This year’s Applied Improvisation Network Conference was an incredible experience filled with some amazing ideas.
Below are some excerpts that stuck out to me from the workshops I attended:
From This Is Your Brain on Improv (Rich Cox & Janet Crawford):
Laughter is one of the brain’s natural responses to get back in sync with someone.
From The Deeper, Funner Facilitation Cookbook (Julie Huffaker & Gary Hirsch):
You have to know what a person cares about first before you can influence them. The best way to find out what they care about is to ask them.
From Creating a Playback Theater Performance (Christopher Ellinger, Zhaleh Almaee, Anne Ellinger)
Listening is so important. To show understanding, it’s important to playback what it is you heard them saying.
From Touching the Heart: Exploring Core Values through Personal Storytelling (Nick Owen)
Being fearless doesn’t mean to deny fear, but to face it.
and
Form, action and innovation lies within the tension between structure and chaos.
From Improvisation and Biomimicry (Belina Raffy):
Nature is sustainable and we can learn from it. Nature: recycles everything, rewards cooperation, demands local expertise, and curbs excesses from within.
From Adventures in Micro-fiction (Denzil Meyers)
To spur writing, the design is to give you as little stimulus as possible, and let the mind fill in the gaps.
From Open Space Rules (lead by Chris Corrigan):
The Law of Two Feet: if you are somewhere and you aren’t learning, then use your two feet to get to somewhere you can be.
From Wiley Vets (Bard Braende, Sue Walden, Alieke van der Wijk)
Never make it about the sale, make it about the relationship.
From Talking to the CEO (Bard Braende, Maxine Shapiro)
The maximum capacity for a “tribe” is 150 people. After that it becomes too large to manage and should be split into two separate groups.
There were far too many great nuggets of knowledge to list them all here, but to read more about the entire event, check out the AIN Portland Conference 09 Wrap-up.
Last week I attended the Applied Improvisation Network (AIN) Conference, a gathering of some of the forem0st thought leaders on the use of improvisation to improve organizations.
From the AIN Website, the AIN “is a community of practitioners and clients who value the use of improvisation skills in organizations to:
- improve relationships
- increase authenticity
- promote spontaneity
- foster trust
- build communities of practice”
At the conference, I was able to take a number of great workshops and meet some amazing people. I’ll share more as the weeks go on, but wanted to share links to some of the sites of people who are doing some very cool things:
- Buffoonery Workshops – “discover your inner truth” (based in Canada)
- Caitlin McClure – (based in New York)
- Chris Corrigan – (based in Canada)
- ComedySportz – “The interactive improv experience” (based in 22 cities in US, UK and Germany)
- GameChangers – “Improvisation for business in the networked world.” (based in California)
- The Group Mind – “Teambuilding that connects and transforms.” (based in Ohio)
- Have More Fun – (based in Ireland)
- improvImpact – (based in California)
- IMPROVing Organizations – “Helping to make organizations better, one conversation at a time.” (based in Illinois)
- ImprovWorks – “Specialists in applying improv to business, theater & life.” (based in California)
- Innovation Styles – “The success booster” (based in New York)
- Koppett + Company – “Weaving passion into performance.” (based in New York)
- Maxine Shapiro – “If you’re not improvising everyday, you should be or risk being left behind.” (based in California)
- On Your Feet – “relate, create, communicate, and lead, all while having a ridiculously good time.” (based in Portland, London, Dublin, Arenas de San Pedro, Minneapolis)
- Paul Jackson Associates – “We’ll bring out the best in you.” (based in United Kingdom)
- playfair – “The world’s leading experts on fun and play at work.” (based in California)
- Spark Interaction – “Igniting hybrid engagement, interactivity & community.” (based in Pacific Northwest)
- Stop Stressing Out – “Life’s more fun when you stop stressing out.” (based in New York)
- widgetwonder – “make a connection, tell a story, effect change” (based in California)
For more, be sure to check out the AIN website: spreading the transforming power of improvisation.
