Monday, March 7, 2011

Surfing at HD Summit



HD Summit, produced by Hospitality Design magazine for over a decade, was held last week outside of Los Angeles, California.  The Summit gathers manufacturers, owners, operators, purchasing agents, designers and architects for a series of lectures and networking events.  This was ai3’s first attendance, at the invitation of our good friends at Loewenstein/OFS Brands, and we appreciated the look outside of the hospitality industry for ideas and inspiration.

What message did I leave with?
The path to innovation and understanding our future is:
                Limited by Our Fear of Failure
                Affected by Our Ability to Make Time to Think the Unthinkable

What do I want to do now, before it’s too late?
                Be driven by My Emotions, NOT Rational Decisions.
Have a Heart-Storm, not a Brainstorm.
                Cultivate Surprise & Learn to Embrace It.
                Meet New People Nothing Like Me; Increase my Knowledge and thus, my Innovative Thinking
                Be in a Relaxed State of Thinking
                Act as my Child; Taking a chance because I don’t Know There is a Wrong Answer

Hilary Austen, co-author, Artistry Unleashed: A Guide to Pursuing Great Performances in Work and Life, asked an important question:
Aren’t our clients’ emotional responses important to our success?
We are marketing an Experience, not a Product.  If we create something that connects, that is irresistible to a specific group, it will move faster than anything else.

Tom Savigar of The Future Laboratory simply summarized:
Be Crowd-Driven:  Orchestrate new chaotic networks; Don’t be a sole Inventor.
Be Clean: Pick what you can make a difference with.
Be a Dreamer:  Break down the Rules; Engage in Storytelling.

My selected "Networking Event" was Surfing Lessons with Doug Shapiro of OFS Brands.  I hope this was my first step to following some of these principles!!!

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