Why most event brainstorms fail

The most important step in a brainstorm happens before the brainstorm. Formulate the question. Write it down. Test it with four or five people. If everyone immediately says 'clear', it isn't sharp enough. A good brainstorm question invites different interpretations.

Good questions always contain the moment (why now?) and the feeling you want to evoke. Just as important: what it must not become. 'How do we turn our strategy week into something people talk about on Monday morning, without it feeling like forced enthusiasm?' That's a question that gives direction without forcing an answer.

Never start with the format: so not with 'we want a festival' or 'we want a gala'. The format is the end point, not the starting point. Start with the format, and you end up with a copy of last year's event.

A brainstorm with only the leadership team produces leadership ideas, a brainstorm with only marketing produces marketing ideas. A brainstorm with three to six people from different levels and disciplines produces the best ideas. Provided one person leads the conversation.

Choose people who like to think out loud, who dare to push back and who know the company. Not necessarily the most creative people on paper. Often it's people from operations, reception or customer service who bring the sharpest input. They hear what really matters.

The person leading the session isn't a participant. They ask questions, summarise and make sure there's silence when it's needed. Taking part and leading at the same time doesn't work. If you don't have an external facilitator, then appoint one person who explicitly takes on the role.

The biggest misconception: a brainstorm is chaotic. A good brainstorm is, in fact, tightly structured. We work in rounds of 25 minutes, with breaks in between to let the brain settle.

Start divergent. Anything goes. Goal: as many associations, stories, images and memories as possible. No judgement, no discussion, just gathering. This is often where the most honest things surface, things people don't normally say in a meeting.

After that it becomes thematic. You group the output into clusters, not by format (workshops, acts, food) but by feeling. Which clusters generate energy and which feel old?

In the final round, you choose the clusters with the most energy and push them further. What's sharpest, what doesn't work and what's still missing? Only here does the format come into view, and it points itself out if you've done the earlier rounds well.

After the brainstorm you don't have a concept. You have raw material. The hardest part begins now: choosing. Choosing is painful, because every good idea you don't choose disappoints someone. But a concept that wants to be everything becomes nothing.

Use filters to choose. Does this fit who we really are? An idea that gives energy but doesn't fit won't work. Does this solve the problem the brainstorm question was about? An idea that's fun but doesn't touch the feeling belongs in the next brainstorm, not this one. Is this also feasible? A concept that only works on paper is an art project, not an event.

After a brainstorm we always write out a single side of A4: the title, the core idea, the feeling and the three most important moments. If that one-pager reads convincingly, we have a concept. If it feels like a summary of loose ideas, we have to go back to the question.

Brainstorming internally has a drawback: everyone knows each other too well. The assumptions that already live in the company stay invisible. Someone who has never worked with you sees things that have become invisible to you.

We're an agency that both devises concepts and delivers them. That means our brainstorms run differently from those of a purely creative team. We factor in feasibility from the start. An idea that isn't technically possible gets an alternative from us that evokes the same feeling and can actually be built. That stops you hitting a wall three weeks later.

A brainstorm with Live Impact lasts two to three hours as standard, with one facilitator and one concept developer. Beforehand, we gather input through short conversations with a few people from your organisation. Afterwards, we deliver a concept A4 within five working days, with direction, core idea and first visual. You then decide whether you want to build further or want another round to sharpen the direction.

A good brainstorm doesn't give you a list of ideas. It gives you and your team the feeling that you know which way you want to go. That's not a creative trick, it's a method.

We facilitate brainstorm sessions as part of a concept process or as a standalone service if you only want to sharpen the direction. The outcome isn't a wall full of sticky notes, but a clear starting point for what you build.

Call us on 085 401 40 14 or send an email to hello@live-impact.nl.

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