2010

This time of year, everybody and their Twitter Follow List seems to reach for the Magic 8 Ball and shake out a list of predictions for the coming year. The Guru of New is no different, except for the fact that my Magic 8 Ball says REPLY HAZY TRY AGAIN more than most. That said, here are the ideas and inspirations — trends and technologies — that should be on your Radar in 2010.

Social Media is dead. Long live Social Media.
After this phase of Hey-Ma-look-at me! Social Media, much of the silliness is over. These early years remind me of the early years of the Interwebs when that first rallying cry — “Find me a teenager!” echoed throughout the land. Now companies have learned that it takes the occasional grown-up to understand the nitty-gritty of business and that 80% of social media activity should be about LISTENING. With the hype over, now the real business people can get down to work and deal with the real issues, such as:

On the Guru’s New-O-Meter: Privacy issues are heating up, with Toxic Identity Spills, Google’s dust-up with China, and Mark Zuckerberg‘s recent quip that some aspects of privacy are pretty much a thing of the past. Uh-huh. Use your privacy settings, folks! Or maybe just invest in the new Anti WiFi Paint , which researchers say can block wi-fi signals. And don’t forget to install an anti-pararazzi laser privacy shield on your super yacht.

Neo-Now.
Never before has there been so much power in Now. Today we have so many tools and technologies to keep us firmly in the moment that we’re immersed in a constant stream of Real Time updates, data, interaction and buzz, some of which we may actually enjoy. Craving melty chocolate chip cookies? Make sure you’re getting Warm Cookie Alerts. Or follow the many droolworthy food cart updates on Twitter. Want to track and analyze every second of your daily activity? Fasten Fitbit to your bod. Slammed by migraines? Get weather alerts to help ward them off.

1000 Words (The New Visual Language)
Is America’s Head Going to Explode? With the avalanche of data we’re ingesting by the zettrabyte and our deeply entrenched fascination with information, visuals are rapidly rising in importance. Pictures/graphics are increasingly necessary in a global environment in which words — especially too many words — are lost in translation. This may be the year spelling plunges to the bottom of our educational To Do List. It’s already pretty much vanished on Twitter, in texting and on mobile devices. Smart marketers will use icons, big juicy pictures and graphics to tell their brand’s story. Or maybe they’ll just discover Tumblr.

Home Safe. “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like …”
Is there such a thing as Home Safe anymore? With constant disruption and the word ‘foreclosure’ perpetually trending, Americans are taking a new look at what makes us feel safe. We’re desperate for sanctuary, chill time, down time, family time, Zen Time — and yes, there’s still no place for that like home. But as we cozy up, we’re remembering that “home” stretches beyond our newly-solar roof and into our neighborhoods, communities and farms. We’re burrowing deep into our local Farmers Markets –nearly 60% try to shop at one of our nation’s 5,000 markets; we also support CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Jumping on the trend, Wal-Mart and Safeway recently added “Locally Grown” sections to their produce departments, while the USDA launched a “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” marketing campaign.

We’re also switching from “too big to fail” banks to our local community banks — and many of our children are choosing the value-priced community college option. “Shop Local” campaigns were everywhere this holiday season. The reward? For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $68 comes back to the community. Only $43 recirculates from national chain stores.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
Since the dino-days of 600 baud, pundits have urged the cyber-obsessed to stop staring at the computer screen and get the heck outside (no, the air from your PC fan doesn’t count). Now, thanks to your trusty mobile device and gazillions of apps (nearly 75,000 iPhone apps and 20,000 for Android), we have all new reasons to be out and about, navigating nimbly through the real world.

On the Guru’s New-O-Meter: One of the buzziest of the new reasons to exit the cube is the location-based social and gaming network called FourSquare. Mashable calls this game-changer ‘like Twitter before it was Twitter.’ Even though I’m semi-ticked at FourSquare because I never go anywhere other than Home Depot and thus can’t be the Mayor of anything, I am considering chugging the Koolaid simply because I do see amazing implications for business. Especially retail. And real estate. And oh yeah, travel. And education. And even finally figuring out how to monetize the social universe.

