City of Abbotsford paid
$8,000 for speech by futurist
Described as ‘underwhelming’ by one employee
The City of
Abbotsford says it paid a “futurist” $8,000 for an October speech to council
and staff on how a changing world is affecting municipalities.
Nikolas Badminton, who calls himself a
“researcher and futurist speaker” on his website, spoke for about 50 minutes,
then took questions from an audience of about 50 city employees and councillors
in Matsqui Centennial Auditorium on Oct. 26.
The presentation,
which wasn’t open to the public or media, is understood to have included
prognostications about the future, and touched on how automation, the green
energy revolution and changing feelings about urban environments could affect
the future of cities like Abbotsford over the coming decades.
Coun. Dave Loewen,
who tweeted about the presentation, told The News this week that presentations
like Badminton’s are one way large organizations like the city can encourage
change and become less stifling
“Change, today, is
occurring at an increasingly rapid rate, and for local government to continue
to be responsive to needs of residents and to be as financially efficient and
effective as possible is a challenge,” Loewen wrote. “Presentations like Nik
Badminton’s plant seeds in the minds of city staff … Anticipating change is a
cultural shift that the workforce needs to adopt, if it has not already done
so."
One city employee described much of the presentation as “underwhelming,” and
cast a skeptical eye on the ability of prognosticators to accurately predict
the future. But the employee said other parts of the speech touching on more
tangible changes to real-life technology were more useful.
In a written statement, city manager George Murray said the presentation was
tied into Abbotsford’s Plan200K process that includes the
creation of 20 new plans and studies, including new neighbourhood plans, an
affordable housing strategy, and master plans for the city’s parks, transportation,
water, sewer, transit and fire services.
“As a part of this process, and also to help all of our staff at the City of
Abbotsford with considering how we will deliver services to our community in
the future, the City invited futurist Nikolas Badminton to speak to all of our
staff on some of the key considerations for the future of municipalities,”
Murray wrote.
“We also invited some of our community partners and stakeholders to participate
in watching this presentation and also recorded it so that it is available for
staff to review whenever they need.”
Badminton’s website says “He cares about your event, helping you create an
amazing experience, and creating a compelling keynote for your attendees to get
excited and fired up about. It’s a collaborative approach.”
Asked if The News could see the video, city staff pointed to Badminton’s
YouTube channel, which includes several of his speeches.
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