Describe your favorite “big idea” moment.
My favorite projects are elaborate pranks that contribute to the Army/Navy rivalry. Historically, students and alumni from my alma mater - West Point (the Army) - prank Annapolis (the Navy). With the help of technology, I've taken those pranks to a new level. One of my most favorite recent pranks was a book I wrote titled: "Discipline: The Annapolis Way - Lessons from the Nation's 4th Best Military Academy." - I 'gamed' the system so that the book is the number one search result for the Navy on Amazon - and it became the number 1 best selling military history book of 2017. Oh - and it's an entirely blank book. Describe an idea that you loved, but didn’t work out in practice. So many! But at least I knew that they didn't work by putting them out into the world and seeing if anyone else cared. I have at least 3 to 4 complete and total failure projects every year. It doesn't get any less discouraging. The one that haunts me - mostly because it's still such an annoying problem - Simple Socks. I was going to start a sock company that promised to only ever sell one style of socks so that your socks would always match. Turns out no one really cared as much about that problem as they claimed. What is your process for capturing ideas? I currently use Trello - there's plenty of systems out there - that's one that I've just found simple and convenient over the last year. I previously used Slack. No matter what the system - emails to yourself, notes someplace, etc... - I am constantly writing short notes in my 'personal inbox.' Part of my system was inspired by the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. Ideas have floated around in my system for years sometime before finally moving into action. Any time I have an intriguing thought about a potential project, I record it in my personal inbox (a terrifying collection of terrible ideas) and then I sort through them on an infrequent basis - monthly(ish) and decide if any of them are worth pursuing, keeping in the inbox, or completely discarding. How do you decide which ideas to put into action? Great question - I'm increasingly selective with which items I take action on. My test: Does this project/effort make other people's lives more enjoyable? I find the most satisfaction from creating entertaining projects that make other people smile. Work and life in general is tough enough - so I try to put my creative energy toward projects that deliver a laugh. What idea were you working on at the "Ideation" event, and how is it progressing? I'm working on a follow-up to a project I did a few years ago called 'Six Word War.' - I collected thousands of short six word stories from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans about their experiences. I'm interested in expanding the project to be more inclusive to all veterans, their families, and those affected by war. But it's a big undertaking so I'm realistic on how much I can accomplish alongside my other work. Describe a meaningful, positive connection that has come from your first Magic Session. I connected with Malu Marzarotto and I'm really excited about bringing a higher level of design and visualization to the stories that I'm collected for the Six Word War project.
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On June 12, Magic Sessions hosted it’s 5th quarterly event, Ideation, inspired by the quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
This particular event was noteworthy for a couple of reasons:
Both of these things made the event pretty special!
Thank you, as always, for your participation; feedback; and desire to create positive, meaningful connections. This is truly a labor of love for both Autumn and me (Brandi).
We had just over 40 people visit 934 Gallery and share their “great minds” with us. Very special thanks to 934 Gallery for allowing us to use their space as a wonderful venue, Justin Johnston of Side Hustle Syndicate for connecting us with 934 Gallery, and to members Tina De Broux and Lisa Cribbs for helping with event setup.
Here is a little more about Claire, followed by a Q + A on her ideas about ideas!
Claire Coder is the founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. On a mission to ensure everyone has access to menstrual products, Aunt Flow stocks over 100 companies across the USA with their 100% organic cotton tampons and pads. Coder launched her first company at age 16, designed a bag for Vera Bradley that sold out in 24 hours, and has her own line of GIFs. The 21-year-old founder has been featured in TeenVogue, Forbes, and starred in TLC’s Girl Starter Season 1. When she is not jamming out to Macklemore, she is pretending like she knows how to run Google ads. Describe your favorite “big idea” moment. I was at a Startup Weekend in the fall of 2015. On Friday evening of the event, I scurried to the bathroom to learn that I started my period unexpectedly. Of course, I scrambled to find a tampon or pad. In the bathroom there was mouthwash, q-tips, even mints... No tampons and pads to be found. Thus, I did what most menstruators do in this situation, I wadded up some uncomfortable toilet paper and made-do. That was the moment that I realized that "Toilet paper is offered for free, why aren't tampons?" This experience lead me to drop out of The Ohio State University and dedicate my life to ensuring everyone has access to quality menstrual products. Describe an idea that you loved, but didn’t work out in practice. I still want to create "sound absorbing paint." Something that will swallow sound from the outside, so you never need to hear an annoying car horn (or a cranky neighbor) while you are pleasantly sitting in bed, ever again. So far, this idea has not worked out because I don't know any engineers that can create such a complex paint-like substance. What is your process for capturing ideas? Every "problem" in my day triggers me to think about potential solutions. I record all of my ideas in Slack (a communication board to jot down ideas.) How do you decide which ideas to put into action? Suzy Batiz, founder of Poo-Pourri, speaks about the process for understanding if ideas are worthwhile to work on. She shared a few steps to understand if an idea is a good-one: 1. Do you "light up" when talking about it? 2. Are you getting tingly "body sensations”? 3. Are you recognizing signs of synchrony in the world? Like you sit down next to a potential partner on an airplane. 4. Does the idea keep knocking at your door? 5. When you experience the idea in real life, does everything get high def? Why are you a member of Magic Sessions? While there are many events in Columbus, Magic Sessions is truly different in that it is interactive, connection-based, reflective, and genuinely improves the spirit. BONUS: They are FREE! #NoExcuses Describe a meaningful, positive connection that has come from Magic Sessions. I am forever grateful that I met Michelle Gibson at Magic Sessions. Just a few weeks after we met, we went to the Overcoats concert together and now she is a homie. <3 |
