Mr Hyde's Other Notebook

Conference venue with a difference

I mentioned in my last post I had been doing a series of Creative Thinking Workshops with LCM Health Care. One of these sessions was with the directors of all their Private Hospitals and it was held at Mary MacKillop Place.

They have quite a good conference set up there, with different size spaces available and quite an amazing peaceful atmosphere just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of North Sydney station.

Well worth considering if you were after something a little different. With the gardens, Chapel, Museum and tomb of Mary MacKillop.

http://www.marymackillopplace.org.au/index.html

 

Timothy in Hospital again

Actually, I was on assignment, up at the shiny new Mater Hospital in Newcastle. They are very proud of it and rightfully so. It's bright and full of light and I ran a fun half day creativity and problem solving session for their Department heads up there.

This was my 3rd session for the Little Company of Mary Healthcare group. What a great bunch they are too.

 

 

What is Gamestorming?

I mentioned Gamestorming a few days ago and had a few queries about it.

Gamestorming is a "Toolkit" of activities and guidelines for creating an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish. Popularised by the book of the same name by Dave Gray, published by O'Reilly.

It's Brainstorming focused onto specific outcomes, with a large dose of play thrown in.

Some of the Techniques are old ones, some are new. What is great is the understanding of the structure or flow of a session. From Openers or Divergent Thinking, through Exploring or Emergent Thinking and finally into Closing or Convergent Thinking.

Now, most brainstorming and creative thinking facilitators would do this naturally but its a great overview for those new to the field.

With a bit of study of the book and the Website I'm sure anyone could use some of these techniques with your group. Alternatively I'd be happy to run a session for you. Lets talk!

 

Who's the most famous person I've worked with?

I get asked that question quite a lot.

Over the last decades Lynda and I have worked and toured with such well known artists as - James Taylor, Mark Knopfler, Johnnie Ray, Whoppie Goldberg, KC & The Sunshine Band and Demis Rousos. But no mention of famous names gets more of a reaction when I tell people I worked with Mr Squiggle.

Sorry to hear of the death of Squiggles creator Norman Hetherington this week.

 

A great venue for corporate planning retreat.

Thrilled to be asked to facilitate a corporate retreat recently at Bannisters, Mollymook. The venue and location are fantastic for a small event. We had about 15 people for this event. The added attraction of the Rick Stein restaurant makes this a real winner.

I presented my Corporate Creativity session in the first part of the morning and then we settled in for an exciting day of Brainstorming and Gamestorming, looking at various challenges and opportunities for my client.

Here's a few shots of the venue.