Soulard Idea Market Final Details
I think I’ve communicated with everyone who has expressed interest in tonight’s Soulard Idea Market, but if I’ve missed anyone (and you find this post today) here is the text of the e-mail I just sent:
Good Morning! If you are receiving this e-mail, it is because you have told me you'd like to come to tonight's Soulard Idea Market. Though we have quite a bit of flexibility on space, I'd like to know if you are still planning on attending. Here are the details for tonight:
When should I arrive? I have reprinted the agenda below, but we'll get started between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. Arriving late is OK.
Where should I go? The Lucas School House (www.lucasevents.com) is the venue for the event. It is located at the intersection of Gravois and Allen, on the Western edge of Soulard. Here's a link to a Google Map. There should be plenty of on-street parking available.
How can I contact you? My cell phone number is 618-407-3241. I will also have my BlackBerry with me, so I will receive my e-mail.
Should I bring my laptop? You can, though I'd discourage it. While there is WiFi available, I don't know how robust the wireless connection will be. Most of the brainstorming will be done on Post-it Notes and in small group discussions. I think laptops tend to get in the way of effective in-person collaboration. Of course, your experience may differ.
What should I bring? Paper, pen, money for the cash bar, and ideas. Bring lots of ideas.
Who can I bring? Like I said above, we have some room for additional people. At this point, I have absolutely no idea how many people will be there tonight. Somewhere between twenty and sixty. If you'd like to bring a guest, just let me know. I may have to order more food.
Will there be food? Yes. There will be cold appetizers, courtesy of Gill Wagner, president of Honest Selling.
Will there be drinks? Yes, but it will be a cash bar.
When will we be done? We have the space until 8:30. However, if we have enough people who want to hang around, they may let us stay later.
Flickr, Delicious, Technorati? Yes. Use "SoulardIdeaMarket" as the tag. If you don't know what this means, we'll explain tonight.
Why didn't you answer my question? E-mail me or call me and I will.
What else can I do? If you can, log in to the CollectiveX site (an event/networking site for the Idea Market) and add your contact info and details. Here is the link.
Here's the Agenda I posted on my blog:
The Agenda: Well, there really is no “Agenda” as I’d like to have the Idea Market be the kind of place where people can bring their business problems, issues, questions, and (of course) ideas and share them with other innovative, creative, and generous folks. Think of this first event as sort of a “beta test” for a new type of networking/brainstorming social club that just happens to take place at a private happy hour in a cool, hip place. There is at least a 70% chance that this agenda will change, or even be ignored when we all show up, but for now, here’s how I see things happening:
5:30 – 6:00 Bar Opens, Attendees Arrive, Initial Brainstorming. In the last several LexThink!(R) events and private retreats I’ve done, we’ve posted provocative questions on large Post-It Notes all around the facility. When attendees arrive, they’ll be given a marker and a pad of smaller, half-page Post-It’s and asked to walk around and contribute their thoughts and answer the questions posted. This works wonders to get the creative juices flowing and opens up attendees to sharing other ideas the rest of the event.
6:00 – 6:30 Introductions. Idea Speed-Dating. I want to take a page from speed dating events: Attendees will have thirty minutes (broken up in much smaller chunks) to meet as many other attendees as possible and share the most compelling idea they’ve heard, best book they’ve read, most interesting person they’ve met, or most difficult problem they’ve faced in the past year.
6:30 – 6:45 Break.
6:45 – 7:30 Open Space Problem Solving. If any attendees are facing a particularly vexing business problem, and would like the group’s help to solve it, they can announce the problem (or post it on the wall) and any attendees who’d like to help can break up into small discussion groups to brainstorm solutions. Alternatively, anyone with a topic they’d like to discuss can also announce it here and interested people can join the discussion.
7:30 – 7:45 Break.
7:45 – 8:30 Open Space Idea Sharing. This is just like the Open Space Problem Solving session, except we’ll focus on new ideas.
8:30 Unreasonable Request Time. One of the three most compelling ideas I’ve stumbled across while blogging is Lisa Haneberg’s Unreasonable Requests. In short, we often have things we’d like to ask others for, but are afraid to ask. I’m going to ask everyone to write down an unreasonable request, post it on the wall with their name and phone number, and anyone who wants to grant the request can do so. Because the requests are, by definition, “unreasonable,” I don’t expect many to be granted — so everyone who gets one granted will be totally surprised.
8:30 – ??.?? Cocktails on the Patio (or elsewhere). We’ll stick around the School House as long as they’ll let us, but anyone who wants to continue their discussions after we’re politely asked to leave can do so at one of about 30 Soulard bars/restaurants that are within walking distance.
I will see you all tonight. This is going to be cool!
Matt
technorati tags: soulardideamarket, innovation, soulard+idea+market