Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Creativity, Innovation, Imagination, Truth

Scrap Art Rock Band by Nicholas

Today I read an article by Maddie Grant at Social Fishwhich made me think, as always thank you Maddie for your thoughtfulness! In this article she references an article by Rich Becker that also has some great points. Check these out too.

They are not the first people to comment on the keys to success in business and in doing business in a social media forum require that you have imagination, creativity, innovation and truth. This sounds great, but what does this mean - to us in our work at Cantrav, to me as an Event Producer, and most importantly to our clients as they share their concerns about creating an "ultimate guest experience"? First stop, dictionary.com

Imagination
the faculty of imaging, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
We never think of any event in isolation, we instead imagine it in the context of the overall experience. Then we combine the transportation, venue, food, beverage, entertainment and decor selections into a unique and seamlessly woven concept. For our team, the only way to approach it is from the beginning, and with consideration to all the senses. What our imagination, combined with research into your organizations' culture and resourcing the appropriate partners for all the above components - we imagine for your guests the entire experience and share our concepts with you.

Creativity
the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination:
We often are asked "to think outside the box". There is only one way to say this... WE HAVE NO BOX. When we approach event design, whether it is a meeting environment or the most out there concept ever, we are always considering how we can break the rules, and twist a little on norms.

Innovation
something new or different introduced:
I have just said we like to push it... But it is important that when something new is introduced that guests still are comfortable. So as we innovate - from including social media into events; creating new experiential spaces, and more - we always play within the boundaries of understanding the human psyche and create events that are essentially comfortable, but always interesting and ideally thought-provoking. If you are not creating a sense of reward, improving knowledge or creating a base for transformation, then what are your goals and what are the new approaches we can take to support you in achieving these - this is when innovation counts.

Truth
honesty; integrity; truthfulness
It is impossible to have an unauthentic or not relevant event that is successful, it is just that simple.

In Social Media, in face to face business relationships, in personal relationships, if you don't approach LIFE with honesty, integrity, and interest, you will not have a very rewarding life, so truth is the only way. While we always prefer to say "yes" when that is what a client wants to hear, being truthful about challenges and offering solutions and ideas, that is where our job satisfaction truly comes from. If we really think something will be a roaring success, we will suggest it; if we know something will not create a comfortable guest experience, we are going to share this as well and seek alternates with you.

My perspective is that in the event and meeting planning industry we get with each live event, ONE opportunity to succeed, and with creativity, imagination, innovation and truth as key overriding principles - we are going to have fun, learn and build amazing relationships; ultimately so will your guests and participants.

I would love to hear your comments too.

3 comments:

  1. I agree wholeheartedly. Authenticity, whimsy, imagination, risk taking without recklessly endangering your client's comfort... all ingredients for success!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Deborah - we are SO lucky to do what we do!

    ReplyDelete