Annual Conference on Idea Management 2009

Ideas shape the future, Hamburg, May 2009

Engaging presentations and interesting panel discussions – these are familiar and expected at a conference. But what about a World Café, a visualization session, and graphic recording?

All of this was experienced live by the 250 participants of the international annual conference on idea management, held from May 10th to 12th in Hamburg. Holger Scholz, engaged by the German Innovation Bureau (dib) as facilitator, developed the conference's choreography and logistics together with a pilot group. In this way, a truly impressive dialogue architecture was created in close collaboration with the client (dib).

Three facilitators – Holger Scholz, Martin Haussmann, and Ceren Meissner – were involved in the implementation. The communication facilitator team surprised and delighted the participants with a skillful mix of facilitation (dialogue support/moderation) and visual facilitation (real-time visualization) – a fact confirmed after the conference by Christiane Kersting, Head of Ideas and Innovation Management at dib.

I had the opportunity to participate in all the events myself and, looking back, I'm very glad I took full advantage of it. I was particularly impressed by the noticeable change in the overall conference atmosphere brought about by the use of the World Café format. The participants' enthusiasm for this large-group method, as well as for the vibrant conference visualizations by Martin Haussmann and Ceren Meissner, was truly remarkable.

As an added bonus, I was able to attend the workshops “What would Obama do?” with Tom Dupre, Program Manager for IBM’s Global Industry Networked Communities and “Ideas Are Not Just For The Good Times” with Andy Beddows, Chairman Ideas UK & Ideas Manager Boots, Great Britain.
After a short adjustment period due to the language change, I enjoyed these workshops. The ideas from them still resonate with me today, and I'm glad to have been a part of them.

My report concludes here with a heartfelt thank you to the organizers from the German Institute for Business Administration in Frankfurt/Main and to the communications consultants. For those interested, here are the contact details:

German Institute for Business Administration GmbH
Friedrichstr. 10-12
60323 Frankfurt am Main
www.dib.de

Communication guides
Scholz & Vesper GbR
Mucher Straße 29
53804 Much-Marienfeld
www.kommunikationslotsen.de