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Responses to:
Applied Futurism: Putting Trends to Work Today

Submitted on 2 September 2004 by Hillary Roberts, Project Linus NJ Inc., Pres. , Keyport/NJ USA
I see "Differences in vision between the officers and members of all-volunteer associations will similarly lead to tension" as the greatest road block that exists for me. Officers and members with the greatest amount of experience who are reluctant to mentor newcomers, pass the gauntlet or encourage the next evolution of association growth, need to check their professional egos at the door! This sadly common behavior can cause the single largest drop in association membership and participation. Often stalling even the smallest procedural changes.

Please share best practice that associations can adopt to discourage tensions and encourage futurism.

Submitted on 5 August 2004 by Marjorie Moore, Minds Eye Information Service, Belleville, IL USA

Really great topic! I recently started an email digest for our volunteers and I always try to include something to think about at the end. I'm definitely posing some of these questions to my volunteers. Not only will it get them thinking about what exactly they are doing here, but also their responses will cause me to think in a different way.

Submitted on 4 August 2004 by Elizabeth Lowenger, Ontario Veterinary College Alumni Affairs, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario Canada

As a resource, I think demographic trends and information can be very useful. New immigrant populations do not always make the "news" and they often have their own sources of information. Here in Canada we have StatCan which has a great website offering demographic profiling of different communities and how it has changed over the years.

Submitted on 4 August 2004 by Cissy Seibel, United Rehabilitation Services, Dayton, OH USA

Read? Watch trends? Talk to your clients? Yes, that is exactly what business has done for years...sucessful businesses anyway.  But alas, we are our own worse enemies as we continue to think in the past. Stuck in our own time warp believing: 1) everyone SHOULD volunteer; 2) as people get older and retire, surely they will volunteer for my cause; 3) parents and schools should teach volunteerism by making kids volunteer. And other damaging, self-limiting beliefs.  Rise up and get out VMs! Read, hold focus groups, talk to every small or big group you can. Teach the people and they will come. Don't let the 'wave of the future' sink your agency. Use the tools of today like market research studies in your area, changing trends in demographics, school trends, DIVERSITY, focus groups, and more. Use these tools of today to recruit the volunteers of tomorrow. Be on top of the wave!

Submitted on 3 August 2004 by Fran Cook, Calvary Lutheran Church, West Chester, PA USA

Trends lots of times turn into the future! I work at a church and we are studying a report produced by the National YMCA on trends. They have identified ten issues that are effecting not just the Y but also families/communities/programs.

Being proactive and planning your future – the think tank idea is an excellent one to keep your organization vibrant. We are doing just that.

Submitted on 2 August 2004 by Larnie Fox, 23five inc., San Francisco, California, USA

The term "Futurism" applies to an early 20th century art movement, mainly Italian. Look it up in Google.   I'm not sure what you should call the movement you're talking about, but calling it Futurism will confuse the heck out of artists and art historians.

Susan replies: Well, live and learn.  You are right that one use of this term is in art history (which I didn't know and find interesting).  However, keep scrolling in that Google search and you'll find quite a number of uses of the word "futurism" to refer to studies of the future, which of course was my meaning here. 

Submitted on 2 August 2004 by Randi Abrams-Gonzalez, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro, California, USA

Once again a thought provoking article. I would suggest, though, that instead of using the phrase "sexual preferences" that you use sexual orientation. As gay marriage and other such issues are discussed in the media, we need to be sensitive to this volunteer audience and, indeed, volunteer coordinators!

Susan replies: You're absolutely right, Randi, and I've made the change.  Thanks for noticing and commenting.

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