Brain Bite - Imagineering the Future

Hi

Happy Valentine's Day!  How are things? Hope all is well at your end. 

This is going to be a quick eLetter as we are still travelling at the moment with a lot on so we're doing this between things (swim, sun, margaritas, planning, writing, etc). 

We're in Orlando Florida now.  We came right up here after speaking at the Creativity Cruise Conference, which was a great success, to meet with Tony and the ThinkBuzan team at the TLI program they ran here last week.

It was great to catch up with the gang, and to meet a fresh bunch of committed Mind Mapping instructors. 

As we are in Orlando, famous for Disney World and close to the Kennedy Space Center, we want to focus this eLetter on Imagineering - one of our favourite topics and a technique we use all the time.

We also wanted to remind Sydney-Siders that we have our Mind Mapping public programs running on 28 February, so if you want to get involved now is the time to let us know.

But let's get started...
 

A Valentine's Day Gift for you!

It is 14th February here in the USA and you can't move without seeing or hearing something about Valentine's Day.  Okay we know it's over in Australia, and that many see it as just another 'Hallmark' event, but hey, some people need an excuse to do something special for the ones they love.

Not us of course, here at Mindwerx and the Buzan Centre, we're full of love and caring all the time.  But we just can't help ourselves, we like to do even more on special occasions.

So for a limited time, for this occasion, we are offering a 15% Discount on our favourite Mind Mapping software packages - iMindMap Ultimate, iMindMap Home & Student, and MindGenius.

If you have been thinking about doing more with your Mind Mapping, and don't have the software yet - here's your chance.  Go to the Mindwerx eStore, select the software you want, and as you go through Check-Out use coupon_code SOFTWARE15.  When we get you're order we'll process it personally.

And if you aren't a Mind Mapper yet, remember we have f.ree eCourses on Mind Mapping that you can subscribe to anytime.

Imagineering - Walt Disney, JFK and more

Imagineering is described as imagining the future and engineering it into reality, and that is exactly what Walt Disney, John F Kennedy, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many more have done.  Including You!

Think about it - who hasn't dreamed a dream, thought about doing something special, or set their sights on a different future - and then made it happen in some way?  We all have, it's just that some people dream bigger dreams - and take more action.

Think for a moment about all the great achievements you have admired and been inspired by - political, heroic, constructive, personal and behind them all is imagineering in action.  Whether it is nation building, team collaboration, or how we raise the kids, imagineering is in play.

Techniques we use to deliberately imagineer include creative imaging, story boarding, flow-charting, Mind Mapping, image collages and many others.  Some are great for teams, and almost all can be used personally.

Here we are now just a few miles from Disney World and an hour from Kennedy Space Center, and we are again in awe of the power of the individual imagineer that empowers the imagination of millions of others.  And we are astounded by the dedication, passion and efforts of the people that help dreams come true.

Take some time to imagine what might be, for yourself, your family, your business and then do something to make make it happen.  And if you want to read a little more on this see Bill's Blog as well.

Sydney 28 February - Mind Mapping

One of the main reasons we are in Orlando now is that we were able to catch up with Tony Buzan and the ThinkBuzan team at the TLI program they ran here.  We had a great time meeting all the new TLIs, and having some quality time with Tony and ThinkBuzan CEO Chris Griffiths.

There is lots happening in the Buzan world at the moment all over the world, and we're working closely with the team to make it all happen - part of our own Imagineering process.

Two of the big things about to happen is the formal publication of two books Jennifer has been working on with Tony - both due out in March.  They are both fabulous works, and we'll tell you all about them as soon as we can.

In the meantime we are also making final arrangements for the upcoming Mind Mapping workshops in Sydney on 28 February.  The day is in two part parts - the morning looks at basic Mind Mapping, and the afternoon goes onto more advanced techniques and looks at Mind Mapping software to get real results from your Mind Maps.

If you want to attend, you'll need to book soon, so check out the website or email us at info[at]mindwerx[dot]com.
 

The Creativity Cruise

The primary purpose for our trip to the US this time was of course to attend the Creativity Cruise - a 5-day conference on a cruise ship out of Fort Lauderdale.  Bill and Jennifer were speakers on the cruise along with about 10 of their colleagues from around the world.

We were delighted to spend time with our friends conference organisers Eileen Doyle and Bruce Baum, who did a great talk on the use of humour for creativity.  One of the many interesting things they spoke about was Creative Resumes, where rather than doing a standard CV some creativity is applied.  See the example here of one for a chef, but also just Google 'creative resumes' to see lots more. 

Our friend Kubos Neethling from South Africa kicked the conference off with an inspiring talk on courage, and what it takes to make things happen.  With his own examples from the massive changes in his country over the last 20 years we see great imagineers with great courage, changing the world.

Others spoke about how art progresses creativity, how ideas are sold and implemented better, and how creative thinking come in many shapes and approaches.

Bill spoke on Critical & Creative Thinking as a skill, while Jennifer brought the house down with fun and amazement as she did her 'iThink therefore iMindMap' keynote.

As we settle in after we get back we'll be going over all our notes and we'll share more of the fabulous insights we got from the conference with in blogs and eLetters.  So stay tuned.
 

Mindcamp - Toronto's Creativity Weekend

News just in as we were finishing this eLetter.  Registration has just opened for Mindcamp - THE Canadian Creativity Conference of choice.

Mindcamp is a four-day micro-university for personal, professional, and organizational creativity — a feast of 90-minute concurrent sessions presented by the best creativity leaders in North America and world-wide. Mindcamp exposes more than 100 creative people to a wide range of perspectives on the research and practice of deliberate creativity.

And on top of the scheduled programs, there are evening salons, dialog sessions, music, dancing, campfires, and just plain fun.  Mindcamp runs this year from 23-26 August just outside Toronto.

We know the team that runs this event well and if you're close by or want an opportunity to visit Canada, this is a great way to meet some fantastic people and learn some very creative stuff.  See the Mindcamp website now.