Dr. John Vanston Speaks on Minitrends at the Metro Breakfast Club on May 2
May 1, 2012
The Metropolitan Breakfast Club of Austin presents Dr. John H. Vanston speaking on MINITRENDS: How to Discover & Profit From EmergingTrends.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 2, 7:00-8:30am
(Breakfast: 7:00-7:50 am, Presentation: 7:50-8:30 am)
WHERE: UT Club, 6th Floor, Darrell Royal Memorial Stadium
2108 E. Robert Dedman Drive, Austin, TX 78705
In this presentation, Dr. John Vanston introduces a new concept – Minitrends – that offers very attractive possibilities to individuals and businesses that learn its principles and apply those principles in a practical business environment. This concept provides a new approach for finding and taking advantage of emerging trends that will become significant in 2-5 years, but are not yet widely recognized or appreciated.
- Individual entrepreneurs will learn how to identify, assess, and exploit new business opportunities.
- Decision makers in small and mid-size businesses will learn how to gain advantage by recognizing and utilizing emerging trends.
- Innovative thinkers in large businesses will learn how to distinguish themselves by their special perceptiveness.
- Investors will learn how to uncover attractive new investment opportunities.
Dr. John Vanston is Chairman of TFI, an Austin-based company he founded in 1978 and has built into a leading custom research and technology forecasting firm working with telecom and other high-technology industries. This presentation is based on Dr. Vanston’s 30 years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends and the new book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends authored by Dr. Vanston with his daughter Carrie Vanston.
Sign Up for the Minitrends Session Now
MBC Members: $16.00, Guests: $16.00 for up to three visits, then $25.00
Cost includes buffet breakfast & parking:
Free parking in garage across the street with validated ticket.
_________________
The Metropolitan Breakfast Club, located at the University of Texas Club, provides a weekly forum for members and guests to hear community and business leaders speak about issues that impact our city, our state, and our world.
Free Minitrends Session with Dr. John Vanston, March 27, Austin, TX
March 20, 2012
RISE presents a free session with Dr. John H. Vanston speaking on MINITRENDS: How to Discover & Profit From EmergingTrends.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 27, 2012, from 2:00pm – 3:30pm
WHERE: Lake Creek Office Park Meeting Room, 13740 Research Blvd., Austin, Texas 78750
In this presentation, Dr. John Vanston introduces a new concept – Minitrends – that offers very attractive possibilities to individuals and businesses that learn its principles and apply those principles in a practical business environment. This concept provides a new approach for finding and taking advantage of emerging trends that will become significant in 2-5 years, but are not yet widely recognized or appreciated.
- Individual entrepreneurs will learn how to identify, assess, and exploit new business opportunities.
- Decision makers in small and mid-size businesses will learn how to gain advantage by recognizing and utilizing emerging trends.
- Innovative thinkers in large businesses will learn how to distinguish themselves by their special perceptiveness.
- Investors will learn how to uncover attractive new investment opportunities.
The presentation is based on John’s 30 years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends and the new book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends authored by Dr. Vanston with his daughter Carrie Vanston.
The event is FREE. But please sign up here!
MINITRENDS Wins Pinnacle Best Business Book Award
December 22, 2011

MINITRENDS wins Pinnacle Book Achievement Best Business Book Award by helping readers find new trends & business opportunities
Technology Futures, Inc. is pleased to announce that MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends by Dr. John H. Vanston with Carrie Vanston has won the Pinnacle Book Acheivement Best Business Book Award. This award is in addition to several earlier book awards received this year.
According to Dr. Vanston, “Many people will be starting the New Year with resolutions to achieve new goals. I am gratified with the attention MINITRENDS is receiving because I believe the book provides a path to make those goals a reality. The best way for individuals and businesses seeking to start new ventures or keep existing business innovative and competitive is to be constantly on the lookout for emerging trends that are not yet widely recognized. MINITRENDS helps people do just that by providing a mindset and process for initial idea generation and techniques to analyze and exploit these ideas.”
Based on Dr. Vanston’s more than 30 years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends, MINITRENDS provides practical guidance to individuals and organizations of all sizes for extracting business opportunities from emerging trends that have a realistic chance of becoming profitable in the next 2-5 years. The book assists the reader in launching their own exciting, profitable “Minitrend Adventure” using their creativity, foresight, innovative nature, and basic good sense.
Additional accolades for MINITRENDS include an Eric Hoffer Business Book of the Year Award and finalist nods from ForeWord Reviews’ Business Book of the Year, USA Book News’ Entrepreneurship & Small Business Book of the Year, and Dan Poytner’s Global eBook Awards Business Book of the Year. Excellent endorsements and testimonials have also been received from top futurists Joseph Coates and David Pearce Snyder and many other opinion leaders and publications.
For more information on Minitrends, please visit the Minitrends Website or contact us by e-mail or (512) 258-8898. (Click here to purchase book.)
For 33 years, TFI has helped organizations plan for the future by offering outstanding technology and telecommunications forecasting services and custom forecasts for key trends to high-technology and telecom organizations.
PRESS, MEDIA, BLOGGERS: Please contact Carrie Vanston at info@tfi.com or (512) 258-8898 if you are interested in doing a Minitrends article, to request an interview with Dr. Vanston, or to request a review copy of MINITRENDS.
“Almost President” Book Mirrors “MINITRENDS” Book on Value of Losing Presidential Candidates Platforms for Finding Trends
December 8, 2011
In the “Where to Search for Minitrends” section of our book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends, Carrie Vanston and I note that an interesting indication of emerging trends can be found by examining the platforms of losing presidential candidates. Although most people pay little attention to the platforms of these candidates, a great deal of insight can be gleaned from inspection of these platforms. From this insight, Minitrends may be found that lead to positive business opportunities.
A new book, Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation, by Scott Farris, expands on this issue. Mr. Farris mentions, for example, Tomas Dewey’s changing the focus of the Republican Party from opposing the New Deal to accommodating it, Barry Goldwater’s vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that converted the South from the Democrat Party to the Republican Party, and the role of William Jennings Bryan in shaping the Democratic Party into the progressive one. These ideas reflect the ones described in our book, i.e., Adlai Stevenson’s 1956 advocacy of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which was signed in 1963, Barry Goldwater’s laying the ground work in 1964 for the Reagan Revolution, and Al Gore’s emphasis on Global Climate Change which not only raised awareness of environmental concerns around the world, but also led to his winning an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and Nobel Peace Prize.
Robert K. Landers does a nice review on the book entitled Influence Instead of Victory for the Wall Street Journal.
Carrie and I are looking forward to other authors writing about the other eight Minitrends discovery sources we describe in our book.
John H. Vanston, Ph.D.
Chairman, Technology Futures, Inc.
Author, MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends




