Charles Lee

About a year ago, I had a dream of developing a conference that would serve to inspire, network, and mobilize people towards idea-making. I decided to call this conference “The Idea Camp“. The hope was to create a conference that specialized in the platform of networking instead of a specific topic. The real strength of this approach, beyond the benefits of networking, is that the Idea Camp will never be tied down to a specific topic. It allows us to be flexible to cover any topic that might be of timely benefit to our growing tribe.

The friendships that were formed during our first two Idea Camps (February and August of this year) have birthed numerous partnerships between organizations, businesses, and networks. I’ve been personally inspired and formed by so many amazing people in our Idea Camp “family” (as many have called it).

Well, it’s been almost been a year since the inception of the idea and we’re about to host our third conference in Portland, Oregon next month from Nov. 20-21st! I’m really looking forward to this one for two primary reasons:

• I LOVE the Focus: “Being Present with the City” – Whether you’re an individual, organization, school, business, or church, listening, loving, and serving the city are essentials for impact. We will be facilitating conversations around what this looks like with practitioners from the field (including YOU!).
• I LOVE the Collaboration. This event is really being led by a collaborative team of leaders. In fact, I am playing a minimal role in this one and loving it! This was the intent all along…that is, allow the Idea Camp to be a “collaborative” movement of idea-makers. The team putting together Portland is doing a superb job (even better than anything I could have done.). Many thanks to @decart @gregrussinger @brettaljets @daveingland @beaconhillNW @beckymanning and several others who are leading the team there (yes, these are all twitter ID’s)!

THE FUTURE (Looking into 2010 and Beyond)…

The past year has a been transformative season for my life. I’ve learned A LOT about networking, ideation, and the power of social media. I can honestly say that I’ve spent the past year diving head first into learning as much as I could about these areas of influence. Through the process, I have discovered much about who I am and what I was designed to be.

So, here’s a little peek to what’s in store for the future of the Idea Camp (and a few other things):

• Upcoming Idea Camps:
  
  • We’ve already committed to doing an Idea Camp in Las Vegas in late February focused around the topic of sex (Details TBA). Starting with this Idea Camp in Vegas, we will be asking for a reasonable registration fee for our participants. For now, we’re aiming for something under $100 with scholarships available for those who may not be able to afford the registration. This will help us cover our costs as well as build capacity for future events.
    
  • In addition, we will be partnering with the Exponential Conference in Orlando, FL to host 5 conversations about Church and Culture (Details TBA).
    
  • After these two commitments, we will be slowing down the frequency of our larger Idea Camps in hopes of refining and introducing some of the new avenues for ideation listed below.
    

• The Open Nature of the Idea Camp
  
  • Although the Idea Camp was initially birthed out of faith context (specifically Christian), due to its emphasis on platform and commitment to culture-making, we have decided to offer up our platform to anyone who may benefit from its use. There’s no doubt that the faith community will continue to benefit from our Idea Camps, especially since we will have Idea Camps specific to issues of faith. Our hope is to simply benefit more people who desire to turn ideas into reality.
    

• TheIdeation.com (Coming 2010)
  
  • I’m personally in the process (key word here…”process”…) of creating something called “theIdeation.com”. It will be a company that provides practical insights and resources for ideators. Although I can’t share everything now, here are some current areas of development:
    • Ideation Conferences/Forums – In addition to the Idea Camps, we’ll facilitate more intentional gatherings to develop specific skill sets and working networks for people in a given field. You’ll be able to engage leading thinkers in a given field with real-life problem solving sessions, ideation resources, and talkbacks.
      
    • Ideation School – This will be a school for ideators taught by practitioners and experts in the field. Most classes will be 5 90-minutes sessions via the internet and telephone. Courses offered for this school will be determined by our network and assessment of needs in our culture.
      
    • Ideation Coaching/Consulting – Whether you’re an individual, organization, company, or conference, our broad network of Ideation Coaches/Consultants will help you create and implement great ideas.
  • Although there is much to be formed with theIdeation.com, I’m excited to see how this company will benefit people. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any thoughts or questions about what’s forming here. It’s definitely still in its infancy.
    

In closing, I’d like to personally thank all of you who visit this site or the Idea Camp for believing in what I do and supporting so many of my crazy ideas. It’s completely mindblogging to consider that so many of you care. You have no idea what a blessing you are to me.:)

Deeply humbled by your friendship,

Charles

This post is tagged Charles Lee, Conferences, Ideation, The Future of Idea Camp, The Idea Camp, theIdeation.com