Hi all. Mark here. I want to take this time to talk about the reason for starting IdeaCamp Davao.
As some of you already know, I'm part of a group of AusAID and
Davao City Chamber of Commerce scholars tasked with stepping up the entrepreneurial activity here in Davao City. We've already made some inroads in terms of educational materials and we're continually improving on that one. I wanted, however, to compliment it with something more pragmatic, with something that brought out the inherent knowledge of the local community. I wanted something like a forum that allowed individuals from the field to share their practical know-how with one another. In thinking about this, I had a few requirements in my head:
It shouldn't be a long-drawn conference. I'm not a big fan of listening to hour-long talks and I've found that the most productive parts of a conference tend to happen in between sessions. These are when I approach the speaker or another member of the audience and just discuss the parts that interested me. So I wanted something that promoted these interactions rather than the on-stage monologues.
It should be relaxing like a coffee shop, but more conducive to serendipitous encounters. I like coffee shops, but when it comes to facilitating productive interactions between patrons, it's a bit lacking in that aspect. So there has to be a way for an individual to showcase his interests so that the other participants can decide whether they want to engage him/her in a one-on-one talk later.
It should be composed of a diverse set of individuals. The thing about ideas and knowledge is that if they cross industrial, racial, cultural, and geographic boundaries, new and even better (and more holistic) ideas emerge. Ideas that you never would have thought of if you'd stayed in your own circle of friends. So, I wanted something that mixed individuals from healthcare, agriculture, education, IT, and other fields to help improve the level of consciousness that you bring to bear in evaluating the ideas in your head.
A couple of emails and a meeting with some of the
DabaweGNU members (Holden, Art, Andrew, George, and Nathaniel) later and we came up with IdeaCamp Davao.
One thing is for certain, we want IdeaCamp Davao to be a catalyst for Davao City's entrepreneurial activity. However, we don't want to limit it to for-profit businesses. Non-profits, NGOs, and other establishments likewise need to have entrepreneurial qualities and we want them to benefit from this also. Just as well because, as I said above, we believe that the more diverse the group, the better the chance for emergent ideas to form.
Now what's in it for you as an individual? Simply this: we want you to come out of this event with new ideas and insights whatever they may be. Perhaps an idea for improving how you do your job, or an idea for improving your organization's effectiveness. It could also be an idea to partner with one of the participants to form a new business, or it could simply be an idea for living a more fruitful life.
Whatever the idea I want to be clear that what you do with it is up to you. We’re not going to ask you to give us a status report every month. We’re not even going to ask you to act on it. For as long as you come out of the event with a new idea, a realization, an interesting insight, or even a desire to join the next IdeaCamp Davao, then we will have done our job.
If you want to come, help us estimate the number of participants by filling in the registration form on the right side. Remember, it's free to join and there's no dress code. Just come with an open and inquisitive mind.
