Welcome! GFN is a free, community-edited, nonprofit initiative to find and help connect our planet's 1) professional futurists, 2) futures studies educators, and 3) future-oriented thinkers, and to help them use and improve the most useful online social networks and Web 2.0 tools for advancing our emerging global foresight culture.

You are welcome to contribute to this wiki directory (pages at left) by sharing info on futures people, organizations, and resources (see Wiki Editing Instructions below).

There are now a broad variety of social networks available. We ask you to join and promote at least one of the following free future-oriented social networks, as destination sites for our emerging global futurist community:

1. GFN Facebook
For general futurist networking (presently 820 members). Free. 58M users. Join us and share!
2. GFN LinkedIn. Join us by clicking http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/3037/535E6A2B648E
For business futurist networking (150 members). Free basic. 17M users.
3. Shaping Tomorrow's Foresight Network (STFN)
For professional futurist networking (1,051 members, on Ning)
4. Futures Education and Research Network (FERN) (67 members on STFN's Ning network).
For educational futurist networking, and improving postsecondary FS education. See FERN Wiki.

By joining, using, and critiquing at least one of these networks now, limited as they are, we can each do our part to create better online foresight culture today.

Other Free General Futures Networks and Discussion Groups to Consider Joining
ASF Future Salon Network (1,500 members, 15 Yahoo!/Google/MeetUp/Facebook Groups)

Free local social salons that regularly discuss futures issues in 15 cities around the world so far (start your own!):
Philippines
* Manila Future Salon (Yahoo Group, 211 members, active)
USA
* Atlanta Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 25 members, presently inactive--needs moderator)
* Bay Area Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 815 members, active)
* Boulder Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 63 members, active)
* DC Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 92 members, semiactive--needs co-moderator)
* Honolulu Futures Salon (Yahoo! Group, 13 members, active)
* Las Vegas Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 210 members, active)
* Los Angeles Future Salon (Yahoo Group, 651 members, presently inactive--needsmoderator)
* New York City Future Salon (Meetup Group, 168 members, active)
* Philadelphia Future Salon (Google Group, 115 members, active)
* Phoenix Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 28 members, presently inactive--needs moderator)
* Seattle Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 59 members, semiactive--needs co-moderator)
* San Diego Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 165 members, semiactive--needs co-moderator)
* Santa Cruz Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 86 members, active)
* Second Life Future Salon (Yahoo! Group, 137 members, presently inactive--needs co-moderator)
* Tucson H+ Future Salon (Facebook Group, 132 members, very active--weekly meetings)

ASF North American Future Salon Network - Talk (163 members, semiactive). (USA, Canada)

Open discussion group for attendees of US and Canadian future salons, of any type. Free.

ACUNU Millennium Project (Jerry Glenn and Ted Gordon)

They have thirty four "country nodes," from Argentina to Venezuela. These folks contribute to Millennium Project (State of the Future) foresight work. Great contacts for setting up local foresight groups in these countries!

Applied Foresight Network (254 members, semiactive. Canada, global.)

Broad discussions of "big picture" futures topics (sustainability, ethics, vision). Free.

European Foresight Monitoring Network (EFMN) (59 correspondents. Global.)

Excellent EU-funded foresight materials aggregation community! Includes results of over 1,200 (so far) European and other national foresight studies. Great contacts for meeting foresight researchers.

Extropy-chat (unknown number of members, active. USA, global).

Oldest transhumanist discussion list. Some futures studies, deep thinkers. Mild libertarian bias. Since 1991.

World Transhumanist Association (4,840 members. Active.)

WTA Discussion lists. Topical and regional. WTA Talk is is the main list. Moderate volume.
Transhumanist Student Network Facebook group. (1,353 members. Active.)
Roughly fifty free local chapter lists, from Argentina to Venezuela. Fourteen in USA. Most onmailman platform).
Roughly eighteen WTA chapters meeting monthly. WTA-affiliated online groups and members:
Croatia
* Croatia WTA Chapter (Yahoo! Group, 15 members,active)
Germany
* Munich/Berlin/Bonn WTA Chapter De:Trans (37 members, active)
Mexico
* Mexico City WTA Chapter (Yahoo! Group, 77 members, semiactive)
Slovenia
* Slovenian WTA Chapter (Yahoo! Group, 15 members, semiactive)
Uganda
* Kampala WTA Chapter (Yahoo! Group, 15 members, semiactive)
United Kingdom
* Cambridge, Cambridge U. Ethics & Emerging Tech. Society (14 members at FB group, active)
USA
* Phoenix, H+ Club (30 members, active)
* Tucson, H+ Club at U. of AZ (100 members, very active: weekly meetings)

Recommended Fee-Based Futures Networks to Consider Joining
Association of Professional Futurists (APF)

$195/$50 per year. 300-400 members. Active. Great discussion list, great professional network.
For those who:

• Know the tools and perspectives of futures studies, and use them to enable others to identify options, decisions, and actions in the present
• Employ long-term thinking and planning and encourage others to do so
• Encourage the application of the tools and perspectives of futures studies in public, private and professional endeavors

Australasian Futures and Foresight Association (AFFA)

$330/165 per year. Membership unknown. Started Feb 2008. Same joining criteria as APF.

World Future Society (WFS)

$49/$20 per year.25,000 members, but no known online discussion groups.
The oldest and largest futures organization. Nonpartisan, broad based.

