Frequent visitors to ForPrin.com may have noticed that the Forecasting Methodology Tree and the Forecasting Method Selection Tree have changed. Earlier this year, we replaced the Trees with versions that better represent the current state of forecasting knowledge. Since then, we have been fixing and revising the pop-up windows so that they are consistent with the new Trees. The Trees remain a work in progress--we will continue to improve the pop-up descriptions and add relevant links--so please let us know if you spot any problems or have any suggestions for improvements. See the links to the new Trees in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Alain Elkann interviews famous people, iconic people. The three listed in his interview directory under the letter B, for example, are Ban Ki-Moon, Bianca Jagger, and Brigitte Bardot. During his current visit to the University of Pennsylvania, Alain recently interviewed co-founder of the International Institute of Forecasters, International Journal of Forecasting, and International Symposium of Forecasting, J. Scott Armstrong.

Curious about what led Scott to so many contrarian conclusions, Alain interviewed him about his life as a scientific skeptic. Naturally, the interview revolved around Scott's forecasting research. As a consequence of the interview, the discipline of forecasting is now aligned with the stars. The interview is currently the Most Read.

The Alain Elkann Interview with Scott was also published in the Italian newspaper La Stampa on Sunday, April 12, 2015. Alain was alerted to Scott's contributions to forecasting by a list of the 25 Most Famous College Professors Teaching Today.

The Lancaster Centre for Forecasting is running a survey to gain insights into what drives the improvement of forecast quality in practice. Click here to take the survey.

The research is not for commercial purposes and all responses are strictly confidential. That means there will be no results reported/discussed/etc. at an individual company or respondent level. The survey will take about 5 minutes depending on how much information-sharing you provide.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We have added another free software resource to the Software page and another online textbook to the Text & Trade Books page. The software is Bob Nau and John Butler's Regressit, a free Excel add-in for regression and multivariate analysis. The textbook, with lecture notes and sample data, has been compiled by Bob Nau to support his statistical forecasting course at Duke University. See the Freeware section on the Software page here, or in the left menu bar, for Regressit, and the Text & Trade Books page here, or in the left menu bar, for Bob's online book Statistical forecasting: Notes on regression and time series analysis.

Frontiers in Forecasting
35th International Symposium on Forecasting, June 21-24, 2015 in Riverside, California

Integrating academic research into practical applications is one of the hallmarks of the 35th annual International Symposium on Forecasting (ISF) being held June 21 – 24 in Riverside, California. The ISF draws the world's top forecasting professionals and researchers, presenters and participants, to learn and discuss cutting-edge forecasting trends.

The premiere international conference on forecasting, the ISF encompasses a broad range of forecasting sectors. This year's event includes sessions on climate predictability, forecasting electricity demand, prediction of business cycles in real time, financial market volatility, forecast optimality, early warning signals, tourism forecasting, information technology trends, macroeconomic trends and history of prediction science, among many others.