Sunday, March 15, 2015

New HikeStorming Info-graphic Explains the Concept


HikeStorming infographic by graphic artist Lisa FitzPatrick. @fizlisa 

Like us on FaceBook... but only if you want to. It's the subtle approach, and that's how we like it!


Join us for CoWorking Day. It's about productivity, creativity, collaborating and fitness!


Volunteer meeting on Thursday! Yes... we need your help, skills and creativity! 


Follow us at: @lee_chazen and for off the wall commentary at @zoidge 





Wednesday, March 04, 2015

Take the HikeStorming Challenge and Test Your Creativity!










Choose one of the following questions below.Think on it while hiking or doing another physical activity (walking, running, working out, etc.) Then, come back and impress the world with your ideas, revolutionary thoughts and / or breakthrough comedic twists.

Then, let’s see how this develops over time. Will your ideas resonate? Will they merge with others? Don’t you think it’s time a good idea went viral? Try it out. 


Don't forget to reference the question number in your answer and to post your answers here: HikeStorming Facebook Page

  1. If 3D printers start making other 3D printers, we’re all doomed. Is that scenario the beginning of the end or something good?
  2. If it’s true that music is the universal language, why aren’t we using it as such, for example in communications between international teams of  designers and engineers?
  3. They turned cheese into Cheese Whiz. What other food could they turn into “whiz” or “whiz-type” matter?
  4. Can the Quadratic Equation or any other common algebraic or geometric formula be replaced? How and why?
  5. Kirk or Pacard? Why?
  6. When you first learned to “solve for x” did your algebra teacher actually tell you what x meant? If not, why?
  7. If a hypochondriac is someone who is worried that they might be sick, what   do they call someone who is worried that they might be a hypochondriac?
  8. What two things have never been combined, but should be in order to form a new product or idea?
  9. In the Internet of things, if everything talks to everything else, could you be left out of the conversation?
  10. Can we crowd source emergencies, like finding missing planes? Should we?
  11. If you could do one thing right now that might alter the course of history, what would it be?
  12. How would you re-invent the shoe with unlimited resources and technology?
  13. If someone asks you what time it is, but fails to tell you when, should you assume it is from the moment they started asking?
  14. Using non-equilibrium thermodynamics as your guide, re-design how companies are set up to do business? Think bio-sphere and weather patterns.
  15. Is the English alphabet ready for disruption, i.e. is it sufficient as is, or could it be replaced?
  16. If you were to point out only one crucial thing that differentiates an iPhone from an Android phone, what would it be?
  17. Why didn’t velcro catch on? Was it the sound?
  18. If there is more “space” than solid objects, then why do we seemingly spend more time studying visible things rather than the space that connects them? 
  19. Can two contradictory things be true at the same time? If yes, what's an example?
  20. In the age of the Internet is basic memorization of content important? Why or why not?
Please post answers here: HikeStorming Facebook Page


You can also find questions here: @zoidge @Lee_Chazen

For more information on HikeStorming, please visit: Our Meetup Page

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Ideas for Improving Team and Personal Creativity Through Musical Improv by Feixing Tuang



This note came in from a fellow #HikeStormer, Feixing Tuang. We started corresponding soon after a Stanford Laptop Orchestra event and the ideas have taken on a life of their own. Her lesson or design seemed so unique and inspiring that I decided to share it both here and on the HikeStorming Facebook Page

The YouTube video above shows Feixing performing a piece for her mother. She also performs regularly at Kaiser hospital and is working on plans to create more therapeutic or healing types of music.

Hello Lee,

An idea came to my mind...I would love to share with you and see if you are interested in experimenting this in our Music sessions. 

I did some Sound IMPROV with my team at Cisco. This was my writeup of what we did:

"Stand in a circle. To warm up, someone in the circle starts saying gibberish to the next person. Feel free to act along while delivering the sounds to the next person.

The patterns continues around one circle.

Next, everyone takes 20 seconds to imagine the sound of "earth" quietly. At the count of 3, everyone makes the sound that they had in mind at the same time.

Next, take another 20 seconds to imagine the sound of "sun" quietly.  At the count of 3, everyone makes the sound of "sun."

The last round of improv is to express the sounds of "Universal love" or "creativity." Start with someone in the circle, pass the sounds to the person next to you."

The similar activity could be used for Music improvisation. We can pick ideas, concepts, and see what comes up in our improvisation.

For example, make the sound of "A person waking up in the morning" or "A person finding his flow."
We could start with a round in a circle, then we can layer our sounds on top of each other's sounds...

I think it will be very fun!!!

We could eventually make it a performance at different non-traditional venues too. What do you think?

Regards,
Feixing

Monday, February 02, 2015

Stanford Laptop Orchestra Concert Tonight




Looking forward to tonight's concert, featuring the #Stanford Laptop Orchestra --

works and performances by members of SideLObe: Romain Michon, Madeline Huberth, Hana Shin, Rob Hamilton, Chryssie Nanou, Alex Chechile, Kitty Shi, John Granzow, and Ge Wang.

