We swapped ideas.

With the support of its sponsors—both Impact Earth and Education Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Executive Leadership at St. John Fisher College—Thinking Forward, a speaker’s troupe I helped start, celebrated National Swap Ideas Day on September 10 with a program that included talks from three Millennials and a dance performance from the Avenue D Afro Latino Dance Group.

The Millennials, the young dancers (aged four to 13 years old), and the more seasoned participants in the room all wrote out their answers to the following question, shared it with someone in the room, and placed it in an Idea Box. Here is what they wrote, clustered into various categories.

What is needed to transform this world into a richer, more vibrant place?

Friends and neighbors

My idea is to move more and smile.

My idea is to give more hugs because everyone is struggling with something and hugs are free!

Make more connections to change other people’s lives!

My idea is to be a friend and be grateful. How to be grateful? That means you need to be nice!

We can say hi to people we pass on the street and our neighborhood.

Say hello to everyone in the neighborhood.

We need to get to know our neighbors first and then go beyond and introduce ourselves to someone new!

Pet Introduction Day. A small group of people meet to introduce their pets and, in doing so, meet each other. It’s like a blind date for dogs or cats with people as the hosts. It would help single and elderly people with pets meet each other.

Sharing

Have more food shares.

Start with a potluck with your neighbors.

Have community tool shares.

Swap houses.

Have one month of tech that’s free.

Involvement

Find time during the year to donate energy, time, and resources to a cause that influences the local community. Get involved!

I would like more activities that allow us to get involved.

Use the Slow Road idea of getting up off your couch to motivate students to explore new ideas that will help everyone contribute to something positive for the community.

Invite others to come out and try something.

My idea is not to make things worse.

Cleaning

Clean garbage in the street and keep it clean.

I can clean and keep promises and respect everyone around me.

One thing I could do to improve my community is to have a cleaning group every week to clean my community.

Safety

We should have more police present in the community.

Create a safe public place for people to gather and exchange ideas on a regular basis.

No more violence in the world.

Parks and gardens

I love vertical community parks and gardens.

I would like to see more community gardens.

My idea is to start a neighborhood garden with all of my friends.

Schools

My idea is to make my school a better place.

Arts and music

Have people tell their stories so everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

Do storytelling.

I think everyone should learn to play a drum.

Have music in the community. Different types of musically inclined people gather at various venues and play for each other.

To make the dance group a better place is to make sure that everyone comes on time and every day.

Have more community dance groups.

Sustainability

Bring your own reusable bags (BYOB) initiative.

Take compost buckets to work.

Do recycling in public schools. There is so much paper and waste.

Make a sustainable impact.

Chocolate

I would like to encourage everyone to know where chocolate comes from and what community is impacted.

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Idea Swap

Today, I’m thinking about an upcoming event. With some ideas percolating in my cranium and others made visible here in print, reaching out to you seems like a worthwhile pursuit, especially since this event is an idea swap.

A Thinking Forward event

In the U.S., there seems to be a day dedicated to just about everything, including swapping ideas. To celebrate National Swap Ideas Day on September 10, Thinking Forward, a speaker’s troupe that I co-founded, has assembled a very impressive group of innovators, all in the early stage of their careers. They will share their ideas on what is needed to transform this world into a richer, more vibrant place and convey how they have put these ideas to work in a specific area of interest in their communities. The talks are about the protection, growth, and renewal of land and people; an economy where community is wealth; zero waste; a multidisciplinary approach to connecting people to places; and solar technology.

As a balance to these serious topics, a group of young performers will dance Reggaeton from Puerto Rico, providing a look at how owning one’s culture through the arts can enrich one’s life and community.

I know that our winning cast of presenters will shine and illuminate our knowledge of subjects in which they care deeply.

My role

Up to now, my role has involved finding a venue; assembling the speakers; collecting, drafting, and proofing content for promotional pieces; adding to our distribution list; and spreading the word via social media.

I still have another important task before me—develop a 10-minute idea swap activity that gets everyone thinking, participating, and sharing. The room will likely be set up with small groups at tables, making interaction easy. Imagine that you are sitting at one of the tables, along with several friends and colleagues. You are listening to the instructions for the idea swap activity.

