APF’s 15th Birthday | Hinesight....for Foresight

A survey of 300 futurists back in 2000 found that 54% agreed on the need for a professional association…which means that 46% did not — hardly overwhelming support! Nonetheless, a spirited group of around a dozen or so committed individuals made it happen two years later with the founding of the APF. Founding is one thing, but making it a viable ongoing concern is quite another. The founders had quite a debate about whether we should just meet and hang out on an ad hoc basis, or take on the task of forming a professional association. While we chose the latter, it is fair to say that the early years were heavily focused on networking and hanging out. We put together just enough structure to constitute a professional association. The good news is that members found enough value in coming together to make a go of it.

By 2010, it was time for the Founders to let go. It was a bit of a rocky transition (as most Founder transitions are), but thankfully Cindy Frewen and a new team of committed individuals stepped into the void and led APF into a new era. While she was indeed helped by many individuals, I think it is fair to say that Cindy saved the APF. As she prepares to step down after six years as Board Chair, I would like to personally acknowledge and thank her for the tremendous amount of work and energy she put into the APF. She not only “restored order” but has significantly shaped up the operations of APF. Her experience in running her own business for many years proved invaluable to getting APF on much more solid footing. We are still a mostly volunteer organization, but we just recently surpassed 500 members.

So as APFers met on Seattle last weekend for the annual N. American Gathering, the organization is once again on the cusp of a significant change. Seattle was chosen as the venue this year to honor an informal gathering held there 15 years ago that catalyzed the formation of APF. Many of the founders were in Seattle, mixing in with a growing cadre of new members. As is always the case, we had a tremendous experience with an exceptional slate of speakers and the hugely valuable networking that is core to APF Gatherings. Now, it’s time for a new group of leaders to guide APF on the next leg of its journey. I’m very excited to see what emerges. – Andy Hines

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About Andy Hines

Dr. Andy Hines is Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.

Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.

Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations.

In this pursuit, he has authored five books: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997); and Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994) and has another in the hands of publishers: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education. He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.

About Andy Hines

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