Moments
2008 marks the 11th thinkAbout. Joe & Jim look back and recall their fondest memories from the previous ten events.

	CLEVELAND, 1998 – Joe: Our talent that year, Stan Davis (the man who coined the term “Mass Customization”), expressed his skepticism of the idea of experiences as a distinct economic offering – and we didn’t have to say a word. The participants came to our rescue to make the case! Jim: Our opening “Divide a Circle” exercise that preceded Davis, in which each participant literally ended up standing inside Davis’ “Market Development” model. When later at lunch a one-to-one marketing consultant shared with me how profound he had found the experience, I knew thinkAbout had the formula for success.
	HOLLYWOOD, 1999 – Joe: The human tableaux that Sally Harrison-Pepper initiated with participants to depict the Pirate Car Wash! Imagine that famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware crossed with a sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Jim: Aye, matie, of all the theming exercises, the Pirate Car Wash stands out most vividly.
	CHICAGO, 2000 – Joe: Seeing all of us swaying to the Samba music we were making ourselves – with precious few of us previously knowing how to play any instrument – under the tutelage of One World Music’s Gary Muszynski. Jim: Particularly, I remember seeing Gary recede into the background and feeling at that moment that the group was truly one.
	LAS VEGAS, 2001 – Joe: In debriefing Star Trek: The Experience, having a self-formed lineup of everyone based on their relative knowledge of Star Trek. I had to put Jody Lentz, who claimed to be the most knowledgeable, to the test to ensure he was the real thing. He passed with flying colors, knowing both the middle name of Captain James T. Kirk and his birthplace. Jim: The time we let participants loose to roam the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian and then slipped off to take the gondola ride. The surprise in people’s eyes when they saw Joe and me together on a gondola was priceless.
	MOUNTAIN VIEW, 2002 – Joe: During the closing debrief, the participants with talent Sally Harrison-Pepper placed their chairs in a semi-circle around her while she stood up and recounted a story surrounding the death of her mother. Then with no explanation she sat down, leaving us with tears in our eyes and not sure how to proceed. Only the next day did I catch up with her to ask what was going on there. Her response: “The folks in my group didn’t believe acting could be real.” Jim: Remember, we had folks bring materials to decorate their “dorm doors” at thinkAbout U with information about their company and issues. So before the event officially began, the event actually began. Everyone lingering in the hallways was reminiscent of college days, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen at any other business event.
	NEW YORK, 2003 – Joe: As we led teams on our Learning ExcursionEM throughout midtown Manhattan, we stopped at the ING Direct Cafe on 49th Street. While I waited outside for a few stragglers, who should begin approaching but Magic Johnson! I whispered in my microphone, heard in everyone’s earpieces, to say hello to him and they all turned en masse as they parted to let him pass. Jim: The after-dinner exercise of pointing out the Starbucks cards hidden in all the admission passes, and having everyone check their cards for which of nine Starbucks cafés they would visit to work with others to generate Open Space topics for Day 2. It was amazing how much energy was generated – at that late hour – by staging such a simple surprise.
	CERRITOS, 2004 – Joe: The frenzy that ensued when we set the participants loose to gather materials from “The Big Pile” – $5,000 worth of stuff. It quickly became “grab” and “hoard” time for the supplies required to put together their showcase booths for the Idea Fair. Jim: I also couldn’t believe how real and meaningful the booths were once completed. I’ll never forget crying while on my knees writing a love note, on L-shaped paper, to my cancer-fighting wife, in the “Loving” exhibit – or laughing with Sonia Rhodes at the incredibly funny testimonial copy in the Shrine of Twine “Driving” booth.
	KEYSTONE, 2005 – Joe: The Big Idea exercise where everyone wrote their big ideas on little pennants and then tied them all together – a hundred or so of them. These were then tied to a helium-filled weather balloon sent skyward so everyone could see their ideas soar. Jim: The mid-September snow that caused us to move the excursion indoors mid-tour, and Gio doing sixty minutes of improv magic while we got everything set up. The natural disruption, I think, made for an incredible bonding experience for everyone.
	BALTIMORE, 2006 – Joe: Who could forget our participants peddling 2x2 and 4x4 on those little boats through the Baltimore Harbor talking about what they had learned that afternoon? Jim: Not me! It may be the most visually compelling element we have ever designed into thinkAbout.
	NASHVILLE, 2007 – Joe: Everyone on stage in the Acuff Theatre voting with their feet where various companies lay on a huge Real/Fake Matrix affixed on the floor. Then their reactions to the final company: “Your own”! Jim: For me, when the grocery-trip team returned from Publix with their cart full of items with “Real” or “Authentic” on the packaging – and being shown John Cloud’s find, the BC Original All Purpose Bourbon Chicken Grill ‘N Dip sauce that read “Authentic Food Court Flavor” on its label.