Innovation 2010 Event - held at CVCC on November 10, 2010

I attended this showcase of innovation yesterday and I have to say that I truly believe that it was a great event and a success. I think the keynote and the theme of the event is that Innovation and Creation is not about one person winning the lottery and coming up with a spectacularly outside of the box idea. The key to the successful implementation of a product or service is Interpersonal Networking and Collaboration.

I will dig deeper into Keynote speaker Andrew Hargadon's presentation, but the key to his message was that the tools are out there to create successes, but the Networking, Collaboration, and Cooperation are necessary elements to shape new ideas and products. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford didn't "Reinvent the Wheel," what they did was look at processes that existed in their era and they borrowed existing technologies, re-engineered and molded those existing technologies into efficient models that worked for the businesses strategies that they wanted to implement.

Former Governor Jim Hunt had a taped message about creating a New Creative Economy. Many of the ideas and subject materials that he broached are the ideas that have been related here on the Hickory Hound. He spoke about the processes that have gone forward in the community so far and how necessary they are. From his words you would think that he was speaking directly about the Future Economy Council. He also said that we should create contests and awards that reward innovation. The subject of an Economic and Science Fair has been discussed ad Nauseum here on the Hound and this Innovation 2010 event's roots were an offshoot of some of those discussions.

Economic and Science Fair discussions:
Future Economy Council Meeting #13 (3/18/2010)
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of February 16, 2010 - Public Hearings - Legislative issues
Top-Down or Bottom-Up (2/5/2010)
The State of Hickory - January 2010 (1/23/2010).

From September 17, 2009:




Mr. Leslie Boney, Associate Vice President for Economic Development Research, Policy and Planning for the University of North Carolina system spoke about the need for our area to reinvent itself. He reiterated much of the subject matter that Governor Hunt discussed and also talked about the Greater Hickory area's issues with the diaspora (Hickory's Diaspora - Bring Home the Scattered Seeds - 3/14/2010) and the "Brain Drain"- Forget about Brain Drain. How about Brain Gain!!!. He did not use that terminology per se, but that was the subject material and that also is information that has been discussed by the Future Economy Council and the Hickory Hound.

Other relevant articles:
Future Economy Council Meeting #4 (6/18/2009)
Catawba County’s Economic Stimulus Plan for 2010 – 2012 (12/8/2009)
Forget about Brain Drain. How about Brain Gain!!! (11/10/ 2009)
Fixing Hickory - The Future Economy Council presented by Terry Bledsoe, Catawba County Communications Director, Chairman - (10/23/2009)
Fixing Hickory - A Demographics and Marketing Discussion Panel - (10/13/2009)
Newsletter about the City Council meeting of October 6, 2009 - Presentation of “Education Matters”
HDR Editorial - Give young people a chance to thrive - (9/27/2009)

I will discuss all of the information laid out in this conference in detail over the next few days, please be patient it is coming, but as most of you know I juggle these efforts with many other efforts and responsibilities. I want to thank all of you who read the Hickory Hound and take an interest in our area!

For any Parties interested who would like to pursue any information on the processes of Innovation and Creativity in our community, below is a detailed list of the Individuals and companies that played a vital role in making this conference happen. As was stated, it is time to get out there and make those connections and these are some of those integral networks you should pursue. (Click on the photocopies to enlarge and from there you can use the Control+ or Control- to enlarge or shrink the image and the cursors to navigate).