IdeaFestival Innovation Featured

The New York Times riffs on the notions of innovation and creativity this week with a feature called “Inspiration Can Be Found in Many Places, but You Need to Be Looking.”
The Louisville connection in the piece is IdeaFestival. IdeaFest
participants and founder Kris Kimel have some interesting quotes and
ideas in the piece. Here’s some background and quotes about IdeaFestival from Kimel:

And so, in 2000, he helped create the IdeaFestival, which brings
together creative thinkers from different disciplines to connect ideas
in science, the arts, design, business, film, technology and education.

The
goal, according to the festival’s promotion, is to promote
“out-of-the-box thinking and cross-fertilization as a means toward the
development of innovative ideas, products and creative endeavors.”

It is not your typical “business day,” said Mr. Kimel, who works with small businesses. And that can be frustrating.

Whether
it is a festival, a concert, a speech, a convention or a book, creative
thinkers say, you have to actively look for inspiration, and that takes
time.

Carving out time to find inspiration may seem unrealistic
to a small-business owner working 90 hours a week. But Mr. Kimel said
it must be done to find and keep a competitive edge.