A Time For Seekers

By Jane Hodgkinson

A statewide tax cap is imminent. Citizens want governments to do more with less. People are fed up with taxes. Park boards struggle with media scrutiny and are frustrated by residents' conflicting complaints while trying to strike a balance in services. Consolidation efforts loom around the comer. Recreation professionals question how they will maintain their personal and professional roles in the future. California, the pioneer of Proposition 13, is witness to the elimination of many park and recreation departments, as well as some college curricula. Looking at this bleak picture of the future, we must ask, like Ebenezer Scrooge to the Spirit, "Is this a picture of what will be or what could be?"

Every thirty years or so stable governments undergo significant directional changes. In America, note the changes under the depression and cold war to see major shifts in the types of services people wanted from their governments. At this juncture in 1993, we face a new avenue. People want more menu choices from us, less red tape and more flexibility in hours and programs.

We need to review our practices and throw out the archaic. Like industry, we need to reinvent the public recreation field. That reinvention means that we must fundamentally change the way we do business. We must break away from outdated rules and fundamental assumptions that underlie operations. Unless we change assumptions, we merely rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.

We can not achieve breakthroughs in performance by cutting fat. Rather, we need to challenge old assumptions and shed rules that hinder our ability to see new directions. We must open our minds to some radically different and creative opinions.

There has probably never been a time since the dawn of humankind when someone didn't make his or her living by trying to guess what lies ahead. We look to others to share their creative ideas with us. Obviously, forecasting is not a science. Yet it is far more advanced than an art form. After World War II, the Department of Defense asked the Rand (Research and Development) Corporation to try to predict what technologies would emerge to affect future wars. Early forecasting techniques that predicted the future, such as the Delphi process and scenario writing, were later replaced by normative processes that actually attempted to invent the future by identifying some future situation or event and defining the ways to get there. The difference between predictive and normative futurology is the difference between wondering what will happen and making something happen.

On September 27-28, 1993, the Illinois Park and Recreation Association invites you to participate in an innovative seminar geared to preparing you to "make something happen." Assembled on one stage will be some of the most dynamic thinkers of our time who will share their visions of the future.

The seminar will feature such speakers as David Pearce Snyder, a pioneer social forecaster who is instrumental in helping many Fortune 500 companies determine their strategies and decisions. He edits the "Lifestyles Section" of Futurist Magazine. A former consultant to the Rand Corporation, he is the editor/co- author of four books, including Future Forces and America in the 1990's.

Dr. Hazel Henderson coined the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally." She is the author of four books, the most recent being Paradigms in Progress. She has written articles for Christian Science Monitor, Saturday Review, Harvard Business Review, U.S. News and World Report, New York Times, The Futurist and many other publications. She has appeared on "The Today Show" "A.M. America," "Bill Mayor's Journal and produced a CBS "Sunrise Series."

Ted Gaebler is co-author of the best-seller Reinventing Government. Now in its tenth printing since 1991, this book outlines the course government must take toward the future to become entrepreneurial and competitive. In the age of tax caps and consolidation of local government, few books are more prophetic. A former city manager, Ted offers great insight for anyone who is interested in the future of government in America.

Dr. Ken Balmer is president of Rethink Group of Canada. He specializes in strategic planning, management and leadership with a focus on foresight. He is a past president of the Canadian Parks/Recreation Association. He will provide the most specific view of the leisure field.

This once-in-a-lifetime program is entitled "Gateway to the Future." Registration for the program will be limited to the first 300 people. On the second day, participants will develop their vision of the future and the role leisure will play in that vision through exercises in small group work led by Dr. Balmer. An executive from Leaps and Bounds will address the luncheon crowd about McDonald's move into indoor play areas. Participants may attend either the first day only or both days' activities.

Registration for the program will begin in the spring. Members of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association and the Illinois Association of Park Districts are encouraged to mark September 27-28 on your calendars now. Anyone who has an interest in the future of park and recreation should weigh the importance of this seminar. Seekers of knowledge are welcome.

About the Author

Jane Hodgkinson is the Executive Director of Western DuPage Special Recreation Association and Co-Chairman of the "Gateway to the Future. "