Reflecting on Past APF Gatherings

This year’s Gathering, the Learning Remix, curated by Derek Woodgate with the assistance of the fabulous Maggie, and Gatherings Guru Joe
Tankersly, added to the rich tradition of outstanding Gatherings. It also marked the close of “Gatherings Survivor” with Peter Bishop emerging as the winner – he is
now the only member to have attended every annual gathering, as Christian Crews finally had to miss one. It caused me to reflect on past gatherings, so I dug through my notes and put together this brief compilation of our 13 annual Gatherings over the years.

1. The Applied Future Summit, Future-at-Work venue, Seattle, April 5 – 6, 2002, with a motto of “Creating the Future, One Futurist at a Time, was not actual an APF event, but in some respects a kind of birthing event for APF in that it was at that meeting that a core group of APFers decide to give it a go. Notable to me was the captivating three-hour “tell us why you became a futurist” intros.
2. The Future of Futures, Austin, Driskill Hotel, Feb 28-March 1, 2003, was a scenario workshop on the futures of the field. Identified the Lifeboat, Nirvana, Rolling their Own, and All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go scenarios. In addition to being a working event, it coincided with Mardi Gras on 6^th
3. The Future of Reality, Las Vegas, Green Valley Ranch, March 25-27, 2004. Vegas was the perfect setting to talk about reality as we probed beneath its façade. Notable for the infamous stretch Hummer limo tour of the Vegas strip at night.
4. The !Futures Insurrection! Beach House Bal Harbour, Miami, April 31- March 2, 2005, covered our personal space as practitioners, the market space of clients, and the public space of public opinion for our work, and an open space session. Notable was the lively Lincoln Boulevard strip and for some a trip to the World Erotic Art museum.
5. iMod: Hacking the Big Ideas, Bishops Lodge, Santa Fe, New Mexico, March 30-April 1, 2006, was focused on the art of storytelling. Notable for a fabulous opening from a Native American storyteller the 1^st session of “Little Bigs” at an annual gathering.
6. Future Identities, Vancouver, BC, April 19-21, 2007, on the future of identity. What was of note to me was that this was the Gathering knocked me out of Gatherings survivor.
7. The Future of Social Media, New York, May 1-3, 2008, was a boot camp on social media tools and an exploration of their implications. Notable for me was my first exposure to Twitter and for the group it was probably the trip to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art).
8. Futures by Design, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, March 18-21, 2009 explored the intersection of foresight and design with a Serious Play session in which participants got down and dirty with Lego’s, and another interesting museum exhibit: Data + Art: Science and Art in the Age of Information at the Pasadena Museum of California Art.
9. Foresight and the Power of Big Questions, Denver, May 14-15, 2010, was framed around two big questions: What you into the field? And what are the big questions for the next 15 years? Noted for its breathtaking location at the foot of the Rockies and the requisite mountain climb.
10. Emergence: The Future of Governance and New Economic Models, Oxford University, September 10-12, 2011, featured more than a dozen speakers talking about various aspects of new models for the future, and was notable for its setting at the historic Oxford campus.
11. Play, Games, Simulations and the Future, The Grand Bohemia, May 1-4, 2012, Orlando was an immersion into the world of games and play and their role in thinking about and experiencing the future, in which participants created their own game during one session, and of course, we were on the Disney property.
12. Convergence: How Social Networkers, Makers, and Social Entrepreneurs Are Sharing To Shift The Future, San Francisco, CA, March 31- April 2, 2014 in which we explored the world of makers via Learning Journeys, notable in part of the trolley car shouting match between passengers that appeared ready to erupt into violence at any second.
13. The Learning Remix, The Artmore, Atlanta GA, October 15-17 in which we explored the future of learning via site visits and discussions, notable for interacting with students working on AI to enhance creativity and some excellent debate enhanced by some on-site coaching. — Andy Hines