Next week is the 2014 Idea Festival. I have been popping into various sessions since 2008. But this year, I got a pass for all sessions from Wed thru Friday. This will only be the second time, I decided to take the big leap, and I can assure you I am pretty excited about it, again.
I enjoy the freshness of ideas, the creativity, no limits, curiosity unleashed and unbounded, and an all in all good time meeting people with cutting edge ideas that can cross-pollinate into the law and other areas of endeavor. All you need do is keep an open mind, and wonder “what if?”
The events begin on Wednesday, and should you see me wearing shorts and sneakers, carrying my camera and iPad, please, please holler at me. New faces, new friends, new ideas, all getting curiouser and curiouser provide for delightful time. I still look a little like the photo at the top of the page.
Kris Kimmel said it best in a Courier-Journal article last week – “Thinking Big at Idea Festival.”
Next week the 2014 Idea Festival kicks off in Louisville at the Kentucky Center. This year participants will again find themselves immersed in nearly 30 events and presentations on topics ranging from the search for life in the universe, how our minds process time, why “average” is over and the increasingly disruptive global economic and political landscape, to design thinking, how technology is making us smarter and even surviving the great zombie apocalypse. The complete program can be found at www.ideafestival.com.
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In today’s world where organizations are either innovative or dead, imagination and rejecting the safe way are often the difference between the ordinary and extraordinary, survival and extinction. True, a restless, curious mind in and of itself guarantees nothing. But without imagination, a willingness to walk toward the unknown and a tolerance for uncertainty, nothing of value ever happens.
Related: State-affiliated group to sponsor IdeaFestival
The truth today is that doing the same old thing and being satisfied with being pretty good can quickly become a fast track to irrelevancy. Apple is one of the most highly capitalized companies on the planet in large part because it boldly envisioned a different world. It broke the rules. And now … it gets to make the rules.
No person who goes to the IdeaFestival knows exactly what they will discover. The traditional metrics and measurements often have little to do with the ultimate outcomes, insights and answers supplied by the incredible people who show up to speak and take part in IF.
That ultimate flash of discovery is all yours. But you must do two things to have a chance at that magical moment:
Be there and be aware.
I hope to see you there.
Kris Kimel is the founder of IdeaFestival and president of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp.
2014 IdeaFestival
The festival will run Sept. 30-Oct. 3 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Find the complete schedule and purchases passes at www.ideafestival.com
Again, if you see me, stop and let’s talk. There has never been a session that sparked my imagination. The legal system is neither innovative or creative anymore. Mike.
I went to the morning session of Thrivals 7.0. Mostly for high school students, but if you want/need to whet your appetite for learning, it was a great start. More later.