InnovatorsDigest

What do Google, Kraft, Samsung, American Express, Motorola and Capital One have in common? Thousands of people from those innovative organizations have experienced SolutionPeople’s innovation training.

What do Google, Kraft, Samsung, American Express, Motorola and Capital One have in common? Thousands of people from those innovative organizations have experienced SolutionPeople’s innovation training.  Learn more in this new eBook.

 

 

 

 

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YouTube Video Highlights of 2-Day Innovation Workshop at the Thinkubator Studio (Time-lapse)

Groups of people from around the world travel to The Thinkubator Innovation Studios in Chicago to experience award-winning innovation training. The interactive, experiential training is designed by Gerald “Solutionman” Haman and facilitated by SolutionPeople’s Certified Innovation Trainers. Enjoy this brief time-lapse video that compressed thousands of photographs from the 2-day Accelerated Innovation Training Workshop into just one minute. Enjoy the energizing soundtrack.

 

Your Invite to Join Solutionman's Top 32 Linkedin Groups for Innovators by Gerald Haman. Click to Join Over 500,000 Members.

 

Linkedin has over 2,000,000 groups for its 315,000,000 members. SolutionPeople has created over 60 groups and subgroups with over 500,000 members who are passionate about innovation. Feel welcome to click on any of the following links to learn more details or request to join the Top 32 Linkedin Linkedin Groups created by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman, founder of The Thinkubator Innovation Studios in Chicago.

Marketing, PR, Sales, Social Media & Word-of-Mouth Innovators

Green & Sustainability Innovators

Innovation People Expert Innovators

Twitter Innovators

Brand & Branding Innovators

Learning & Education Innovators

iPhone, iPad, Android & Smartphone APP Users & Developers

Leadership & Change Management Innovators

Social Media Innovators

Product & Service Innovators

HealthCare, Wellness, Medical, Pharmaceutical & Biotech Innovators

Facebook Innovators Network

Sales & Selling Innovators

Fundraising & Philanthropic Innovators

Getting Things Done - GTD Network

Meeting & Event Design Innovators

VIPs: Very Innovative People Network

Creative Communication Innovators

Jobs for Innovators

YouTube Innovators

The Innovation Association

Design Thinking Innovators Network

Experience Innovators & Experience Economy Network

TRIZ Innovators Network

Futurists & Anticipatory Scientists Network

Chicago Area Innovators

Innovadores de Habla Hispana (Spanish Speaking Innovators)

Government & Political Innovators

European Innovators

KnowBrainer "Trained Brains" Innovators

Asia Pacific Innovators

South American Innovators

300 Million Members on Linkedin - Check Out This New INFOGRAPHIC

300 Million LinkedIn Members from LinkedIn

MY LINKEDIN STORY: How I Created the World’s Largest Network of Innovators and Became “One of The Most Connected People on Linkedin”

Part 1 in a Series of Articles on Linked

What happens when someone invests 30 minutes per day for 10 years on Linkedin? I know the answer, because I invested that time. And yes, that investment has paid off.

Several years ago, when Linkedin surpassed the 100-million member mark, I was surprised to receive a personal letter from Reid Hoffman, the cofounder and chairman of Linkedin. Hoffman thanked me for being one of the first people to join Linkedin. Today, Linkedin has over 250 million members, and I am ranked as one of the "Top 10 Most Connected People" on Linkedin.

Many people have asked why I created my large network. I enjoy introducing people with great minds to other people with great minds. The reason some people call me Solutionman is that I have been very effective in introducing people to other people who can help them solve problems. I've been blessed with meeting people with great brains, and I go out of my way, to introduce them to other people who also have great brains.

A few years ago, FAST COMPANY's "Influence Project" ranked me as one of the "Top 25 Most Influential People Online." Since Linkedin limits the number of an individual's first-level connections to 30,000, there are over 10,000 people who are waiting to connect with me. I apologize if you are one of them.

So how did I achieve such a milestone? I joined Linkedin on February 3, 2004 and was member number 188,322. Besides being an early adopter of Linkedin, I made it a priority to invite my network of current and past customers to join Linkedin. Since I was nicknamed "Solutionman" by a client from AT&T, I saw Linkedin as a solution for keeping in touch with my network. I already had a database of thousands of connections accumulated from traveling and leading the innovation workshops and giving keynote speeches.

