By: Jennifer Quarrie
“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”
-
Rumi
Spring is in the air!
’Tis the season… of
creativity! While creative
thinking is an everyday affair, springtime boasts many of the world’s
top creativity conferences. The creative
community is abuzz with events that are blooming with new ideas, and people
turning over new leaves.
What
is it that makes creativity conferences especially vibrant? It could be the extensive
cross-pollination of domains, or the way that creative problem solving produces
such impactful results in a brief time.
Yet from my recent experience at CREA in beautiful Sestri Levante,
Italy, it largely stemmed from the way the conference was created. Participants were not simply invited to
attend and listen, but to bring their most valuable experiences forward to
apply and share. Participants
joined with facilitators to combine compelling concepts with galvanizing
experiences in ways specifically intended to break open their minds to think in
entirely new ways.
It takes a special climate and set of conference-goers for
such groundbreaking work to occur, but when it does, they create a type of
conference that lasts well beyond those five days on the Riviera. This type of conference sows creative seeds
that continue to bloom for years to come.
Looking to experience just such an event? Here are five ways you can create a conference that will
break your mind.
Set Intentions
Why attend a creativity conference? There are hundreds of reasons under the
sun, from absorbing new thinking skills, to solving a tough problem, to making
connections. No matter what it is,
the intention you set will gear your experience. Be courageous.
Look to find what you need.
The more you invest, the more you and your fellow participants will get
out of it.
Connect Beyond
Networking
A creativity conference is truly a meeting of the
minds. The experience begins with
the beauty of assemblage; new colleagues from across the globe mix and build connections
with wildly different backgrounds, yet amazingly similar passions. By the end of a few days, participants have
witnessed personal growth in one another that exceeds what most see in work
colleagues over the span of twenty years.
Those in and of themselves are rare and valuable connections.
Learn Beyond Limits
On top of those dopamine blasts you will get from absorbing
blazing new concepts, there is far more opportunity for learning. Inherent to the topic of creativity,
you will likely swim in a metacognitive state much of the day. Yet beyond thinking about concepts and
thinking about thinking, you will escape the cognitive realm altogether. It is the same science that brought foosball
tables into Google: kinesthetics and play are incredible pathways to learning
and creativity. The added
bonus? You may learn a lot about
yourself in the process.
Break Your Mind
“Creativity
requires the courage to let go of certainties.” - Erich Fromm
While certainties make very efficient operating guidelines,
they can also act as unnecessary limitations. To see or create things in a novel way depends upon breaking
down barriers that may prevent insight.
Bringing in the new often requires letting go of the old when it is no
longer helpful, and that takes courage.
Once you experience the freedom and creativity that can stem from
letting go, approaching life in a way that deliberately seeks new
mind-shattering viewpoints is the next step. This is an incredible way to live and the perfect mindset to
get the most out of a creativity conference.
Become Yourself
When do you most deeply feel like yourself? Chances are it’s not when you are sitting at the office
The
age of unprecedented digital connection has made in-person conferences that
much more valuable. Global
resources are at your fingertips to build a personalized path toward finding
your tribe and actualizing yourself along the way. Looking for your next big step? There are a few more creativity conferences coming up in
June and August – Creativity Experts
Exchange (CEE), CreativityProblem Solving Institute (CPSI), and Mindcamp. Take a chance and create true
conference through creativity. And
while you’re at it, maybe you’ll
be lucky enough to break your mind.
References
Kabat-Zinn,
J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in
everyday life. New York, NY: Hyperion.
Meier,
D. (2000). The accelerated learning handbook. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Puccio, G. J., Mance, M., & Murdock, M. C. (2011).
Creative leadership: Skills that drive change (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.
Bio:
Jennifer Quarrie is a dynamic innovation strategist and creativity
expert with a visionary outlook and a knack for metacognition,
facilitation and listening. With a BA in Cognitive Science from the
University of Virginia and an MSc in Creative Studies from the
International Center for Studies in Creativity (ICSC) at SUNY Buffalo
State, she incorporates budding areas of mind and creativity research
into all of her work. As a leader and speaker she inspires wellness,
fosters transformation and emboldens self-actualization.
