The Future of Collaboration Informal Coffee Brainstorm

This sounds terrific! I love collaborating. See you there. Together, we CAN change the world, I just know it. It may start as a small event or two. It may be just an interesting idea. But what begins as a small movement, like a pebble in a pond, has the potential to become a huge movement. Let's do it...

Tshombe,

You and your Biznik event co-organizers have done an outstanding job of planning for this diverse group of train travelers. This is going to be so much fun.

Bob does wonder, though, how you are going to keep this crazy, distracted, high-energy group focused. Kind of like taking 20 first graders to Disneyland.

So is breakfast included or do we BYOB? I'm partial to croissants...french roast coffee...fresh squeezed!!

biscotti!

I invited Carol and Michael and am SO glad they are attending!!

Pleased to see that Chanel will be there. We had a productive and enjoyable phone conversation not long ago. Nice to make in-person connections!

Even though it's full, I'm going to show up anyway (in case anyone doesn't come) because I'm already coming down on the train with the group! :)

Hi Tshombe, your event sounds great, obviously others agree! I'm going to follow Becca and drop by myself, will honor your quota if too full.

Usually SOMEONE will drop out pre-event, I find - and it will be so wonderful to meet new Portland friends. Looks like the word DID get out!

I am looking to find ideas from those of you in Portland to help a great Portland non-profit called WildCat Haven- for those who might want a marketing opportunity with your products and/or services - they are having an October "50's theme" auction - if it looks like fun, please know you're invited to attend) - check out the event planned and pls let me know if u have any ideas for sponsorship/volunteers/procurement - http://www.wildcathaven.org/BCB/bcb.html It is such a small world, I wanted to mention knowing that someone may be interested in supporting this cause - otherwise, no pressure!!

Tshombe,

Darn...won't be making it after all - not wishing to share my cold.

Have a terrific time and hope you can refill my spot!

Enjoy, Lisa

I think a few Seattle/ Bellingham folks are coming that are not signed up - should be a "full house" as they say.....

Noise level is awful. Remember this is a popular Sunday morning spot. I could not hear a thing other than the blasting music and the noise from the Official Stumptown espresso machines. :-(

Noise level is awful. Remember this is a popular Sunday morning spot. I could not hear a thing other than the blasting music and the noise from the Official Stumptown espresso machines. :-(

ignore this-duplicate post by accident

For small businesses collaboration actually gives them a certain advantage over well-staffed big businesses, as they can collaboratively work on larger projects. But it is also true that healthy competition leads to innovation and efficiency, so that should not be forgotten, either. I do not necessarily think "healthy" competitions are "hostile" ones, any more than competitive sports are acts of hostility.

Tshombe! One word for you Man - Extraordinary! That would be you. Your hosting was wonderful, hospitality very generous and you always have "walking tour guide" as a back up plan for the future!!

Thank you so much for your efforts this weekend. While the event at Stumptown was a bit on the loud side, there were very good connections happening and collaboration was apparent. So, 'the next time' we will just raise the noise level at a quiet little uptown joint and invite the locals to join us!

It was a blast meeting you and I truly do look forward to the next time.

Make it a great day! Tammy

thanks so much for hosting this meeting. Had a great time meeting others and yes, a bit loud but I think we all loved the coffee and conversation!!

Loved meeting you too and THANKS for all the great advice. I was serious about my offer on an ebook!!

Had a great time connecting with others. I wanted more time to connect with Portland folks and wished we had a quieter place and more time. I still got a ton out of the experience and I'm so glad I came!

I really enjoyed my first Biznik meeting and the format and the people. I'm not being negative when I say that the venue was inappropriate for the meeting. We had over 20 people and only about 10 seats available for the original area. Plus it was way too loud with the music and the other customers.

I was thrilled with the energy and the focus of the participants and am glad I attended. Everyone I spoke with seemed so intent on helping one another and the commitment of those who came down from Seattle to attend meetings in Portland was seriously impressive.

Just a better venue next time, please...

Thank you Tshombe, I look forward to future interactions...

Forrest

Tshombe,

Thanks for being both gracious and flexible. It can't be easy catering to all the individual noise. I also know that the number of venues that are free are not infinite. I appreciate all the work that event into making the weekend such a positive experience for us all

Being one of those "sensory overload" people, I do understand the noise issue, too.

I got so much out of the coffee brainstorm session. There was a lot of energy in that room and no short of ideas on how we can support each other. Thanks again for all you did to make it possible.

Hey Tshombe, thanks for putting this together. Conversation was great, and I loved the opportunity to meet some PDXers. You are awesome!

~bob

Boy, I must not be awake yet. I meant "catering to all the individual needs," not "noise," : )

This event was stunning. Yes, it was noisy...so that meant we only were able to focus on a few people in our circle...but so what?

That meant we had to focus completely on the small group around us...and that meant that we got some really meat on the table and alot of productivity came out of that.

For example, in my group I learned how to talk about business collaboration as a form of sportsmanship...and we, too discussed that competition is not viewed as bad when it is designed to encourage everyone tolive into their highest potential.

People love games, competitions...because they are for striving.

It is the nature of the energy of the game that gives it a negative or positive connotation.

Competitions or games that are entered into with a win-win-win attitude, rather than the perception that there must be a winner and a loser is a problem with the attitude; not with the game or the competition.

It is useful to notice the difference.

Win-lose is about adversarial and dualist competition.

Win-win-win is about collaborative competition...competition where the collective intelligence benefits after the striving is complete and the scores are tallied.

Very different in results. They both have scores, and someone is declared a winner...but the outcomes are not at all the same.

Sportsmanship in business...that is a different version of collaboration.

great comments, joy. we discussed the exact same points in our group. we also discussed that when we put energy out it comes back to us.. if we put our energies out to help those around us, while keeping our collective highest goods in mind, that energy surely and certainly comes back around. like attracts like.

i trust when i help a colleague with my knowledge or perspective that i'm making the world a better place. and a better place is somewhere where we can all share in each others' growth, to aid in each others' processes, rather than always winning at the expense of someone else.

competition and collaboration can be one and the same, the art of getting what we all want.

and thanks again, tshombe. your energy and enthusiasm were contagious. very much look forward to the future..

and joy's right, the room was exactly what it needed to be. the format worked great...

Hello All,

Loved the Sunday event and wish I could have joined everyone on the train trip. Great idea, Tshombe.

Our group got to know one another thru the prepared questions and that conversation gave us the foundation to offer each other specific suggestions for taking our endeavors to the next level. Thank you, Joy and Becca. It was a pleasure to meet you and collaborate. I feel a part of your lives and your success.

Tshombe, the event exceeded my expectations in that we were able to intently focus on each other in a structured/unstructured way.

The Collaboration Game itself was a challenge given the space and an unfamiliar task with new people --so it was probably a great way to see how we could handle the situation. And we did! Our three gals and one guy (Michael commented on how women 'seem to collaborate easily' at one point) was a stark example of how we sometimes communicate with a particular goal or mindset which may or may not suit the group and so part of our fun was just observing how we attempted to problem solve and find our way together. It was interesting to see how we often used our background 'expertise' as our fallback positions, and the term 'default position' triggered some interesting interpretations of how we normally respond. Time to reflect on that later was helpful. Great conversation starter withoneself. Thank you Tshombe and our other generous Portland hosts!

Hey Everyone! I am so excited about the energy that has been generated in Portland that I wanted to invite you to an event in Olympia! Hey, the drive is beautiful!!

Please check out the Biznik Summer Picnic on the Sound - http://biznik.com/members/linda-jensen/events/biznik-summer-picnic-for-the-whole-family#

Would love to see you all there! Tammy