I was at a wine club get-together early this week and ran into a fellow I'd met two or three times before.  We'd forgotten each others' names, and after we'd reintroduced ourselves he said to me, "I remember what you do.  You are an Innovational Speaker." 

I must say, I really liked the sound of that.  From now on, whenever I give a presentation, I'm going to describe myself that exact way.  Matt Homann, Innovational Speaker. 

Thank you, Tom.

Going to a conference?  Here’s a mini-manifesto to help you get the most out of your conference experience:

Know Your Questions.  Seek Your Answers.  Never attend a conference without at least three questions you want answered.  Never leave until they have been.

Their Conference is Your Focus Group.  Want to measure the pulse of the marketplace?  Want feedback on your idea, product, or business model?  Go to a conference populated by your ideal customer.  Forget the sessions.  Hang out in the hallway.  And listen.  A lot.

Be Smart.  Be Helpful.  Then Be Quiet.  Other attendees may have come to the conference to meet people like you.  They may want and deserve your help (and you, theirs).  They didn’t come to hear your hour-long presentation.  Please understand the difference.

Paper Works Best.  Your ability to pay attention to conference speakers and attendees is inversely proportional to your ability to pay attention to the outside world.  Stow the laptop, turn off the BlackBerry, pull out the Moleskine, and start writing.  Oh, and if you can’t leave the real world behind for an hour or two, please don’t leave it at all. 

Vendors Matter.  Vendors are like puppies.  They crave your attention.  Give it.  They know your industry and the other attendees better than you do.  Talk with them.  Learn from them.  Then take a few pens.

Blogging is not Participation.  We get it.  Your blog has tens/hundreds/thousands of readers who can’t wait to hear your take on the last speaker’s presentation and about how crappy the WiFi is.  Your “audience” will be there tomorrow.  Your fellow attendees will not.

The most important people at the conference are sitting next to you.   Think Tom Peters gives a rat’s ass about your new business strategy?  Is Seth Godin going to give you personalized marketing advice?  Of course not.  The people at any event who are most likely to have already faced your challenges (and maybe even solved them) aren’t the highly-paid keynoters, but rather your fellow attendees.  They are like you.  They can help you.  Ignore them at your peril.* 

 

*NOTE TO CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:  If you don’t provide AMPLE opportunity for your attendees to interact with each other, your conference sucks.  A twenty minute “networking break” doesn’t cut it, and neither does keeping the bar open until three in the morning – though at least that’s a start.

 

I’ve been working (with Dave Gray and Scott Matthews of XPLANE) to come up with a framework for the next Idea Market that explains the importance of sharing ideas with total strangers.  Here’s a great list of “Ideas on Ideas” from Dave Winer that captures much of our thinking.  My favorites:

Ideas aren't physical. Regardless of the legalities, treating ideas as possessions insults their vast combustive power.

Ideas won't change the world unless others can improve on them.

Ideas grow by participation, not isolation.

Ideas change as they grow. Their core remains the same, but their scope enlarges with successful use.

Ideas have unexpected results. No one person can begin to imagine all the results of a good idea. That's another reason to welcome participation.

Nobody's going to "steal" your ideas, any more than they can steal your cerebrum. You're the source. Authority over the idea begins with you.

Authority derives from originality and respect. You can't get respect for your original ideas unless those ideas prove useful to others.

 

Here’s a quick read that might help you get out of a thinking rut: Thinking Like a Genius.  Among the eight strategies “common to the thinking styles of creative geniuses” are:

3. Produce! A distinguishing characteristic of genius is productivity.  Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California at Davis found that the most respected scientists produced not only great works, but also many "bad" ones. They weren't afraid to fail, or to produce mediocre in order to arrive at excellence.

6. Think in opposites.  Physicist Niels Bohr believed, that if you held opposites together, then you suspend your thought, and your mind moves to a new level. His ability to imagine light as both a particle and a wave led to his conception of the principle of complementarity. Suspending thought (logic) may allow your mind to create a new form.

Is “Networking” a bad thing?  In several conversations I’ve had recently –  including a few at the St. Louis Collaboratory –  it seems that many believe the very term “networking” has a negative, almost selfish, connotation.  Here in St. Louis, many “networking” events seem to be full of folks interested in meeting new people just to sell to them or sleep with them (or both). 

At many of the events I’ve attended, there are those who have this “Drive-By Networking” down to a science.  You know, the conversations, repeated over and over, that sound like this:

BOB:  Hi, I’m Bob.  What do you do? (I wonder if this person can help me?)

CHARLIE:  I’m Charlie, I sell integrated solutions.  And you? (I wonder if this person can help me?)

BOB:  I sell real estate.  Here’s my card.  May I have yours? (He doesn’t sound like he needs to buy or sell any real estate, and I hate integrated solutions.  I better ask for his card, and go talk to that person over there.  I don’t think I’ve met them yet.)

CHARLIE:  Thanks, I’ll keep you in mind if I need a broker.  See you later. (Damn, another real estate salesman.  I hope I never see him again.  Hey, there’s somebody I don’t know who may need integrated solutions!)

When I started the Idea Market, I described the event as a “new type of networking/brainstorming social club.”  I wanted to host an event where people could meet others that share their passion for creative thought while helping to solve each other’s problems (more on the problem with “problem” later).  But after thinking about it, I’m not sure that’s networking.  At least not the “Networking” most people have grown to love/hate. 

After the last Idea Market, a few people complained to me about being “sold to” by some of the attendees.  One person, under the guise of leading a session on internet marketing, gave a thirty minute pitch about why attendees should hire his company.  To be fair, that’s my fault for not understanding the meaning of “networking” better.  However, it’s one problem that I’m going to remedy. 

At the next Idea Market, there will be no “Networking.”  Instead, I’ll work hard to communicate, right from the get-go, that we are ultimately better collaborators, business leads, and customers when the networking happens by accident, instead of on purpose. 

If you have any suggestions how I can accomplish this, I’m all ears.

What is your favorite creativity tip/trick, in THREE words or less?  Here are the responses from the Idea Market attendees:

Never limit imagination.

Take a walk.

Quiet time.

Long car trip.

A fresh perspective!

Change the question.

SAVE.

Now or never.

Just Start!

Idea ride.

Visualize.

Give yourself permission (to do the shitty first draft).

Sleeping.

Prepare for laughter.

Sumbleupon.com

Reverse it.

Constraints don’t limit.

Blow off work.

Break into parts.

Do something new.

Deep breath

Two years ago, I started a monthly conference call that morphed into “Think Tank Tuesdays,” and became an interesting, regular conversation about innovation, business, and creativity.  After several months, it died due to inattention, though many of the friendships I made have remained strong ones. 

As Jake and Elwood would say, I’m getting the band back together:  Beginning in January, Think Tank Tuesdays are coming back bigger and better than ever.  I’ll post the information and details soon, but drop me a line if you are interested.  I can’t wait!