Ideation
Following lunch and visit and talk with Wynton Marsalis, the teams reconvened, reviewed what had been accomplished during the morning, and moved on to ideating. This phase of the day was focused on generating ideas for answering each team’s central question.
Brainwriting
During this phase, each team member was given a sheet of 3 post-its across the top, where they were asked to think up 3 ideas for answering the table’s central question. Then the sheet was passed two times, and each successive team member added 3 more ideas. This led to 9 ideas per sheet, ideally 54 ideas per table. The post-its were added to a blank board in “idea clusters” by the facilitator.
Sensemaking
Clustering helps us see key emergent themes of value. Colliding ideas gets to the heart of collaboration: together we can create concepts that none of us could conceive alone. Go team!
Ideas at table 2 were primarily focused on gamifying, revitalizing classics, and tech as a vehicle for open community platforms. Under the heading Gamify, ideas formed around audience recommendations of performances and distribution of benefits. The “Community Platform and Classics Reborn heads developed ideas around rethinking classics through the contemporary lens, through things like improvisation of historic events and the use of meta technology to present performances. In the Site-Driven Development category, the team considered ideas like widely diverse partnerships uses of technology that allow performers to tour diverse spaces and atypical venues.
Affinity Mapping
In Affinity Mapping, teams have the opportunity to cluster and name clusters, or collide and combine ideas. The goal of Clusters is to recognize emergent themes, and the goal of these colliding ideas is the heart of collaboration: realizing that together we can create concepts that none of us alone could conceive. Team! Table 2’s clusters were Gameify, Site-Driven Development, Classics Reborn, Open Community Platform, Virtual Ext., and Review.
Dot Voting
This sharing was then Dot Voted by all table participants (each participant was given 3 dots to use to vote wherever they favored an idea), resulting in the following focus statements to take forward:
- “Build an open community platform that focuses on audience participation, improvisation and social media platforms that use design thinking.”
- “Find a way to develop site-specific performances that partner super-different entities.”
- “Create a digital virtual improv collective for music, theatre, dance and visual arts that creates a social connection.”
Below is Table 2’s Cluster with Dot Voting (click to enlarge):