Also Bubbling Up: If Neo-Now still isn’t enough, add some Augmented Reality to your new. This new technology blurs the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell. AR uses your iPhone’s camera, GPS, and compass to show virtual items in the real world. Put your camera in front of a restaurant and it will come up with info, or use it to find nearby Twitter users. The potential is endless. Check out Layar, which is generating a lot of gee-whiz in The Netherlands. And Yelp’s been testing new AR tech, too.

M-Powered Travel
Spend 5 minutes in an airport or hotel and you’ll see that we’re already living in a Mobile-Powered Travel world. Simply watch the hordes of travelers busily tweeting, texting, mapping, navigating, rating and reviewing. Lufthansa’s MySkyStatus tool gives travellers the option of having their flight status updates posted automatically to either Facebook or Twitter. Ski Report lets skiers view and publish first-hand ski reports and photos right from the slopes. Boarding is the new French tool that lets you find your mini Twitterverse inside the airport. Red Carnation Hotels smartly use social media for their popular Tweekends, wisely protecting their extensive brand equity. And check out Kayak’s close-to-realtime travel trend reports. Is your next destination trending upward or downward? (More travel trends to come in Part 2)

Are You A Gigster? Our new world re-invents work.
Who wants a gold watch anyway? Once upon a time, when I signed on to a project, the boss always tried to pretend I was actually an employee, rather than a consulting guru. Those days are long gone, vanished into the 12% unemployment rate that’s wreaked havoc with corp payrolls. Now, sitting around the conference room table are permutations never seen before – project workers, retainers, part-timers, part-time maternity, rent-a-VP or contract CMO’s, freelancers, job-sharers – all GIGSTERS. Like co-working, co-space, Cubes & Crayons, barter/exchange, the new Gigocracy trend is sure to grow as our world reinvents working.

Bubbling up: SupermarketSarah decided to leave the corporate world and create her own gig. This Gigster is doing just fine, thank you, with her shop just around the corner from London’s Portabello Road.

No surprise that Gigsters are also big fans of The New Potluck Economy, a trend I identified back in 2008. More than ever, we’re sharing– bartering, trading, link-exchanging, Freecycling, donating, giving of ourselves and our stuff in a myriad of imaginative ways. Check out beta site NeighborGoods, the online community where you can save and earn money by sharing stuff with your friends or “It’s good to share” site ooffoo. And speaking of sharing, a new concept in food – People’s Supermarket – is a grocery store that sounds like something dreamed up at the Orange Julius in Berkeley, circa 1969. Because the workforce is nearly all volunteers, staff costs are kept low – which means your shopping can be cheaper while your food is better.

LIFE U
The concept of Upskilling has morphed into more than taking a few classes to get a job. Today Upskilling is about enhancing, improving, re-inventing our lives via new kinds of education. Whether it’s one of Crushpad’s wine-making classes, a LandRover Experience School, a class that teaches us how to teach English abroad or community-powered “unconferences” like LaidOffCamp and unclasses, we’re growing even more passionate about learning and discovery. First identified by the Guru in 2006, Vocation Vacations are still going strong – making it possible to be a 40-year old intern!

Social Goods: From Me-Commerce to We-Commerce
Our mass Affluenza epidemic is over. We’re (thankfully) maxed out on maxi-everything, in search of what matters now that we’ve transformed from Me-Commerce to We-Commerce. Now we’re after feeling good, not feeling guilty, which is exactly why 67% in a recent survey say they would switch brands if another brand of similar quality supported a good cause. Smart luxury brands are figuring this out: Tory Burch told a recent audience about the new concept of luxury: “A long time ago it was about wealth. Now it’s about how you live your life.” From Disney’s “Give a Day, Get a Day” program to Ritz Carlton’s “Give Back Getaways” to Tom’s Shoes, feeling social good is the way to go.

The New Normal
Everybody’s contemplating their navel more these days as the New Normal becomes less about nabbing that elusive Birkin and more about what matters. Elizabeth Gilbert, the surprise bride of the year, focused on what makes it all work in her bestseller Eat, Pray, Love. Others pick up the gauntlet, from Robert Holden’s Happiness Project to Gretchen Rubin’s book and site.

Stay tuned for Part 2!