More here: http://sidelobe.stanford.edu/ev...­

Sign up here: http://www.meetup.com/Silicon-Valley-HikeStorming/events/220146990/

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Silicon Valley Group Combines Hiking with Brainstorming

What is HikeStorming?


The idea started sometime in 2012. There were two groups that were both popular at the time (in Sacramento... where I was living at the time). One was TEDx­, which offered participants the chance to meet other creative entrepreneurial types. We would get together to watch inspiring videos as well as organize local events featuring dynamic, interesting speakers. The other was hiking Meetups, which were attracting hundreds, if not thousands to sign up for daily and weekend hikes in the foothills of the Sierra, Bay Area and beyond.

One provided great ideas and a positive open-minded experience with creative and intelligent people. The other provided scenery, great views, camaraderie, a challenge as well as the opportunity to get in shape and lose weight.

So....why not combine the two?

                       
Simple concept: Hiking + Brainstorming = HikeStorming

There is no doubt that groups of people already go out on hikes, runs or bike rides to work on ideas. But, this would be different — better organized, deliberately divergent, utilizing the latest information on creativity, brainstorming, cross-pollination and an actual curriculum to get people talking, thinking and using constructive targets for what to accomplish on each hike.

We could even plan events for CEOs, visionaries, startups or corporate or organizational departments, whereby facilitators would guide members on a day hike to get people out of “ruts” or to open up new pathways for personal or group discovery. Set this in places like Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Los Angeles or any major urban area, and you have a great recipe for full participation and action!



Limitless Combinations of Activities

  • Basic idea generation, startup discussions, etc.
  • Cross-fit sessions with brainstorming breaks
  • Hiking / beach sessions
  • Camping / hiking with structured facilitation
  • Hikes with different themes, e.g., comedy, philosophy, acting, business strategy, book clubs, music, art, meditation, motivation, emotional intelligence, app development, engineering, writing, etc.



Benefits to Members


  • Improved health, i.e., possible weight loss, endurance, stamina, muscle tone, improved cardio-vascular system, etc.
  • Meeting like-minded, creative, intelligent and fellow health-conscious people
  • Great networking possibilities
  • Promotion of ideas, companies, causes, etc., either on hikes, through social media channels, YouTube, etc.
  • Generating better ideas through cross-pollination and random interaction with people of different professions / occupations
  • Recruiting team members / Co-founders and prospective employees in a stress-free and healthy environment
  • Testing out wearable technology and a possible alternative to typical office work environments

Want to get involved? 

Why sit down at a table, when we could be true to the concept and meet on a trail? Join us next Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Santa Teresa County Park. We’ll hike while working on some ideas and plans. If you want to keep this idea alive, I really need your help. Simply put, I can’t do this alone.

On the table for the planning session:

  • Branching out — finding new Locations
  • Event Organizers and Assistant Organizers
  • Curriculum, i.e. ideas for mixing concepts and getting things accomplished on hikes (see Limitless Combinations of Activities above).
  • Getting things on the calendar



Interested in Gamification or Game-Based Learning?

I’m currently looking for both business partners and software engineers to help in developing a 1.0 mobile app for a popular social studies game. The groundwork has been laid, research done, proof of concept is there and investors have shown interest. Just need a team who can meet once a week to help in building a mock-up version or help in launching a crowd-funding campaign. Check out Global Challenge here.­




Silicon Valley HikeStormers has a sponsor! 

Locally-based Treasury Curve of Palo Alto has offered one free hour of consultation on money management for CFOs and treasurers plus free access to their Cloud Based Money Fund Portal to all members of Silicon Valley HikeStormers.

Speaking of sponsors, if you have any contacts or connections who would like to help us out -- for example, a wearable tech company, sporting good store, sports drinks manufacturer, etc. please let me know. We'd love to have their help and maybe pass on some discounts to the group.

Suggested Reading:

Why we should listen to introverts
The science of hiking
How hiking is helping those with PTSD (Imagine what it can do for you).

That’s all for now. See you on the trails!

Lee Chazen
Founder, Silicon Valley HikeStorming

Monday, June 09, 2014

What is the SmartEdPad?



Full disclosure: I'm now Content Strategist for SmartEdPad (by SPED K12, Inc.). As such, my job is to create a clear and understandable message about our product. I'm very happy in this new role since I believe this tool (the SmartEdPad) has the power to transform the way special education programs are administered. Beyond that, there's potential in the future for this technology to help with differentiated instruction in general education as well - as the SmartEdPad makes it easy to offer customized views for each student. And, unlike the iPad, this platform was designed to be dedicated so that students only see what the teacher or therapist wants them to see.

Our partner on this project, Maxit Media, did a terrific job of reducing the message about this product down to under 2 minutes. They created a great story-line, a simple message, introduced engaging graphics and nice sound effects. We appreciate their creativity, dedication and eye for detail!

This video will show you why we created the SmartEdPad and how it's helping people in the special education field. If you have further questions, please call us at 1-800-982-9430, or visit http://smartedpad.com/Contact.