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Daily Scoop on 2008 HOW Design Conference - Day 1

Written by Lissette Arias on May 19, 2008 4:01 am EST

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Wow to the HOW! Today, Sunday May 18, 2008 was the kickoff to the kickass 2008 HOW Conference in Boston and what an amazing day it was! With over 4,000 attendees, this is one of the most anticipated conferences for designers this year. I mean, afterall this is THE creativity, business and technology conference for designers, and if you’re in the designing field, ideally this is the place you want to be for the next four days. But if you’re not, well, don’t despair. I will share with you everything I’m gaining here in Boston by bringing you a daily update with… the highlights of all four days so you won’t miss a thing! Woohoo!

Before I do, I have to share with you how beautiful I think the city of Boston is. The weather has been simply amazing; a gorgeous sunny day with a High of only (I’m from Florida) 72°F! The streets seem to be filled with friendly people making their way to the many mini-parks throughout the city or the eclectic outdoor dining spots. It’s also fascinating to see how the historic buildings co-exist with the modern skyscrapers. Interesting contrast.

Oh yes, it didn’t take me long to realize that if I want to blend in with the locals, all I have to do is wear a Boston Red Sox jersey. Everybody wears Red Sox! Talk about support! (Great color!)

And now I believe it’s time to get this HOW party started!

WORKSHOP: Feed the Fire: A Creativity Workshop | Speaker: Sam Harrison

We’ve all been there or can recall the time when we knew for a certainty that we were hot, we were on fire! But there were also times we simply were not. So how do you fuel the creative fire? According to Sam Harrison, you explore freedom; then you embrace life. There are many processes out there but here is an excellent 5-step process you should consider in order to spark up that creative power that may be bottled up a little too tight.

1. Explore. Do research. Get into the middle of the world and explore it. If your topic is not necessarily something you are particularly passionate about, find someone who IS passionate about it and speak to them so you can share in their passion.

2. Brainstorm (alone or with others). Let as many ideas out as you can. This is about letting ideas flow. And remember this is not about the quality of the ideas, but rather the quantity of ideas in a specified short amount of time. Any idea at this level is a good idea.

3. Pause. Take a break and step away from it. Let your subconscious kick in and start working. Someone once said that the best ideas come in 3 B’s: in bed, in the bathroom, or in the bus (your choice of transportation).

4. Embrace it. It’s not about letting it come to you. Embracing requires action! This is the edit phase. Embrace the best idea. A mistake many designers make is to combine embracing with brainstorming. This is counterproductive because we will start making judgments on ideas too early on, thereby hindering the brainstorming flow.

5. Bring it to life. Be passionate about bringing your concept/idea to life and when you do, transfer your enthusiasm to others as well.

There are 4 Rules of Brainstorming. Yep, you heard right. Rules! I know… I know that as designers we feel that these two concepts are as compatible as water and oil. BUT these particular rules are meant to liberate you, never to confine:

1. Thou shalt not judge. This is not the time to play devil’s advocate or to turn down ideas.

2. Go nuts! If you always come up with safe ideas, you can ONLY expect the same predictable (same ol’) results! (And what’s the fun in that?!).

3. Focus. Go nuts but stay focused about what you’re there to accomplish. Always keep your objective in mind.

4. Jam! Play off each other’s ideas. There are no star players in a brainstorming session. Everyone is equal. Mesh ideas.

And here are a few of my favorite words of creative wisdom from the day:

- Learn not to be careful. Nobody ever got or stayed creative by playing safe. As a matter of fact, the meaning of the word creativity in itself means/requires one to take risks because you are transcending traditional ideas, patterns, rules, etc., and creating something new outside of the norm.
- Make mistakes. Be willing to make mistakes, but the good kind. And what are good mistakes? Good mistakes are made up of strong efforts = bad result. A bad mistake? A bad mistake consists of no effort = bad result.
- Stretch. Get out of your comfort zone.
- Pull up your roots. Not just by relocating or finding a new job but by exploring your roots, your family ’s background and expanding on it, pairing it up with your creative powers.
- We are so used to running on auto-pilot mode or on super-efficient mode that we stifle creativity with automation. We have to make sure we don’t become chronic robots.
- Say Yes!
- Senior people need to be CRAZY.
- Fail often to succeed sooner.
- STOP WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK! (I’m a firm believer of this one!!!)
- Nothing is precious.

My take: As artists we have to continue to reinvent ourselves. It’s up to us to set the patterns that will move us in that direction and we are the ones that set the speed of our own creative Choo-Choo trains. Feeding your creative needs is not a waste of time but rather it is time invested wisely. Step back and analyze your life and everything (personal & professional) that comes in contact with you and ask yourself- Is this something that adds fuel to my creative fire or is it something that is slowly extinguishing it? Make changes. Soon enough you will find yourself stimulated and uplifted from every angle in your personal and professional life.

I hope you found at least one highlight from the Conference to be particularly helpful to you! Here’s one of the topics you can look forward to tomorrow, Monday May 19: Getting Unstuck-Moving from Web 1.0 to 2.0 plus The ColorMunki is here and I get to pet him!

Day 1 - Daily Scoop on 2008 HOW Design Conference - Day 1
Day 2 - Daily Scoop on 2008 HOW Design Conference - Day 2
Creative Tips - 2008 HOW Design Conference - Creative Tips

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2 Responses to “Daily Scoop on 2008 HOW Design Conference - Day 1”

1. neil cosentino Says:
   May 19th, 2008 at 5:07 am

   thanks for sharing - Camelot Florida is dedicated to making Florida First in QOL.
   Q&A
   Do you know about the German Bauhaus?
   Do you know that there is a Florida Bauhaus?
   Are you interested in being a member?

2. Ian Suarez Says:
   May 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

   Awesome update….it seems like you are really enjoying the city and taking advantage of this great conferences. I was surprised to read the word RULES too….I think they should be like the Pirate Code….more like guidelines

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