You must be as weary as I am of media analysts who try to explain what has already happened, as if they had made it happen or knew all along that it would happen.
I’m much more interested in the people whose thinking caps are focused on the future–what does what’s happening now have to do with what might happen next?
So in the spirit of your kickoff activities for 2009, I offer to you whale hunters and other entrepreneurs an eclectic little list of provocative sites where you will find predictions–both exciting and sobering–about trends that will influence consumers, businesses, governments, and the global economy.
A serious site, Gerald Celente’s Trends Research Institute offers very little for free, but you an subscribe to his quarterly journal or explore consulting services to help you manage new product and service ideas or offerings. Watch for Celente on Oprah, CNN, and other major media.
Check out the TrendSpotting Blog–all about online marketing and social media. Refreshingly clever presentation and an all-round solid job on aggregating the trend ideas of other major figures in the marketing space.
Not a trend analysis site, but slideshare.com offers a great location to find publicly-shared presentation decks, many of which were developed from amazing data sets. I’ve found futures-oriented advice on topics ranging from an analysis of India’s economy in comparison to the US to the Top Ten Technology Inventions of 2008.
Whale hunting is all about beating your competitors in market intelligence. Where do you go to shop for trends?