Music, stories and a little creative mischief. Meet Creativity Bootcamp Mixtapes.
I wanted to bring something fresh to the room.
More sound, more film, more stories from places we don’t always visit at a communications conference. Something to make people curious, raise a smile and get a different part of their brain joining in.
That was the starting point for Creativity Bootcamp Mixtapes.
But somewhere between Bowie, a few creative challenges and popping up throughout a conference like a slightly overenthusiastic musical interlude, we found something else.
A change of tempo
A palate cleanser. Zane Ewton once used that phrase to describe our Creativity Bootcamp emails and activities. It came back to me after taking the Mixtapes to Chuck Gose’s ICology Flyover Fest in Sioux Falls.
My sessions were spread across the day: one 30-minute slot and three 15-minute appearances between the other speakers.
A couple of bits of feedback suggested that this rhythm had done something useful. The change in content and style had given people a chance to switch gears. To refresh their minds before getting stuck into the next session.
That has found a corner of my mind to live in.
A good conference gives us plenty to absorb… case studies, technical knowledge, strategic thinking, other people’s experience, generously shared. All great stuff and very much needed.
I think there’s real value in adding lighter moments and unexpected perspectives to that mix. Something we can connect with as people alongside everything we’re taking in as professionals.
And music gives us a lovely place to start.
Most of us have a song that puts us somewhere else. A particular summer. A first gig. A terrible haircut. A time when we knew every word and had absolutely no idea what we were doing with our lives.
We all bring those connections into the room.
Behind the music
Creativity Bootcamp Mixtapes explore the rich worlds in and around music. The artists, scenes, collaborations, visual identities and stories behind the work. There’s so much to discover about how people create, experiment, get stuck, reinvent themselves and bring others along.
At Flyover, that meant hearing from Bowie and Damon Albarn through short clips, exploring creative collisions and looking at filmmaking around music through Daniel Broadley’s work.
The audio and video are a big part of the experience. You hear someone’s voice. See their expression. Get a glimpse of their process. Feel something of the world they’re creating.
Then we bring that curiosity back to creativity and comms.
Time for a remix
Each track combines a musical story, a creative thought and a short activity. There’s something to explore, something to discuss and something to try.
We might ask what communications could make possible if we started again without our familiar channels. Or identify what’s stopping good ideas from getting through. Or bring two unlikely prompts together and see where they take a real communications challenge.
You could find yourself borrowing from a festival and a vending machine to rethink how people discover learning opportunities.
Which is a fairly unusual place for a conversation about learning and development to begin.
That’s part of the fun.
A playful starting point gives us room to experiment. We can follow an unexpected connection, put a half-formed thought into words and let someone else build on it.
And yes, when it’s time to share, there’s an opportunity to Cher. Some jokes refuse to leave the setlist no matter how bad.
Plenty more on the playlist
What excites me is the scope here. Music opens doors into design, film, fashion, technology, community and human behaviour. Every scene has people and stories around it that can help us look at our own work differently.
The Mixtapes give us a way to explore those worlds together, with practical activities that bring the thinking back into the room.
I started out wanting to make my presentations a richer audio-visual experience and bring in fresh stories that felt a little less “worky”.
Flyover gave me another reason to keep going. A well-placed change of tune can help people enjoy the day and get more from it. Shout-out to Chuck for building this into the Flyover experience.
Alan Oram – Founder and Director , Alive with Ideas
Add us to your line-up
Planning a conference, team day or workshop?
We can bring Creativity Bootcamp Mixtapes to your event as a speaking session, a hands-on workshop or a series of shorter creative sessions woven through the programme.
Talk to us about your event, your people and the thinking you’d like to get moving.
Let’s put a mixtape together.
