Founded in Greensboro in 2010, IdeaNetwork is a bi-monthly event for thinkers, designers, entrepreneurs, students, business owners and anyone who’s interested in creativity, innovation, design thinking and new ideas. It’s a comfortable space to share, listen and learn from one another. Each time, we invite a special guest to jump-start the conversation and address a question or two.

Recent Guests Have Included:

• Gerald Hutchinson, Certified Business Coach: 3 Ways to Get Out of Your Mental Rut (and Make New Friends)!
• Cyrus Bush, Personal Coach: Say Goodbye to Performance Anxiety
• Nicole Kaufman, LPC-A: Notes from a Badass Therapist/Mental Health for Entrepreneurs
• Cory Phillips, Improv Artist: IMPROV(e): What’s Stopping You?
• Jake Assaf, owner of Rioja! A Wine Bar: What Happens When Wine Meets Tech?
• Paul Damiano, industrial psychologist/owner of Good Works Consulting: Work — Are You Spending Your 100,000 Hours Wisely?
• Rebecca Cochran, musician/designer: Improvisation — It’s Not Just for Musicians
• Ryan Hovis, brewer’s assistant, Gibb’s Hundred Brewing Company: Beer by Design
• Gray Johnston, transit planning apprentice: Co-Creating a More Walkable, Bikeable and Transit-Friendly Greensboro
• Jackson Mayshark, founder of Ambleside Gallery: The Art of the Brainstorm
• Monty Hagler, President & CEO of RLF Communications: Surviving the Highs & Lows in Business and in Life
• Randall Hayes, on Permaculture: A Design Philosophy
• Elliot Strunk and David Horne, founding partners of LOFT, an agency collaborative: How Effective Collaboration Makes Good Work Great
• Susan Watson, Executive Director at the Wormen’s Resource Center in Alamance County: Non-Profit Marketing & Fundraising in Today’s Challenging Times
• Nick Horney, founder of Agility Consulting and Training: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Today’s ‘Gig Economy’

Earlier Events Include:

• Carl Nordgren, Duke Professor on entrepreneurism, author of The Creative Populist Revolution
• Howell Woltz, author of Justice Denied and other books and documentaries on judicial reform
• June 2012, southeast screening premiere of the movie, “Design & Thinking”
• Bill Knowles, speaker & consultant on Design-Based Innovation
• Margaret Collins, Executive Director of the Center for Creative Economy
• Field trip to The Forge, new hacker space in downtown Greensboro
• Doug Farrington, Information Systems Group leader at Syngenta: The Importance of Ecosystem Configuration as Part of Your Innovation Strategy
• Kyle T. Webster, award-winning illustrator: The Importance of Developing Your Side Project
• Randall Hayes, neuroscientist: Applying the Process of Evolution to Design Problems
• Cory Phillips, founder of Chucked Wood, on creating furniture using reclaimed wood
• Marcius, artist and accessories designer, on the creative process
• Blanca Cobb, body language expert
• David Smith, inventor of Battery Vampire, on his creative process
• Randall Hayes, on the process of producing an educational animation
• Anita Cafiero and Nick Jones, co-founders of Tiny Goat, on Agile for Good: A simple toolchain to solve complex problems
• Bill Lusk, photographer, on transforming his photography practice for the 21^st century
• John Robinson, then editor of the News & Record, on transitioning to the digital age
• Conrad Hayter, President, New Garden Landscaping, on building a culture of change
• David Smith, theater professor at UNCSA, on building a culture of collaboration
• Scott Williams, President of Emisare, on the changing face of branding