In our large-scale innovation sessions, we’ve led hundreds and even thousands of people through innovation experiences at major conferences, helping attendees invent, collaborate, and learn powerful innovation strategies.
We’ve had the pleasure of running large-scale ideation sessions for over a decade, from corporate annual events to industry conventions and bespoke large innovation summits.
While there’s science that shows that smaller groups can be ideal for ideation, there are also reasons to run an ideation/innovation experience at scale:
1. LARGE-SCALE IDEATION SESSIONS DELIVER A “WOW” ATTENDEE EXPERIENCE
Most industry conferences are built on two things: speeches and panel discussions. By adding an immersive innovation experience, attendees’ experience of the conference is transformed. Instead of just watching someone speak, they’re actively involved, brainstorming, learning, engaging and working on real world challenges.
2. LARGE-SCALE IDEATION GENERATES THOUSANDS OF IDEAS, FAST
Not surprisingly, lots of people can create a lot of ideas. And using modern technology, the ideas can be quickly captured and turned into post-conference reports for the host organization or attendees.
3. LARGE-SCALE INNOVATION SESSIONS TEACH NEW STRATEGIES ATTENDEES CAN USE FOR YEARS TO COME
By experiencing a hands-on, professional innovation process, attendees learn the skills of thinking like an innovator. Typically, we’ll have the audience work on challenges that are relevant to their work, so they’re engaged and taking steps toward ideas they can run with post-conference.
4. LARGE-SCALE IDEATION EXPERIENCES BOOST ATTENDEE INTERACTION (AND HAPPINESS)
Instead of just watching a keynote, attendees are meeting other attendees, networking, digging into their businesses, trading advice, and making meaningful connections. We’ve been told that this collaboration is unlike what attendees can achieve in the conference hall or even the bar each night. Frameworks, tools and time to think are powerful when artfully connected.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAN’T BE WRONG.
It’s been our honor to work with a host of conferences, large companies and nonprofit clients on large-scale events. Here are just a few examples:
• A large retail conference hired us to develop an ideation session for 2,500 people. Over the course of two and a half hours, the session took attendees (at their tables) through an ideation and innovation experience to rethink their own current business and work. The attendees leave with tangible ideas, new skills, and incredible new connections.
• Paramount Pictures hired us to run an innovation summit to imagine the future of an entire industry. We brought in over 150 people from multiple industries and curated content, inspiration, and ideation challenges to develop new breakthrough ideas.
• For the World Trade Centers Association, we’ve led ideation experiences for hundreds of attendees who hail from over 75 countries.
IMPACT AT SCALE
We’ll admit – years ago when a client first asked us to run an ideation session with hundreds of people, we were skeptical. How do you facilitate hundreds of people? How do you collect all of those ideas?! And keep people on task? We’ve since found ways to tackle each of these challenges. Mostly, we’re amazed at the long-term effect of the sessions. New connections flourish. New skills are developed. And attendees’ perceptions of the events they’ve attended skyrocket.
BRING AN INNOVATION EXPERIENCE TO YOUR NEXT EVENT
If you’re a meeting professional or helping design your next conference, consider: How can you truly engage the audience in actively brainstorming, helping one another, and developing ideas they can take with them post-conference?
Phillips & Co. is a leading innovation consulting firm.
And, we run large-scale innovation sessions.
How can we help your team?