At first, people were hesitant to join me on Linkedin, but they trusted my opinion and joined. Years later, hundreds of people were grateful to follow me for my advice to join Linkedin.

In 2007, I was one of the first people to take advantage of Linkedin's new feature for creating Groups. Taking advantage of this new opportunity, I asked the people in my network what groups they would like me to organize. Since my company had focused on providing innovation training for over 20 years to customers in 26 countries, naturally much of my network had a passion for innovation.

I created a group focused on "green and sustainable" innovation, which now has over 20,000 members. Next, I created a group for people focused on "product and service" innovation that now has 6,000 members. As I traveled the globe, I also created geographically-based groups for people in Asia, South American, India and the Middle East. Today, I have over 50 Groups on Linkedin that include Brand Innovators (14,000 members), Healthcare Innovators (4,800 members), App Innovators (6,500 members) and a small group of Futurists (1,100 members). Since I created these groups before Linkedin started to limit the number of groups people could join to ten, I am fortunately grandfathered in so I own the large number of groups.

However, I had something bigger in mind. I created one of the largest groups on Linkedin. My "Marketing, PR, and Sales Innovators" Group has over 260,000 members and is adding about 1,500 members per week. Soon, the total number of members belonging to my Linkedin Groups will surpass 500,000 people. By combining my 30,000 first-level connections with a half million group members, I've been called "the most connected innovator" in the world.

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Many social media experts and people curious to know how I created my large network of innovators. Here are several ways I network to keep ahead of the curve keep building our brand:

1. I devote 30-45 minutes per day replying to Linkedin messages and introduction requests.
2. I seek to connect with five different types of networkers: (1) Innovators, (2) Investigators, (3) Creators, (4) Evaluators and (5) Activators.
3. I invite everyone who attends my workshops or hears my keynote speeches to join my groups. For example, I spoke to 8,000 people at the Singapore stadium, and they were all invited to join my networks.
4. I brand groups my so they stand out from the other 1.9 million groups. For example, all my groups have purple logos and unique graphics. My customers know I drive a purple car, have purple walls at my Thinkubator and wear purple clothes.
5. I facilitate weekly networking webinars for 20-30 people in my network. All participants share their needs and goals so that other people can offer help or solutions. There is a waiting list for people to be invited to attend my networking webinars.
6. I host monthly live "networking events" at my Thinkubator Studio near downtown Chicago for up to 50 guests. The Thinkubator invite list is carefully selected from my Linkedin network in Chicago to ensure the group is diverse. Like the networking webinars, there is a waiting list for people to attend the networking events at my Thinkubator Studios.
7. I organize networking events for my Linkedin group members when I travel to other cities around the world. I have organized large networking events in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, China, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Switzerland, Thailand and the Philippines.

YouTube Video Shares Experiences of People Who Attended Innovation Training Workshops Faciliated by Gerald "Solutionman" Haman

Click Here to View The YouTube Video

How Solutionman Created Innovation Evangelists: Authors Reveal Innovative Word-of-Mouth Marketing Secrets

In Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force, authors Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba explain how to convert customers into influential and enthusiastic evangelists. The book outlines the framework for developing evangelism marketing strategies and programs. The ultimate goal is to create communities of influencers who drive sales or membership for your company or organization. Many companies have been effective at applying the book's "six basic tenets" to create evangelists for innovation and sales growth.

The book explains how IBM, Southwest Airlines, The Dallas Mavericks, and SolutionPeople have successfully built their customer base and created targeted marketing programs to involve their biggest fans. These programs have produced legions of unofficial salespeople and a cost-effective and powerful marketing force. McConnell & Huba interviewed SolutionPeople's Gerald Haman, clients, and spent several days at the Thinkubator, and wrote a book chapter entitled The High-Flying Solutionman that chronicles Haman's 20 years of growing his business through customer evangelism.

6 Tenets to Create Customer Evangelists 
1. Customer plus-delta: Continuously gather customer feedback. 
2. Napsterize knowledge: Share knowledge freely. 
3. Build the buzz: Build word-of-mouth networks. 
4. Create community: Encourage communities of customers to meet and share. 
5. Make bite-size chunks: Devise specialized, small offerings to get people to bite. 
6. Create a cause: Focus on making the world, or your industry, better. 

