kickoff session for CMS Expo

1. Gamestorming
Meets Quiet
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

2. Tuesday, 14 May, 13
For all of the obvious reasons, CMS Expo is one of my favourite conferences. John’s antics
aside, this conference is one of the best opportunities I’ve had to talk about content
management systems anywhere on the planet. Most other open source conferences that I’ve
been to are not focused on content management systems. There’s a lot of topics being
covered and it’s difficult to find your tribe. The first year I came to CMSX I most stuck around
with my tribe ... because I’m really bad at beginnings. But the second year I was able to
actually step outside of my tribe. I walked up and down CMS alley and talked to people about
the problems they were solving with their systems. I made amazing connections.

3. Tuesday, 14 May, 13
This is actually a big deal for me to step outside of my tribe. I’m not great at networking. I
love the bits in the middle of a conversation--but I find the beginnings (and endings) quite
difficult.

4. cow
slippers
wobbly
table
HTML5
sticker
the king of
denmark
http://twitpic.com/47jdg5
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
This is a typical photo of how I experience conferences. This is at DrupalCon Chicago. I’m promoting HTML5 with my friend
Morten during my session. I happen to be wearing cow slippers.
Photo by: @Andrew_Jarvis. http://twitpic.com/47jdg5

5. Tuesday, 14 May, 13
This is a typical shot of me at a technical conference. This is in 2004 in Bordeaux. I’m
completely content to be surrounded by my friends while hacking away at solving the world’s
problems.

6. Tuesday, 14 May, 13
Although I’m sure I used to be ENFJ. Times change, I guess.

7. 1/3 to 1/2 of the
population are
introverts
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

8. introverts: people whose
energy tends to expand
through reflection and
dwindle during interaction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraversion_and_introversion
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

9. introvert != shy
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

10. blah blah blah networking
blah blah blah
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
I’m not particularly afraid of people, I just find networking to be awkward and
exhausting....BUT...

11. Get out of your tribehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/5800455325
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
Last year at CMSX I really started to enjoy myself when I stopped trying to solve my own
problems and started trying to make connections for other people. I recognize this isn’t very
practical for most people. But if I could give you just one gift or one mantra for this
conference, it would be this: get out of your own tribe. http://www.flickr.com/photos/
garryknight/5800455325

12. how so?
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

13. Move one business to the lefthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/theeerin/4046166489/
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
I grew up attending trade shows with my mom. You’d sit in your booth for the week and do
your best to pitch your business. And over the course of the week you’d come to know the
pitch of your next door booth pretty well. In fact, by the end of the week you were pretty sure
that you could close more sales for them than you could for yourself.

14. Gamestorming
Meets Quiet
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

15. Gamestorming
Gamestorming is a set of practices for
facilitating innovation in the business world.
A facilitator leads a group towards some
goal by way of a game, a structured activity
that provides scope for thinking freely, even
playfully.
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamestorming
http://www.gogamestorm.com/

16. extroverted morning people?
raise. your. hands.
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

17. Susan Cain:
The Power of Introverts
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html

18. this is a hijacking.
get out your pens.
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
So instead of limiting myself to this one little time slot, I’m going to hijack the conference. So
the kickoff will be a series of brainstorming/gamestorming exercises that will result in
"props" (cue cards) that you can use as conversation starters for the remainder of the
conference.

19. wtf?
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
I'm aiming to give people (1) permission, (2) props, to (3) venture outside of their tribe so that
they may (4) find amazing new ideas and connections.

20. Gamestorm Structure
explore
open
close
experiment
(imagination)
examine
(observation & analysis)
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
Object of play: The key is the shared experience on the first day: people need to feel like
they're “in it together” and know that the person they're about to talk to will have a potential
"prop" that they can talk about. This is especially great for introverts and people who are
uncomfortable networking. It also gives people a way to cut *out* of a sales pitch by saying
"I'm trying to solve this thing on my cue card. Do you have any ideas?"

21. What is your biggest
CMS-related problem?
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

22. If you could represent
that problem as an
animal, what would it be?
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

23. List 3 questions you
would like to have
answered today.
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

24. If you had a magic wand,
what would you change?
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

25. How will you
measure your ROI
for CMS Expo?
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
share your metric with the table

26. Identify your personal
theme for the
conference.
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
Meet new people? Solve old problems? Find new vendors?

27. challenge:
five good ideas
Tuesday, 14 May, 13
Create space to receive five good ideas that you will take away from the conference. There
are post-it notes on the table. Take five. Each time you get a nugget of information over the
course of the conference CAPTURE IT. Then add your post-it note to the WALL. Think of it as
a job board of ideas. You can use words if you want. But don’t limit yourself. Draw a picture if
it suits the idea.

28. Find the people who
can solve your problems
and the problems of
“one business to the left”.
Tuesday, 14 May, 13

29. For more info...
• Gamestorming
http://www.gogamestorm.com
• The Power of Introverts:
http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com
Tuesday, 14 May, 13