What a weird 18 hours that was.
Last night there was an event held by Sticky (“The idea agency”) here in Chicago called Third Thursdays. It was designed to be an ad-industry night of collaboration and creative networking, and was held from 6-10PM in a bar/club called Enclave. I was very excited to go, especially because I could meet people to talk about likemind. I thought there would be a happy coincidence of networking events.
Maybe because it was the first Third Thursday, maybe because it was in a bar with hip-hop records a’spinnin’… the event left me feeling a little empty. Lots of people showed up and there wasn’t a whole lot of collaboration going on. Mostly it was a drinking affair. Eh.
And then this morning, this beautiful morning, came around and it was time for the first likemind. And I’m happy to report that it was a huge success. Four insightful, excited and generous people showed up and we had a great chat. By 8:15 we all had cups of strong Intellgentsia coffee (having beat this particular location’s massive morning rush) and were set to go.
Chris Thilk, blog-master, regaled us with blogging best practices, the right way to run a PR campaign, and some great thoughts about the next generation of social networking.
Mark Renshaw (co-host of likemind.chi) of Arc Worldwide brought the coolest business cards ever. He also was stung by a stingray in Australia.
Mike Walsh, who I met randomly last night at my favorite restaurant, is a newbie blogger and started a company that makes online community software. It’s called Leverage Software and I think it’s going to be the next big thing.
Mike Maddaloni (The Hot Iron) showed up a little later and had some smart things to say about selling good ideas/strategies. and was kind enough to stick around and help…
Hemal Gill, from NY, who was in town secret-shopping the Chicago likemind. She’s a regular at the likemind.ny which apparently gets 30 people every time. Hemal started a blog called The Eight Fold, and hopes to change the way we all think about brands. In a good way.
I felt so blessed to be around such smart people. Thank you to you four who showed up and gave away free inspiration to the group. Big things will come of the things we discuss and if you care about creating big things, changing the world, etc., you should have been there to share. And listen.
And the contrast between likemind.chi and Third Thursday serves to illustrate a point.
It’s easy to talk about collaboration and sharing. It’s much harder (and takes more dedication) to actually create an environment that encourages these principles. But I’d rather be in the creation business than the talking business.
You?
6 Comments
Hey Clay, Chris, Mike & Mike and Future Likeminders -
It was good fun. For all those interested — in my experience in New York Likemind is always a wonderful, fortuitous and fluid way of sharing ideas, getting great insights and working toward doing better work. Likemind Chicago is just as dynamic.
We had some great discussion on reinforcing the role and importance of strategy for all of our clients trying to make sense of the digital space. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the technology and forget that we exist to tell beautiful, compelling and meaningful stories.
Congrats on putting this together and for all those who can - Likemind is well worth the effort to wake up a little earlier on a Friday.
And I’ll add a “me-too” to what Hemal said!
The path to how I got to this event was interesting and will make for a good next blog post!
mp/m
Hemal - Thanks for coming by. It’s awesome that two of our likeminders today were from far-off places, and I was really just floored by some of your ideas. The notion about all this talk, on all these blogs and networks, being someday replaced by the learning silence of listening … well … that’s just a beautiful notion.
One of the things I wrote about a while back (maybe in my second month of blogging) was this idea of “All the beautiful details.” Relating, of course, to what you were saying about the nonsensical, aberrant, intriguing and beautiful things brands can do to build value on top of the explicit reason they exist. Building beautiful details and beautiful stories is fun. And people respond to it. It’s a wonder why more companies don’t get this.
Mike - Again (as I mentioned on your blog), thanks for coming. I appreciated your insight and I hope you come back next time. Maybe bring one of your clients!
sounds great. Hooray Clay! Keep on the next Likemind.Chi
This honestly warms my heart. It sounds like exactly the feeling I’ve had every time I’ve walked away from a likemind for the last 8 months. So glad Chicagoans get a chance now as well.
Oakie - I’m excited for the next one. Maybe when you’re on your way out to VA you can stop by in the CHI.
Noah - A huge thank-you to you and Piers for starting this. It’s so great to meet new, brilliant people every month, to find new blogs to read and to get inspired over a Friday cup.
So… awesome! Thanks.
One Trackback
The Path to Likemind…
This morning I participated in a dynamic discussion for the first meeting of likemind.chi. What is likemind you ask? I asked myself the same question when I heard about it, and this video by the founders of likemind explains it well. And as I am the cl…