Download a PDF of the entire chapter from the book on SolutionPeople’s applications of the Six Tenets by clicking HERE. 
Order the book from Amazon.com by clicking HERE.

22 Proven Interactive Innovation Activities and Team Experiences to Engage Audiences at Meetings, Events and Conferences

Are you tired attending boring meetings with traditional formats and meaningless teambuilding activities? Are your audiences bored with "talking head" presentations, panel discussions and pointless PowerPoint slides? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, you should learn about the following 22 activities that have proven effective for small meetings and large conferences with hundreds or thousands of people.

The following activities have incorporated into meetings for Google, Kraft, Xerox, Pepsi, Samsung, American Express and FAST Company magazine. The activities have also be shared with thousands professional event planners from Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and the Association Forum.

Want to learn MORE about these meting activities? Schedule a webinar or phone call with Gerald "Solutionman" Haman. Solutionman has designed and facilitated all the activities that have been experienced by more than 100,000 meeting attendees. Solutionman facilitated the world-record-setting Thinkathon brainstorming activity for 8,000 people at the Singapore stadium. Haman's Thinkathon generated over 454,000 ideas in just 60 minutes.

Contact Gerald "Solutionman" Haman
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1-312-829-2852 (Thinkubator Innovation Studios)

Video YouTube Goes Viral. Tour the Thinkubator Innovation Studios, Views Reveal Amazing Meeting Space Recommended by FAST Company

FAST Company magazine suggested readers "look inside" the Thinkubator.  Now you can! This brand new video showcases one of the most amazing meeting spaces in the world. Find out why leading companies have hosted their events at the Thinkubator.  See the space that has been home to innovators from Google, Kraft, Abbott, Leo Burnett, MillerCoors, DDB, Motorola, Nestle, AT&T, State Farm, Samsung and Northwestern University.

Explore The Thinkubator's World of Imagination! - New YouTube Video Reveals the Chicago Innovation Lab

iTunes Offers 4 Versions of iKnowBrainer App (iPhone-iPad-English-Spanish)

The world's first app to that stimulates innovative thinking is called the iKnowBrainer.  iTunes has just been released the app in two languages (Spanish and English) and in two formats (iPhone and iPad). All apps are optimized for the retina display and the new iOS7. 

The iKnowBrainer® Innovation App is a powerful productivity App that helps you instantly think better, faster and smarter using hundreds of proven questions, words, quotes and images as inspiration.  The iKnowBrainer's integrated 4-stage Accelerated Innovation Process helps you generate, plan, and organize ideas.  iKnowBrainer helps you use your whole brain to generate up to 530% more ideas than traditional brainstorming.

MORE DETAILS ON THE APP
Although the iKnowBrainer is most often used by business professionals, it was designed to be used by everyone to develop solutions for almost any goal, challenge or problem. The iKnowBrainer was created by innovation guru Gerald "Solutionman" Haman, CEO of SolutionPeople Innovation and Founder of The Thinkubator Innovation Lab in Chicago.  Solutionman is the award-winning inventor of the original analog KnowBrainer "Tool" and the set the world brainstorming record by generating 454,000 ideas in one hour with 8,000 people at the Singapore Stadium.  

ALL APP PURCHASERS QUALIFY TO ATTEND A FREE
LIVE INNOVATION TRAINING WEBINAR ($200 VALUE)

The ROI (Return On Ideas) Guarantee:
iKnowBrainer WILL Help You Generate Ideas that Are Worth at Least $100!

Download the iKnowBrainer Innovation App on iTunes by Clicking HERE or on the Following Link:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/solutionpeople-innovation/id379897722 

NEWS UPDATE: The Android version of the iKnowBrainer App will be Released On January 15, 2014 and it will be optimized for Android tablets and smartphones!

New InfoGraphic Reveals 24-Year Timeline History of Innovation Tools That Led to the New KnowBrainer Innovation & Creativity Tool v.5.0

FORTUNE magazine recognized the Pocket Innovator as one of the world's first innovation tools back in 1990. That original tool led to the creation of other thinking tools such as the Pocket Persuader and the first KnowBrainer Tool. The NEW version 5.0 of the KnowBrainer has just been released.

Take a look at following InfoGraphic timeline that shows the fascinating evolution of one of the most popular innovation tools in the world.

 CLICK on the Following Link to Order on Amazon:
http://bit.ly/KnowBrainersOnAmazon1