FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

More than 1,000 Futurists to Converge on Minneapolis, July 29-31 to Discuss Major Issues of the 21st Century

            Bethesda, MD: More than 1,000 futurists from such institutions and organizations as Kellogg Company, 3M Information Technology, IBM, NASA, Aveda, Rutgers University, Wells Fargo, Sun Microsystems, Saab AB, CSP Japan Inc., the U.S. Army and Air Force, General Motors, and from countries all over the world will converge on the Hilton Minneapolis July 29-31, for the annual conference of the World Future Society. This year's conference, titled WorldFuture 2007: Fostering Hope and Vision for the 21st Century, will feature nearly 100 sessions and presentations on such topics as nanotechnology, biotechnology, security and terrorism, and environmental stewardship. 

"We look forward to welcoming fascinating and informed speakers and enthusiastic attendees from around the world to a conference that will be teeming with leading-edge innovations in interactive engagement and communications," said Joel A. Barker, conference chair and coauthor of the book Five Regions of the Future: Preparing Your Business for Tomorrow's Technology Revolution.

Founded in 1966 as a nonprofit educational and scientific organization in Washington, D.C., the World Future Society has some 25,000 members in more than eighty countries around the world. Individuals and groups from all nations are eligible to join the Society and participate in its programs and activities.

The Society holds a two-day, international conference once a year where participants discuss foresight techniques and global trends that are influencing the future. Previous conference attendees have included future U.S. President Gerald Ford (1974), Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy (1975), behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner (1984), age-wave expert Ken Dychtwald (2005), U.S. comptroller general David M. Walker (2006), and scientist and inventor Ray Kurzweil (2006).

Presenting at this year's conference: Gregory Stock of the UCLA School of Public Health; Helen Fisher of Rutgers University, author of Why We Love; Tor Dahl, founder, president and CEO of Tor Dahl associates; Nat Irvin II of Wake Forest University; Ronald Bailey of Reason magazine; and dozens more. Registration for the conference is $600.     

For information about WorldFuture 2007, contact the World Future Society at 1-301-656-8274 or e-mail director of communications Patrick Tucker, ptucker@wfs.org, or Susan Echard, sechard@wfs.org, vice president for membership and conference operations, or check the World  Future Society's Web site, www.wfs.org.