There were so many inspiring presentations in CUSP Conference 2011 that I could not cram them all into one blog post. So here is the rest of the best.

The CUSP Conference experience has been described as inspirational, funny, thought-provoking, informative, humbling, touching, creative and the list goes on. After attending the event, I got to see why first-hand.

“Everybody is a designer. It’s a basic human trait.” I couldn't agree more. That's why I was thrilled to attend this year's CUSP Conference.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
- Robert Heinlein

Here are seven ways to get the most from your collaborative brainstorming sessions.

Creative brainstorming, mind mapping, ideation—whatever you want to call the process of generating creative ideas to serve the larger purpose of a project or goal—is a critical part of any good process. At Mightybytes, we are always refining our approach and trying new things when we create new web applications and sites for our clients. Here are some ideas that came from planning a recent session for a client using this technique.

Mightybytes recently sponsored the Andersonville Farmer’s Market during Green Week on July 13th with an eco-friendly photo booth that didn't use any paper and didn't break the bank either. Here's how we did it.

The market team gave us room for a fancy banner, but not being a seller of produce or creator of fine quality baked goods, we struggled with the best way to represent ourselves amongst the asparagus and cheese curds. Sure, we’re a green company and all, but what, really, does a digital media firm have to offer market customers?

We thought about giving away free web audits, but that’s lame.  Like super lame. Then we considered creating a game show called ‘Let Me Google That For You’, but weren’t sure we could sustain that across five hours of open market time (and some people might not find it very funny). We tossed around a few other ideas as well, but none really seemed to stick until Bryan came up with the brilliant idea to build a photo booth. “And of course it would have to be a green photo booth,” he said, to which we naturally all agreed. So it was decided.

Yesterday we did our first workshop with Pamela Meyer, creativity consultant and author of From Workplace to Playspace: Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement and HR/Business consultant extraordinaire, Carol Semrad.

Pamela and Carol use improv techniques, mind mapping, and their own unique methodologies to help companies tap into their creative strengths, collaborate more effectively, and grow in ways that make sense for both businesses and the people they hire. We spent the majority of our time doing a custom variation of the tried and true SWOT analysis, but with a Pamela spin. Pamela’s take is that the W (weaknesses) and T (threats) in SWOT analysis leave too much room for focusing on negativity, which can undermine potential and get us bogged down trying to fix problems rather than working toward realizing what we are capable of.