on friction to increase your revenues has become like throwing matches into the river and asking it to stop - it's useless.
Friction was, of course, the main money-maker in the media, entertainment and content business, for a long time: certain CDs were only available in certain stores at certain times in certain countries, DVDs with those movies you really wanted were only available in certain countries and within certain 'windows', books had to be printed and shipped, and ring-tones could only be purchased from your operator. Basically, at every turn the consumer encountered have-to's and must's which essentially allowed a substantial level of control by the media and content companies - and thus, higher prices. In many cases, the more friction the higher the price you could ask for.
No longer. Read the book!
Related: my blog-book "The End of Control": download the first 6 chapters here. Also: My Music 2.0 book is available via Lulu, here
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Organized by Canvas8 "The Changing Face of Media
will be on Wednesday September 9 at Host Gallery, Shoreditch, alongside
Tim Hetherington's remarkable photography exhibition Liberia Retold. Guest speakers will discuss their experiences with emerging technology
and will look at how brands can best use technology and not be used by
it. Format: Really straightforward - 3 x 20 minute talks with 15-minute refreshment breaks in between. Doors open at 6.30pm, with speakers to start at 7.00pm sharp. The
venue is quite intimate and the tickets are strictly limited so if you
can't make it please let us know by email or twitter @canvas8
Confirmed speakers
Gerd Leonhard - With
over 25 years in the media, technology and communications
industries as an author, writer, entrepreneur, strategic advisor,
keynote speaker and presenter, Canvas8 Thought Leader, Gerd has a
unique perspective. He was described by The Wall Street Journal as 'one
of the leading Media
Futurists in the world'. An authority on topics ranging from user generation of content, the
attention economy, the 'wisdom of the masses', content syndication,
business and revenue models for content producers, copyright issues in
the internet economy and what mass media becoming personal media
actually means for all concerned. Gerd is the co-author of the oft-quoted must-read for music industry professionals bestseller The Future of Music published in 2005, as well as the author of Music 2.0 published
in January 2008. Canvas8
recently spoke to Media Thought Leader Gerd Leonhard about the music
bookmark where access replaces ownership, industry-regulated music
streaming licences, the long-term viability of Spotify and a recent
report suggesting a decline in teens’ illegal filesharing. Click here to read the full interview.
David Bausola - As one of the leading specialists in collaborative social media David is deeply passionate about audience engagement. A
veteran of first-to-market communication inventions he is the
co-founder of Ag8 - an independent studio developing currency for
content makers, media platforms and brands.
Ag8’s main product is Purefold - an open media franchise designed for RSA Films, the commercial arm of film directors Ridley and Tony Scott. David is no stranger to digital communications. He was the pitch strategist for Riot and an integral part of the team that won the global digital account for Adidas. Whilst at Imagination he was the creator of the social media sitcom, ‘Where are the Joneses?’ for Ford Motor Company. And prior to that David managed and delivered the multi-award winning, online user-generated, video documentary website ‘four docs’ for Channel4.
About Long Story Bit by Bit - Liberia Retold by Tim Hetherington
Tim Hetherington’s exploration of Liberia between 2003 and 2007 brings an extraordinary range of characters to life: warlords and presidents, environmental activists and traditional hunters, political hustlers and democratic visionaries. During the time he spent in the country, Hetherington became fascinated with the dynamics of power, from the raw power wielded by the young men of rebel groups, to the corrupt power of the transitional government, to the possibilities of a democratically elected president.
Free sign-up here
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Slide.com rocks - they even had a great track by one of my favorite artists, Alanis Morissette, "Underneath" which I think is a perfect fit for my slides. Whoever licensed this to Slide.com - well done, and brilliant marketing! The Music is not auto-on btw - so hit the PLAY button (i.e. speaker icon); it's worth it.
A lot of people have asked me to compile what I think are my best posts from this blog... so here they are, starting from April 2008 to today (and yes, I will try to keep this updated). Enjoy & Share. 1.5MB PDF
gerd_leonhard_media_futurist_best_blog_posts_4-9 2008.pdf
In a nutshell, this is what I do... according to Wordle (which turns text into visualized tags) - see the page on Wordle
Good stuff here: Pics and audio from Chinwag Live: Micro Media Maze | Chinwag - the UK's leading community media company for the new media industry.
Listen to the podcast, part 2, which starts with my comments, right away: "....It used to be Control equals money, now it's TRUST equals Money..." A good debate follows here. This was a cool event. Some free beers, too;)
Good comment from Jemima Kiss at the Guardian
"Futurist and author Gerd Leonhard had a good take on the question of who owns user-generated content. Sites like MySpace and Last.fm do produce content, he said, but it's not the music and the video - it's the clicks and the community...."
First and foremost I am delighted to be able to offer all of my loyal blog readers the printed i.e. dead-tree version of my new book, Music2.0
at a seriously reduced price of 24.95 Euros (rather than 39.95). This
offer expires on June 1, 2008; so be sure to go to this special offer page to order your copy before that date. If you prefer to order via Amazon.com it's now available
there, as well (but without the discount). Check out the book's google juice hereAnd... of course, here are some funny videos I know you've been waiting for:
Keynote Speaker, Think-Tank Leader, Futurist, Author & Strategist, Idea Curator, some say Iconoclast | Heretic, CEO TheFuturesAgency, Visiting Prof FDC Brazil, Green Futurist
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