Options

Here are my preliminary ideas for an idea swap activity.

Accentuate the positive to transform your community for good!

Note: This blog is adapted from a recent Thinking Forward event, in which a troupe of professional speakers (including me!) explored the theme, Transform Your Community for Good.

The lyrics to songs can be like poetry that speaks to us. Music—the arts, nature, so much that surrounds us—can reveal intelligence, wisdom, and basic truths that we can apply to the communities in which we live and work.

Do you know the song, Accentuate the Positive? It goes like this:

You’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between
You’ve got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith, or pandemonium is liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do just when everything looked so dark
They said you’ve got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between
No! Don’t mess with Mr. In-Between

(Music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, published in 1944.)

I got to thinking about how this song relates to communities—and here I’m thinking of communities in the broadest sense.

What are some of the characteristics of communities?

Communities of people come in lots of different sizes and shapes.

Communities are specialized and similar or diverse and different in terms of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, cultural background, residence, level of education, economic status, type of employment, or some other demographic.

Communities likely have insiders and outsiders. Members may all live in the same county. Maybe they are all librarians or healthcare providers. Maybe they have the same professional degrees or licenses.

Communities can have different structures. They can be flat, where all members have an equal voice. They can be hierarchical, where some members fall somewhere between the top and the bottom.

In some communities, you already belong. If you graduated from a certain university, you are in the community of alum. In others, you have to join. For example, membership in an association of alums likely makes you a more exclusive member of the community, with additional benefits.

Some communities share a physical space and some share a virtual space. For example, the technical communication community, to which I belong, meets every year at a conference. Members of this community also meet virtually at webinars and other online forums.

Though communities are different, members have a common tie that binds them to the community—whether at home with your family and friends; at work with employers, clients, employees, and colleagues; in recreational activities; or in volunteer pursuits.

And, as human beings who breathe the same air and walk the same earth, we are all part of a very large community where what we do touches others.

Know a good community when you see it. Focus on the good. Focus on the positive.

As the song says, you’ve got to:

• Accentuate the positive. Latch on to the affirmative.
• Spread joy up to the maximum.
• And have faith!

How do you recognize a good community? You’ll know it by its fruits. You’ll see a lot that’s positive, affirming, and encouraging. You’ll see signs of joy. And yes, there will be a spirit of faith and optimism. There will be a sense that wonderful possibilities can transpire.

Let me give you two examples:

Inspire thyself

You, too, can inspire thyself!

In-spire. Yes, breathe in. Take in some fresh air. Become refreshed. Become renewed. Look, listen, touch, smell, taste from the many creations in art, crafts, literature, movies, music, and nature that surround you. Many of these sources of inspiration are others’ creations. Yet, some sources may come from you—at an earlier time, perhaps in a different place. Look back at your work, and let it move you to something better, something great, maybe even something profound.

In the two plus years that Career Success in 12 Easy Steps—A Journal has been available, I have written blogs and presentation material for seminars and webinars—all intended to inspire and motivate others—and myself—to move their life in a positive direction.

And now is a time to pause, to reflect  on my own words.

Good communities—make them happen!

One of the joys of participating with several colleagues in a speaking troupe we call Thinking Forward involves creating thoughtful talks for our audience. Our latest theme, Transforming Your Community for Good, got me thinking…

What do communities look like?

Communities of people come in lots of different sizes and shapes. They may be specialized and similar or diverse and different in terms of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, cultural background, residence, level of education, economic status, type of employment, or some other demographic.

Communities likely have insiders and outsiders. They are exclusive in some way. Members may live in the same neighborhood. They may work for the same employer. Maybe they have the same professional degrees or licenses. Communities can have different structures. They can be hierarchical, where members fall somewhere between the top and the bottom. They can be flat, where all members have an equal voice. In some communities, you already belong. If you graduated from a specific college, you are in the community of alumni. In others, you have to join. For example, membership in an association of alumni likely makes you a more exclusive member of the community, with additional perks.

Though communities look different, members share a bond; there is common thread; there is a tie that unites. And all communities—as different as they are—are part of a global community of human beings who breathe the same air, walk the same earth, and touch one another, someway, somehow.