Richard Neville

Australia's Most Controversial Futurist

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's and 80's, both as an author and social commentator, his discussions of trends, innovation, the new consumer, info-tech and globalisation reached a mass TV audience. In the 90's, Richard became a full time futurist, both in print and on conference stages.

Since then, he has delivered over 350 keynote addresses. While the content is widely varied, depending on the needs of clients, his aim is to empower audiences to contemplate a range of possible futures. Is there a pattern behind the blur? What are the driving forces of change? How will our lives be affected? Richard looks at work, learning, lifestyle, cities, shopping, tomorrow's tech, the new economics, weather and the seven deadly threats facing the world. 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 parks ["The Future of Leisure"], ad agencies, accountants, professional associations, liquor chains, high schools, the military, the Federal Police and many 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 an international best-seller. The book has inspired several TV docu-dramas and its charismatic subject was recently jailed in Katmandu.

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 TV series, Extra Dimensions. 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 of, 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. Richard is now a principal at Sydney's Neville Freeman agency.

WHAT'S NEW

Richard Neville's latest take on things to come, draws from the farthest reaches of social and scientific research, as well as wild cards and weak signals.

For over a decade Richard has been helping audiences get a sense of what's coming down the line, bringing into focus key issues long before they hit the mainstream: Peak Oil, Peak Water, Resource Wars, Renewable Energy, Rising Sea Levels, Post Carbon Lifestyles, etc. But now it is time to look further ahead.

In his updated 'Future Show', supported by striking visuals, Richard takes the audience on a fast paced journey from Socrates to the Sixties to the outer reaches of the 21st Century, to reveal how innovation and bright ideas spark paradigm shifts and new economies. Despite today's threats, opportunities abound. Each presentation is tailored to inform, inspire and connect with the concerns of its audience.

The future leaves its 'footprints on the sand', says Richard, who offers ways to detect these 'weak signals' and track their escalation. The road ahead is 'paved with perils and promise', so he urges his audience to engage the future and to cultivate the knack of 'living in three times zones'- past, present and future. It's not as hard as it sounds. In this age of acceleration, getting a grip on the future is a vital tool of empowerment. And it's fun.

Hot topics: wars without end, wealth gap, bio mimicry, Wild Law, steady state economics, eco-art, 'what you own, owns you', leaderless terror, peak everything, mass media as a false refection of the future, cities on the edge, tomorrow's tech, delusional leadership, chasing utopia, lethal ideas, High School revolution, helping each other succeed, planetary ethics.

Why let tomorrow take you by surprise?