FAQ's

How does Midtown Brews work?

Forums combine guided leadership, education, public participation and collaborative technologies to accelerate regional transformation by building networks and encouraging people to think ahead to their next steps. I-Open forums host open, guided conversations focused on powerful topics affecting communities and regions today. Forums attract people interested in diverse economic sectors. Forums engage small (12) and large numbers (80+) of participants depending on the topic interest and availability of community.

How do Midtown Brews conversations connect to economic development?

Midtown Brews Open Conversations work for two reasons. First, they build transparency so anyone can spot  their next opportunity sooner. Second, Midtown Brews forums are not stand-alone events; they are part of a larger process to build networks and translate ideas into action.

Forums like Midtown Brews create the open neutral civic spaces to rebuild our broken civic network infrastructure, allowing anyone with initiative to connect quickly to regional talent and resources.

What is the competitive value of Open Conversations?

Open Conversations identify and connect innovators to each other and to a social and resources and capabilities infrastructure that works in a networked economy. By identifying emergent innovation, a community will take the first step toward exponential growth and prosperity. Open Conversations are a competitive response to our global innovation imperative; they are not just another meeting, but a process to move things along, seek diverse solutions, and hold ourselves accountable. 

What do Open Conversations offer to individuals?

Open Conversations begin to build the open economic networks, the infrastructure for transformative change in communities, regions and states. Open Conversations bring together disconnected entrepreneurs and citizens on an opt-in basis to learn, experience and construct civic networks. Robust civic networks strengthen local innovation and support the transformative change and exponential growth communities need today.

How do Open Conversations transform regions?

Open Conversations begin to build and transform regional and community economies by creating new economic opportunities to shift public thinking toward what is possible.

Where do Midtown Brews forums take place?

Open Conversations can be held anywhere, but there are certain places that are better than others. Business offices, colleges, universities and libraries are a good choice, followed by neutral spaces available in coffee houses and businesses. Welcoming, historically significant, and cool designed environments help  conversations to expand, build trust, and promote civility.

How often do Midtown Brews take place?

That really depends on how quickly the people involved want to move forward. There is a simple discipline  that is required to build reliable open spaces. That's why it is important to designate a day and time each month and stick to it regardless of number of attendees or last minute speaker cancellations.

What if we need to cancel a forum?

Cancellation of a forum is not recommended, for these reasons:

• Traditional forum programs focus on the speaker, but in a networked world the priority is placed on the participants, the individuals who will be creating the context of the conversation for their program and next steps. Network logic instructs us to give priority to the larger group, rather than one person. Alternate options are: lead the forum yourself, ask participants for a choice of topic, encourage everyone to participate in the open conversation.

• The number of participants is irrelevant. Optimize the connections built that day at the forum with those who do participate, lead the agenda conversation confidently, and talk about that day’s next steps and the next week’s forum topic, encouraging everyone present to attend next week’s forum and to bring a colleague. Resist becoming a victim of embarrassment because of low attendance; this is a response tethered to old ways of behaving. Instead, focus on creating new communication ideas to strengthen next week’s forum.

• There will be people you do not know who will show up. If entrepreneurs learn that a civic forum will take place no matter what and will include stimulating open conversations with people they do not ordinarily meet, they will begin to attend on a regular and irregular basis, as opposed to not at all. The time of others is valuable, so build trust by leading strongly.

• The amount of attention given to every forum will become, over time, equal to the volume of social capital and number of initiatives produced. It is the old adage: the more you put in, the more you get out.

Who participates?

Midtown Brews are free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome. Forums offer a way for busy people to connect to new information, resources and capabilities to accelerate entrepreneurial initiatives. People from business, government, academia, and students learn about new opportunities in the region and how they connect.

What is discussed in a Midtown Brews forum?

Important stuff. Open Conversations are transforming regions, as DNA is to cell identification. They are the first step to identifying new opportunities in an emergent innovation economy. Conversations crystallize our intentions, create new realities, realize shifts several people may have experienced in common, and allow us as a group to compare and contrast old and new situations, and to spot opportunities we might have otherwise missed.

What is the value of conversations in a networked economy?

People move in the directions of their conversations. Midtown Brews provides a loosely structured approach to discussions designed to find out what’s happening, explore what’s possible, and allow people to discover common and uncommon interests so they can work together.

How are conversations organized?

George Nemeth, Gloria Ferris, and Tim Ferris guide conversations by asking critical questions, taking certain perspectives, and asking the "What If's?"

How are topics chosen?

Topics are suggested by participants and by people who feel they have stories about innovation to share.

What is a typical Midtown Brews schedule?

5:30 – 6:00   P.M.  Sign-in, Networking, Chips, Dip and Beer

6:00 P.M.        Presenter & Audience Introductions
6:15  – 6:30  P.M.  Presentation of new information
6:30 – 7:15   P.M.  Discussion
7:30             P.M.  Wrap Up & Next Steps

What are the simple rules for every Midtown Brews forum?

Participants are guided by a simple set of rules that focus on the competitive value of civility:

• Everyone is encouraged to participate.

• Everyone understands that the deliberation is not a debate.

• No one or two individuals dominate the discussion.

• The discussion will focus on the options, weighing pros and cons and considering acceptable trade-offs.

• All views and positions on the issues are considered.

• A positive and constructive atmosphere for discussion and analysis of alternatives is maintained.

• All participants listen carefully to each other.

What roles can participants adopt?

Civic leaders are emerging who adopt a number of different roles:

• Initiative Leader: A leader who sees an innovation and commits to realizing its potential.

• Guide: A leader who is able to engage interested parties in an extended conversation to identify new ideas and convert them into potential new business leads.

• Connector: A leader who consistently sees new connections in the civic space and who takes steps to develop stronger networks by "closing triangles".