> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.forwardnation.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Welcome. - URL: https://www.forwardnation.com/welcome/ - Published: 2026-07-21T21:04:56.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-21T21:24:03.000Z - Description: Back in 2005, Forward Nation was a blog on Tumblr. Today it becomes a collective of tomorrow's best writers and thinkers. - Author: Noelle Weaver This is a post that has been 20 years in the making. Forward Nation is not new. Back in 2005, it was a blog on Tumblr, built as a quiet place where I could post my many random thoughts on "the intersection of society, culture, business, politics, and technology that are pointing towards a changing world." I stumbled across my original Forward Nation welcome post and realized that while everything has changed, nothing has changed at all. The intent and idea is still the same. (The original Forward Nation post is below this intro). Writing is just something I have always done. I had a zine for the Tri-State area of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan calld Taco Rocko back in the 80's. I got a degree in journalism and graphic art design because I had this crazy idea I'd run Cosmopolitan someday. I contributed to AdAge's Small Agnecy Diary for a while. I worked for Contagious Magazine. I wrote a lot of thought leadership for Foresight Factory and I helped Basis Global start Signals. Latly, most of my random thoughts have been lengthy commentary on LinkedIn and a few other futures communities that I belong to. It just felt right to make this all into something more formal. Only this time with a collective of very smart friends. People who are studied practioners, ready to plant some seeds and imaginier the future we want to live in. Readers who are looking for deeper understanding of how the world is changing and how that change is impacting us. This is the place where the signals beat the noise. I hope you’ll join me to be part of this journey. … May, 2005 ![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gQPa!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2d29099c-4186-4b7a-9a9f-062a69c1384c_406x223.png) I realized that there were a lot of sites being created by folks who were simply re-posting events, videos and news articles for the sake of reporting on the coolest things out there. Today’s audiences are constantly drawn in by the words “what’s hot, what’s not, what’s next and what’s cutting edge.” But cool for cool’s sake means little. In our quest as individuals to be the first to know/blog/experience something, we are taking less and less time to look at things outside our personal parameters. Given the overwhelming amount of content and news out there, the web has allowed us to cherry-pick what concerns us and ignore the rest. Consider this great quote: > *“I am an information junkie but what and how much I take in is very personal — otherwise, of what use is it? Unless something is personally interesting or personally meaningful to you, don’t pay it any mind. Seek out knowledge on a per-need \[or per-obsession!\] basis. Latch on only to those which touch you or move you. Don’t be greedy. Filter your intake of information and media. You decide what’s signal and what’s noise in your life.” – Lush, 4/13/05, Ask.Metfilter.com* Consequently many folks get a one-sided view of issues and events. Borrowing the term “[pattern recognition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern%5Frecognition?ref=forwardnation.com)” from [William Gibson](http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/?ref=forwardnation.com) it occurred to me that the micro-trends occurring in culture, politics, entertainment, art, technology, etc were, in fact, clues that formed larger movements that affected societal change. If we took the time to look across the wide-world \[pick up a new magazine, stop by a new store, click on a new link\] seemingly unconnected things can quickly become thoroughly connected. All these clues begin to form patterns of ideas and ideals that, when pieced together – are in fact the very things propelling our nation and our society forward. So thus. This site. Trend hunters, trend forecasting and futurists are nothing new. In 1993 Cotton Inc. was one of the first companies to tout its employment of a woman by the name of [Haysun Hahn](http://haysunhahn.com/?ref=forwardnation.com) to help them determine the next fashion and consumer clothing trends. Then in 1997, two major stories brought the “occupation” into the mainstream. *The New Yorker* published an article titled [The Coolhunt](http://www.gladwell.com/1997/1997%5F03%5F17%5Fa%5Fcool.htm?ref=forwardnation.com) by Malcom Gladwell and *Utne Reader* featured a series of stories related to its cover “Beyond Hip.” Of particularly interest, *Utne’s* [Let them Eat Lifestyle](http://www.utne.com/1997-11-01/let-them-eat-lifestyle.aspx?ref=forwardnation.com) which examined Corporate America’s growing quest for cool. Over a decade later we’re bombarded with sites like [TrendHunter.com](http://www.trendhunter.com/?ref=forwardnation.com), [Trendwatching.com](http://trendwatching.com/?ref=forwardnation.com), [Nowandnext.com](http://nowandnext.com/?ref=forwardnation.com), [Coolbusinessideas.com](http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/?ref=forwardnation.com), [Thecoolhunter.net](http://www.thecoolhunter.net/?ref=forwardnation.com), [Coolhunting.com](http://coolhunting.com/?ref=forwardnation.com), etc. Some of these, backed by very successful research consultancies. ForwardNation is less about forecasting the next big thing. It’s not here to report on what’s hot and what’s not. It’s written with the idea of discovering and observing how it \[meaning the universe around us\] all fits together. My hope is that in the very near future, Forward Nation becomes less of a blog and more a webzine. A participatory site where others contribute their opinions, insights and own pattern recognitions occurring in today’s fast-moving world. I believe that together, we can uncover some intriguing findings that have the potential for a significant impact in the future. Happy reading. Happy discovering.