Short Bio of Speaker

Richard Neville has been a practising futurist since 1963, when he launched a magazine that widened the boundaries of free speech on two continents. In the 70'sand 80's, both as an author and social commentator, his discussions of trends,innovation, the new consumer, info-tech and globalisation reached a mass TVaudience. In the 90's, Richard became a full time futurist, both in print and onconference stages. Since then, he has delivered over 350 keynote addresses. Whilethe content is widely varied, depending on the needs of clients, his aim is toempower audiences to contemplate a range of possible futures. Is there a patternbehind the blur? What are the driving forces of change? How will our lives beaffected? Richard looks at work, learning, lifestyle, cities, shopping, tomorrow's tech, the new economics, weather and the seven deadly threats facing theworld. As well as dealing with the perils and promise of what lies ahead, Richard offers his audience a range of take-away tools for decoding the future.

WHO ARE HIS CLIENTS?

Just about every major organization in Australia has hired Richard, and his material is continually updated with breakthrough research. Richard's clients include blue chip brand names, stuffy banks, nervous universities, Government departments, media groups, NGO's, insurance giants, the tourist industry, developers, anti developers, tiny country towns afraid of dying, throbbing cities afraid of choking, the national 2 parks [ "The Future of Leisure "], ad agencies, accountants, professional associations, liquor chains, high schools, the military, the Federal Police and more.

IS IT ALWAYS KEYNOTES?

It's also fire-side chats for boards of directors, brainstorming sessions for brand managers (Pizza 2030?), salon-style dinner parties for change agents, an edgy briefing for "Kaos Pilots ". It can be a half-day seminar on "info age leadership skills ",or "how to incubate creativity ". It can be a rigorous multi-week journey into scenario planning, a public meeting in an ailing town, or a two week road show for a photocopier firm.

Richard has addressed the travel industry in Delhi, the Rotary Club in Cochin, an Alumni Association in Kuching, a Pharmaceutical company in Kuala Lumpur, an academic conference in Bangkok, a Hotel's "partnership breakfast " in Vanuatu....

SO WHY IS HE CONTROVERSIAL?

Because he is a futurist with a past. The first issue of the satirical magazine launched at university, Oz, was prosecuted for being "obscene ", even though it wasn't. All through the sixties, the mag mocked authority and criticised Government policies, especially its war in Vietnam, attracting a huge readership in Sydney and London. It was often raided by police. Looking back, Richard regards the creation of Oz as his first foray into futurism. In 1971, he published PLAYPOWER, a best selling guide to the global youthquake which forecast the social impact of the coming digital age. Richard was right about the rise of "computer culture ", and dead wrong to suggest that this would extend the hours of leisure.

SO THEN WHAT HAPPENED?

After a controversial trial at London's Old Bailey, Richard was hired by the London Evening Standard as its "Alternative Voice ". For the next few years he roamed the world reporting on youth cultures, social inventions and the shape of the future. He broadcast regularly on ABC radio and wrote for an array of newspapers and magazines. In New York in 1977, Richard was commissioned to write a book about a serial killer incarcerated in Delhi, who preyed upon Wester backpackers. The resulting biography of Charles Sobhraj, (co-authored by Julie Clarke) was a global best-seller. It inspired several TV docu-dramas and its charismatic subject, after a spell of freedom, is back in jail.

In the 80's, Richard returned to Australia and joined Channel 9's popular Mid-Day Show, where he reported on popular culture, wild ideas and the quest for sustainability. Richard's segments often aroused controversy, as when he inhaled on camera (to test the impact of marijuana on driving). These segments evolved into the Channel Ten series, Extra Dimensions, looking at sustainability & human potential. In the 90's, in a variety of media, Richard explored the new role for business in the 21st Century. This led to keynote addresses at national conferences, and the essay collection, Out of My Mind (Penguin). He also published his Sixties memoir, Hippie Hippie Shake, as well as co-launching the Australian Futures Foundation in order to bring futures thinking into the mainstream.

SEEING THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE FUTURE IN THE SHIFTING SANDS

• In the new millennium, Richard remains a social commentator
• with a sharp tongue, who expresses his views in the mass media.
• However, in his role as a professional
• futurist, such views are not shoved
• down the throats of the audience.
• The twin-nature of Richard's commentary
• can be gleaned by the titles of his last
• two published books, Amerika Psycho,
• which appeared shortly before September11/2001 and
• the more recent, Footprints of the Future, a handbook for the third millennium.
• As change accelerates, we need to switch our foresight to high beam.

Topics

THE FUTURE

Title: THE promise and the perils of the future;

Target Audience: All: Corporate conferences, NGO's Community, Government, etc.

Level of Sophistication: General/Basic/Intermediate/Advanced: Adapted to audience level .

Duration of Talk (Excluding Breaks):. From 45 minutes to 1 hour keynotes or full day training seminars: Anyone can be a Futurist.

List of connected topics: Hot Housing creativity, Beyond the triple bottom line, Post Modern leadership, weak signals, wild cards and the patterns behind the blur.

Synopsis of Presentation: A topical and entertaining overview of the futures landscape which empowers the audience to read the patterns behind the blur. What are the major driving forces of change? How will they impact on your business, your daily life, on major institurions? Richard takes us through the information revolutions, the quest for sustainability, the emerging politics of social justice and much more, in order to assist the audience in making their own mind maps of tomorrow. It's less about predicting the details of tomorrow, more about turning the future into a friend.

Who Should Attend: All levels, all occupations, all genders.

How you will benefit: Empowered to surf the future, instead of drowining in info-glut.