What is an Innovate-A-thon?

An Innovate-A-thon is a series of complementary group activities for creating something new and better ... an innovation!

An Innovate-A-thon typically has a party of participants collaborating to achieve a common goal in a predetermined period of time.  A facilitator keeps the team focused, productive, and the process on-track.

Innovate-A-thon creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship principles have been proven productive in a variety of companies, business development support groups, nonprofit associations, universities, and other organizations.

The Innovation Impact Roadmap ...

The Innovation Impact Roadmap started on the whiteboard in my office at the University of Arizona as a schematic outline of the syllabus for an entrepreneurship program I taught.  

A syllabus is sequential, but the innovation and entrepreneurship processes usually are not.  They bounce around a bit, from here to there and round again. 

I used the roadmap to show the "big picture" of where we were going in class, and to point out that the road to "getting there" wasn't necessarily the same for everyone.

The whiteboard version was fairly simple, but students and colleagues seem to like it and took photos of it for reference.  So, I thought, why not elaborate it just a little bit?  Add a few details here and there.  OK, OK, so maybe I got carried away just a little bit!  I've tried to add elements that I thought would be most useful. Certainly not all apply to every venture! 

Think of it as a checklist of the "attractions" you might want to visit on your Innovate-A-thon venture adventure. The "main highway" on the roadmap is the venture mission statement (the critical success factor in my mind) ... it's highlighted in yellow. 

The latest Innovation Impact Roadmap high resolution version in .pdf .jpg and .png formats are available HERE.

--Jim

A Little Bit of Inspiration ...

RulesOfSome.com is an ever-growing collection of right-to-the-point tips, tools, and rules of some very smart and savvy people for creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

Check it out and see if there might be something there to make your day a little bit brighter, a little bit easier.  

Innovating is Competitive Creativity ...

CompetitiveCreativity.com contains a variety of material and notes from some innovation and entrepreneurship programs and classes at the University of Arizona, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, University of Washington, and others.

Take a look and see if there might be something there useful to you creating your new innovative venture.

Thank You, University of Arizona ...

The Ed2S.org group was pleased to host four outstanding University of Arizona students as interns this summer, applying Innovate-A-thon concepts to the development of several new innovative concepts. 

Thank you UArizona Student Engagement and Career Development (SECD) for connecting Ed2S.org with DAFNE, HAILEE, ISABEL, and NATALY!  

Thank you Dafne, Hailee, Isabel, and Nataly ... certainly hope you learned a few new innovation tips, tools, and rules of some this summer. You're the best!