The CASE ASAP national convention is August fourth. As one of the keynote speakers I was challenged to figure out a way to engage six hundred students and advisers in a creative exercise that would be interactive, free flowing and also be a natural networking activity. I decided the only thing I could do to model creativity was to lead by example. That is to exemplify one of the cornerstones of creative behavior – risk taking. So I’m jumping off a cliff, metaphorically of course. But I’m literally going to be jumping off stage. After a very brief introduction, myself and a couple of my fellow hit songwriter friends are diving into the room, helping sixty groups of ten people create their own songs.
Will this work the way I’ve planned it? Of course not! But I know it will work. I’m never more excited than when I’m unleashing the controlled chaos of a creative challenge upon a large group. All I do is give license to jump off cliffs, take chances, make fools of ourselves – prove how great we are, and keep pushing forward in a collaborative, supportive, musical environment.
Check back here after August fourth to find out how this all works out. And somewhere in the not-to-distant-future, there will be a twitter hashtag with links to sixty songs, created in ninety minutes!