Recently, we conducted an ideation session with one of our corporate clients to help them create promotional concepts for their next media campaign. We began the session with a practice brainwriting topic on “advice you would give a college freshman”.
All teams had 3 minutes to write as many ideas as possible on Post-its. After the brainwriting exercise, each group converged the ideas, narrowing them into themes. Below are some of the key themes based on the team’s ideas:
1) Don’t Lose Who You Are:
- “You are smart enough…”
- “Do the right thing”
- “Don’t worry about what others think”
- “Do what makes you happy”
- “Be present”
2) Don’t Forget Who Got You Here:
- “Call your mom”
- “Call your dad”
- “Take your laundry home”
3) Practical Tools To Get You Through:
- “Learn to powernap”
- “Coffee”
- “Don’t buy books- rent”
- “Join groups on campus”
- “Find a mentor”
4) Be Adventurous:
- “Travel overseas for class”
- “Live in the moment”
- “Seek out people not like you”
- “Go where others are not”
- “Meet different people”
5) Stay Motivated And On Track:
- “Keep your eyes on the goal”
- “Be honest about real goals”
- “Look ahead”
- “Don’t procrastinate”
- “You can change the world”
This practice brainwriting session was a great way to get the participants thinking creatively and helped lead the group through a successful ideation session. We also came away with great advice for those entering their freshman year of college. Now that I’m thinking about it...this advice would have been valuable to know when I was a college freshman!