What a better way to spend your Saturday afternoon then to hang out at Austin’s first Innovation Camp. Yes, that’s correct, this would be the third “bar camp-esque” event to happen in this city in the last four months – a true testament to how Austin continues to push collaboration and, well, innovation.

(Hey Joey, I can see you blogging from here!)

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant about this particular event. For me, the topic of innovation spans several areas, and I feared that discussions could easily spin out control. I wasn’t sure what to expect - will this be 9 hours of defining innovation?  

But in the end, I had the opportunity to meet some great folks and hear great discussions. From community initiatives to different business models to social entrepreneurship, there were some really exciting stuff. Here’s a breakdown of a couple of the sessions/events/people. (Note: Obviously, I didn’t get to make all of the sessions or meet everyone, so if I missed something, please feel free to highlight below in the comments!)

Session #1: “Alternative work spaces: Co-Working/The Creative Space”

The guys from the Creative Space kicked off the event with a session on alternative work spaces. From its history to some of the key milestones over the past year, Cody and crew provided great insight into the changing landscape of a “normal work environment.” Wonder if this fluid model can be tweaked to accommodate large corporations dealing with what is essentially a culture shift in work-styles? Hello millennials.

Also, to illustrate the range of conversations going on, the topic quickly morphed into guerrilla gardening. And, yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.

Quote of the session has to be: Geek 1: “Old people have as many bad ideas as young ones”; Geek 2: “Yeah, but you don’t have to live with them as long.”

Session #2: “ActLab: Pedagogy of Innovation”

Great session on “what is the ActLab” – and I write this with complete biases, obviously. But, from the feedback following the session, it seemed that everyone else also enjoyed the session. Great job to Joey, Dustin and Brandon. See you guys at BIL 2009?

Session #3: “Emerald City”

Another great session! Some of the best discussions on how to preserve Austin’s uniqueness while accommodating growth. From agricultural sustainability to attracting/retaining talent to public transportation, the conversations were insightful and thought provoking. What would your ideal Austin look like?

Would have loved to see some non-tech heads participate in this conversation. Perhaps next time the Mayor or a local city developer can join us?

Session #4: “Conjunctured“

Finally – got to hear what these guys are really trying to do with this space. One of the largest attended sessions, people were obviously curious about how this spot differs from LaunchPad, Creative Space, Jelly etc. The guys addressed questions/concerns from the community regarding intellectual property, branding, reputation, project management etc. Will feature more on this later.

Side convos and topics that I encourage you to check out:

• BIL 2009
• The Big Green Bus
• Startup District

All in all, two enthusiastic thumbs-up! Thanks to @notanMBA, @todd_sundsted, @juliegomoll et al, for pulling this all together.

Now, it’s off to the Conjunctured sponsored after party – 1309 E. 7th Street.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Social Scene, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.