Pamla's Experience w/ InOneWeekend

As I clean house and get personal things in order this weekend that were down-prioritized last to make room for InOneWeekend, a video of last weekend is replaying in my head. I have - while vacuuming and scrubbing - found myself smiling and laughing right out loud as I reminisce the amazing exercise IOW provided. Here are key points I find noteworthy:

- We were 100 driven, opinionated people, and yet quickly after ONE idea (of a few dozen) was selected as "it", we acquiesced and threw ourselves into business groups that embraced the new business and got our arms all around it. We were more interested in a positive outcome than our own egos.

- We worked HARD. And food, and sleep, and personal things really did fade into the background as we prioritized getting the goal we had set for ourselves, accomplished.

- Individually, our diverse contributions came out initially in the context of who we 'usually' are or what we 'normally' contribute. In record time, because of the dynamic of the group setting and the insane timeline, I found myself digging deeper and trying to act and react differently than I typically do under pressure. I came away with a commitment to relax and enjoy the journey from here on out, more than the destination. (Thanks "team Mgmnt/Ops"!)

- I people-watched and anlayzed myself ....and we would have a ball during some parts, then turn right around and struggle with elements of the process because the timeline was simply too short for the kind of 'correctness' we are used to providing when we are assigned a block of work....like making the numbers work in Finance, or calculating accurate Sales projections, or Mgmnt/OPS' dilemna of envisioning the business development over three phases and the personnel needed for that (Launch! w/ a Committee; Phase 1 w/ 3 people; Phase 2 w/10+ people) - only to find that Sales had a different picture in mind of staffing?! And what about that market research? We had to S - T - R - E - T - C - H and remember it was, after all, a 3 day exercise.

- We discovered the 'product', we named the baby, and the super tech team (few, yet effective) gave us a gorgeous "UI". We did that in record time. I was/am tickled to be a part of that whole team. I'm grateful for the ones I worked closely with and sorry I did not get to know others of you, better. As a direct result of IOW, I have begun to develop some new, value adding friendships...some of which will inevitably lead to business opportunities.

I highly suggest every city try an "InOneWeekend" to create their list of 80+ great new entrepreneurial ideas to go after!

The 30 second ad that Evan's friend, Dan, helped me produce in "Garage Band" needs cleaned up before it can be an icon or stream from the website. (Everyone I know in studios was on vacation this week!) Once it is cleaned up, I'll shoot it back to Steering Committee so they can determine whether it qualifies to be put up at the website or not. Hey....free advertising!

So we did this without a paycheck. WE PAID TO BE THERE. That defines the entrepreneur, though the very financial freedom that enables us to keep innovating must be the successes we achieve. Let's (all) make LifeSpoke a success over the next year, so we stay plugged into what we began as a group.

Important 'Aha' for me: I kept wanting more "givens" from the onset of our project, but I also realized that without those we had the opportunity to see who the natural leaders were - not that everything said and done is etched in steel and 100% correct and the way forward. Nonetheless, because no standards or frameworks were prescribed, folks took turns stepping up and making assumptions and drawing conclusions and setting a precedent - none of which would
have had wings if a framework and 'givens' were handed to us from the onset. I realized (sometime Sunday) that it was the PROCESS we were enjoying (or not) and learning from and that all the particulars that must be addressed to make LifeSpoke a viable, profitable business will come in due time, sooner than later, but not in those first three days. We did plenty. Breathe.

I would do it again. I would do it again with all of you. It would be very interesting to see what we as a group would improve, were we to do this a second time (Elizabeth? Steve?......)

Warm regards,
Pamla Winther, HOPS Technology Inc.
513.207.1441