WFS Chapter Lists (Africa/Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Europe, No. America, So./Central America)

A number of futurists are listed as "chapter heads" with contact emails. Small annual chapter fees.
Chapters with websites (and any known online discussion groups, if any).
South Korea
* Seoul (Korea Node of the UN Millennium Project, size unknown, activity unknown)
USA
* Austin (Central Texas Chapter, size unknown, semiactive)
* Boston (Boston Chapter, size unknown, presently inactive)
* Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs Chapter, size unknown, presently inactive)
* Dallas (Dallas Chapter, size unknown, presently inactive)
* DC (National Capital Region Chapter, size unknown, active)
* Madison (Madison Chapter, size unknown, semiactive)
* New York (New York Chapter, size unknown, activity unknown)
* Philadelphia (Philadelphia, size unknown, semiactive)

World Futures Studies Federation

$150/$50 per year? 200-300 members, semiactive.
For persons "active in futures studies, practice, or future oriented social change" only.

World Transhumanist Association

$50/$20 per year. 4,840 members. Active. Many free discussion lists.

Do you know any other active futures groups or networks, anywhere in the world? Tell us!
As we find others, we will list them here.

Web Tools We Recommend (a very incomplete list).
DOAJ. Directory of Open Access Journals, scientific and scholarly. Full text. Free.
Docstoc. Sharing business, legal, and other professional documents. Free.
GDocs and Spreadsheets. Good basic collaboration platform. Free.
GMail and GCalendar. Clean, fast, reasonably full-featured. Free basic.
GReader. Great tool for organizing RSS feeds and tracking site updates. Free.
iGoogle. Fast, customizable, reasonably useful home page. Free.
LibraryThing. Catalog & find others with the same books. Free basic. 200K users.
Linqia. Search tool to find global online groups and social networks, by keyword interest.
Ning. Create your own full-featured social networks. Free.
Plaxo Pulse. FB-like business network. Free. 13M Plaxo users (not Pulse).
Slideshare. Largest community for publicly sharing your presentations. Free.
SmugMug. Best online photosharing. Document your life. $40/yr. 300K users.
Spock. A search tool for finding people by interest. Free. 80M "indexed" people.
Wetpaint. Easy personal or enterprise wikis. Free basic. 600K wikis (+ this site).
Xing. For business networking. Free basic. 4M users.
Yelp. Good reviews of all your local businesses and services. Democracy in action! Free.


What You Can Do Today
1. Join Facebook, create a profile there, and join our GFN Facebook group. Invite colleagues. Join and participate in other Facebook groups of interest, simple as they are today. Visit FB on at least a bimonthly basis. Post to the GFN wall, forums, share events, pictures, videos, etc, on at least a quarterly basis. Update your FB profile at least quarterly as well.
2. Join GFN LinkedIn, by clicking http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/3037/535E6A2B648E. Note: A GFN group administrator must manually approve your join request, so it may take a few days before GFN group access appears on your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn groups functionality is presently primitive, but it is a start.
3. If you are an academic or professional futurist, please join ST's Foresight Network, at http://shapingtomorrowmain.ning.com/, and look foror establish groups there that fit with your personal foresight interests.
4. Share any high-quality futures resources that you have discovered here, on the appropriatepage of this GFN wiki. If you contribute in any way, feel free to add your profile (real name please) and picture here. Display an email (get a public Gmail account if needed) so others can contact you. Thank you!

Wiki Editing Instructions
Once you log in (at the top right of this page) the "Easy Edit" button appears at the top of every editable page. Please add your edits to the relevant wiki page itself (using the same formatting and style) or in the threads (comments section) at the bottom of the relevant page. See Navigation pane at the top left for all available wiki pages. Please use the correct format for your entries, and be relevant, truthful, courteous, and concise. Finally, feel free to introduce yourself, ask a question, or start conversation in the GFN discussion forum (optional). Questions? Advice? Like to help promote and build GFN? Contact johnsmart{at}accelerating{dot}org.

What About the Limitations of Today's Social Networks?
Today's online networks still have many shortcomings as social platforms. But the reality is these tools will improve the fastest the more of us are using and critiquing them. For Facebook, you may also wish to join Facebook groups that keep tabs on their corporate responsibility. You can follow the Wikipedia pages (Facebook, LinkedIn) of these companies to gauge their ethics and response to community feedback. Social networking in the Web 2.0 era has "tipped." Come join us in these online networks. Together we can create real global foresight community, today.

GFN Mission
Advancing our planet's emerging foresight culture.

GFN Priorities
1. Improving free online global foresight resources.
2. Networking our planet's future-oriented thinkers.
3. Engaging in global futures studies development.
4. Helping futurists expand their social, educational, and professional opportunities.

GFN is an initiative of the Acceleration Studies Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit.

Endorsements
The following leading futures groups publicly endorse GFN and its mission. Please visit them to find out more about their important work, and patronize them as well. They need your participation, support, and feedback to grow.

Academic Programs
MA in Alternative Futures, University of Hawaii (Jim Dator, Director)
MS in Futures Studies, University of Houston (Peter Bishop, Director)

Professional Organizations and Consultancies
Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies (Jim Dator, Director)

Do you represent a leading futures organization? Would you like to endorse GFN's mission by being publicly listed here? Contact johnsmart{at}accelerating{dot}org.