The $2 Creative Meeting

Creative work is the most fun kind of work, right?

 

Maybe you agree. Maybe not. But all of us have some level of creativity that our job requires. Where I work (click here), we often begin creative work with a meeting where we drag out a giant black bulletin board, some colorful note cards, a bunch of thumbtacks, and go to work throwing ideas up on the board. The end result? 

 

Actually, our office is filled with boards like that and it’s a great exercise for a team.  But if I’m honest? Those boards are kind of expensive. And, I often find myself working alone at a Starbucks, still needing to throw around ideas, still needing to think creatively, and still needing to be able to rearrange ideas, but not exactly wanting to create a scene by dragging a 4ft creative board on an easel into the coffee shop. (Oh, I’m extra. But not that extra.) 

That’s why I was super excited recently when I discovered an extra portable, extra convenient, extra extra cheap solution for a creative meeting on the go. I was working on a talk for this camp we do, but I needed a place to play with some ideas. So I dropped by a dollar store and here’s what I found. 

1.    A sketch book.

2.    Mini-sticky notes.

And it worked!  Here's my portable creative board. 

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Now, the sketch pad and the sticky notes  live in a little pouch in my backpack. For a total of $2, I've  able to have my own creative meeting at my local coffee shop, without drawing too much attention and take the results with me when I leave.