Conference Idea Management

This is one of three announcements from me this week.  My friend Ed Poll, legal management guru, is promoting a Speaker’s Conference that takes place in Palm Springs, California.  Ed and I had lunch the other day and we started brainstorming a bit on ways to improve the attendees’ experience.  I suggested adding on a LexThink-like component of brainstorming, idea collection and sharing on to the conference and Ed thought it was a great idea. 

So, after much more thinking about what could work (and what wouldn’t), I’m happy to announce that LexThink! will be providing the Conference Idea Management for the National Speakers Association’s event.  Here is what we’ll do:

• Provide a means to capture (in a very analog way, probably with markets and various sized Post-it notes) breakthrough ideas and insights from the attendees before, during, and after each speaker’s program.
• Collect and organize those ideas by posting them in the LexThink! Lounge — sort of an “idea gallery” situated in the conference hotel.  Attendees can browse the gallery, add new insights, move notes around, and engage in conversations about the cool ideas they see.  We’ll make sure the speakers spend some time there too.
• Set out a place to collect and share all of the “dumb questions” and “stupid ideas” people have, but are afraid to state in public (I’m betting the best ideas from the event will be first found on the “stupid” wall).
• Integrate certain brainstorming and creativity exercises into the conference to get people ready to “Think Big Thoughts.”
• Collect real-time feedback on the efficacy of the conference, and things that could be changed.
• Digitize the ideas and share them with the attendees via e-mail/wiki/blog so they can continue to be energized by the creativity of the group.

Ed has been gracious enough to let us test our concept at his group’s event.  If it works as I believe it will, we’ll be doing this more regularly.  If you have interest, ideas, or suggestions, let me know.