by Kallie Bonnell

Imagine a room filled with Indiana’s most passionate artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, community organizers, educators, spiritual leaders, politicians, activists and communicators. Now imagine this diverse group spending an entire afternoon sharing a common experience, engaging in thoughtful discussion and opening up to new relationships. This was the scene of the Smaller Indiana Bigger Ideas Conference I graced on June 24.

So, what was it REALLY like, you ask? Super cool! Firstly, it was held at the Athenaeum Theatre, located above everybody's favorite biergarten in town, The Rathskeller. According to the theatre’s new branding initiative they’re going to refer to themselves as “The A,” since Athenaeum rarely is pronounced correctly.

The multi-leveled space was perfect for attendee viewing bliss. Stocked with nearly 100 tables of four each attendee received three table numbers and switched seats during the breaks accordingly. This organized seat-switching idea is genius, I say. It’s built-in networking; and I met many extra people this way. At my first table I sat with Jennie Devoe. How AWESOME is that!?!

The format of the conference was similar to most, but the content reminiscent of TED the “Riveting Talks by Remarkable People” site. If ya don’t know TED, go get acquainted. www.ted.com

Below is the best take-away from each presentation – IMO.

Dr. Scott Massey – President, Meridian Institute
Where does Indiana rank? Basically at the bottom for secondary degrees, venture capital, and outgoing news picked up by the AP. What does this mean? We are undereducated, underfunded and unknown. To become a player we must work to fix these three things. 

Jennie Devoe – Song Writer and Performing Artist
Take time to envision where you want to be, then break yourself out of the box and go get it. Do NOT wait for someone else to encourage you, even if you’re the only person who sees and believes in your goal.

Mark Hill – Managing Partner, Collina Ventures
Self awareness equals success. So, figure out what you can do to make something better; then, do what you say you will do. Accountability of results is key in a technology driven market.

Dr. Sally Brown – Founder and President, Ambassadors for Children
Passion and perseverance. Ask yourself four things. 1. What can you do, 2. should you do, 3. will you do, 4. and, how will you inspire others?  Dr. Brown also shared this quote from Helen Keller – quite appropriate – “Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

David Forsell – President, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful
There’s not time for wasting time. Instead it is time to make your world better in anyway you can.

Ken Johnson – Champlain, Indianapolis Colts/Hope Dealer
If you are the smartest person in your circle, your circle is too small. Also, do not let anyone shape you. Determine who you are, yourself.

All around, the conference was a great success, with a high turnout of interesting and diverse attendees and speakers delivering varied inspirational talks.

A little more on Smaller Indiana -

Asked to describe Smaller Indiana, co-founder Doug Karr said this:
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers, the round pegs and the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them, because they change things, they push the human race forward. And, while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius; because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

That came from an online, Apple ad campaign passed along by Mike Karnuta over at Indiana Sports Corp., but is very fitting for the SI ideals. You can view the video via Karr’s June 24th blog post here [LINK: http://marketingtechblog.com/ ]

So, if you think you fit the description, you’re not yet on Smaller Indiana [LINK: http://www.smallerindiana.com/ ] and you’re looking for a good spot to start networking - get signed up, get active, and oh, don’t forget to attend the next conference!

Hi, I'm Kallie Bonnell, and I am pretty pumped to pass along an assortment of thoughts on Professional Development Advancement - PDA. (If you thought, by the title, you were going to get some insight into my personal life - think again!) Coming from what feels like the smallest town in the state only to move onto the largest (and greatest) university in Indiana (IU), I was out of my element, taking on a brand new world alone. It was during this timeframe my initial passion for professional development ignited. I brought that passion, as well as a journalism and psychology degree, with me to our monumental capitol city and have been honing my interest ever since. My other interests include strategic public relations, branding, new technologies, current events, reading, traveling, golfing, concert going, socializing and sipping on vino - red, of course! If you'd like to contact me please do so at  kjbonnell@gmail.com .