Home

Membership

Innovation
University

Articles
& Reports

Conferences

Speakers
& Consultants

Best Practices

Products

Discussion
Forums

Brain
Wake-ups

What Others Are Saying

It's always nice to hear nice things ...

About Convergence

Attending the Innovation Network's Convergence, I came up with four new product ideas, three of which are now patented.
--Phil Fawcett, Microsoft

Read Mary Zettel's report Convergence 99 presented to her team at 3M!

This kind of conference is the fuel for our future, it's where we recreate, recollect and hybridize.
--Lari Washburn, Lucent Technologies

...something new in every session...
--Dana Wolcott, Eastman Kodak

Convergence 97 was wonderful...I'm hooked!
--Debra Giampoli, Kraft Foods

The organization I work with received immediate use of the techniques I learned at the conference. This was one gathering where an attendee could actually see the room tilting to the right with all of that unleased brain power!
-- Kathie Hagfors, Director of HR, Cox Communications

With budget cuts in my organization, I'll attend only one conference this year, and the Innovation Network's Convergence is it!

At last year's conference, the conversations with fellow attendees, whether in sessions, at lunch or while browsing in the great bookstore, were as powerfully stimulating as the presentations. Lots of conferences deliver great content that I write up in a report and file away, but not all of them provide the opportunity to recharge one's batteries the way Convergence does.

It's a truly unique environment that stimulates and sustains me as I go about my job selling innovation within my organization. I've used tapes from some of the Convergence keynote presentations to stimulate discussion within my organization. And, even when they say 'no' to some new idea, my management doesn't want me to stop provoking thought. Convergence provides that vital spark to help me think of a new approach. Lots of other people at the conference told me the same thing: they learned things that would benefit their companies, but the experience of attending Convergence benefitted them personally. It's a unique combination of practical business applications, personal exploration and just plain fun.

One tip for new attendees is to schedule a few extra days after the conference to give yourselves a chance to let all the information filter in while enjoying the beautiful resorts where Convergence is held each year. I brought my family, too, and they had a great time getting browned by the sun while I got charged up.
--Jim Dooley, Employee Training Administrator, State Auto Insurance Companies

As a chemist in management in a conservative pharmaceutical company, I've favored chemistry or industry-related meetings and conferences. I attended Convergence the first time in an attempt to open new windows of thinking & possibility. I've returned every year since then because the experience has provided paradigm-busting exposure to people, topics and experiences which have helped me to innovate as a manager.
--Greg Furrow, Quality Assurance Manager, Eli Lilly and Company

Convergence was an extraordinary event in my life. The people, the place, the information exchange and knowledge-sharing were all excellent. I'll never forget the excitement and fulfillment I felt when RJR R&D was presented the inaugural George Land World Class Innovator Award! I'm ready and waiting for Convergence 96!
-- Tom Perfetti, RJ Reynolds R&D

One of the things I liked best about the conference was that it reinforced my belief that there is a lot of human potential that is being wasted by standard management practices. The practical sessions gave me lots of ideas for improving our productivity and innovativeness. The people I met were absolutely terrific.
-- Paula Golus, Co-founder, Quadron Services Corporation

I can't believe how much I've been able to use the information I got from the conference. It was a life changing event.
-- Suzanne Chilton, Senior Process Specialist, Peabody Holding Co.

Just the best conference ever!
-- Denys Laurence, International Management Trust, Monaco

I am heartily recommending this conference to my colleagues for next year.
-- Angela Just, Lucent Technologies

The best kept secret in corporate America!
-- Loren Miller, LCM Consultants, Inc.

The conference was absolutely the best I've ever attended in terms of great take-home ideas and of exhilarating FUN!
-- Laurie Dunnavant, Product Analyst Manager, 3M Health Information Systems

The vast amount of leading edge information on innovation I received in just three fast-paced days will help us continue to grow well into the 21st century.
-- Rick Gutherie, Manager, Ford MP&L Learning Organization Center

Total mind illumination!
-- Bruce Knapke, Equifax, Inc.

About Good Morning Thinkers

From: LitLucy@aol.com

Subject: Ecstatic (no longer static) subscriber!

Thanks for the superb idea of caffeine for the brain. I will look forward to my Monday wake up calls. As a community college instructor teaching problem solving and thinking skills, I will field test some of these quotes on my students. ;-)

From: "Johnson, Dani/ATL" <DDELANEY@atl.ms.ch2m.com>

I just wanted to say thanks for putting out the wake up brain messges. They are wonderful. I forwarded the message from this morning to one of our VPs and he later said to me that he appreciated the message; apparently he leads a lot of internal conference calls with a team of individuals and the whole thought of leading this particular group of people makes him extremely uneasy. So again, thanks for the messages.

We find them timely, amusing, and definitely thought-provoking, so I suppose you could say that you are indeed meeting your mission. A few of the other folks in my department subscribe to your list, and we have found that we're forwarding them left and right.

From: Elizabeth Macdonald <MACDONALDE@EM.AGR.CA>

Thanks, I love reading about this stuff. It just reminds me that I am on the right track.

From: MRS TRESSA M MILLS <TUAP93A@prodigy.com>

FABULOUS!!!!!!

From: Jim Milner <jhmilne@ppco.com>

I enjoy your Monday morning ticklers. I can't tell you how refreshing it is just to read an encouragement to think out of the box. BELIEVE ME, the business world needs to hear this. The original thoughts I have observed during my 20 years experience in business are scarce as those proverbial hen's teeth.

From: Dick Martin <imp5@unicomp.net>

You stimulated my grey matter. Your short post did what was intended.

From: Connie Staton <msastro@halcyon.com>

Just thought I'd drop you a note to let you know how much I look forward to getting that weekly uplift. It's great ---- thanks.

From: Jim Sterne <jsterne@targeting.com>

First let me thank you for the Monday brain starters. What a wonderful thing! Even on days I don't have time to enjoy my Word-A-Day vocabulary building messages, I always take time to read your wake-up calls.

To sign up for Good Morning Thinkers, Click Here.