RCUS

One of our core beliefs is that a good story can change the world.  We’ve never prescribed what our storytellers have to say, nor will we. At #BIF2018 we are modeling how to enable self-organized purposeful networks. It’s up to us to accept the responsibility to convert random collisions from the Summit into powerful and purposeful collaborations.

The BIF Summit is designed to allow attendees to break free from their silos. There are storytellers and stories, not speakers and presentations. There are no pre-set theme s or topics. Within this environment, attendees can boundlessly explore new ways to make themselves, their businesses, and our world a better place.

At the Summit, I have time to spend with this unique collection of people, sharing stories and ideas. Everyone is at the BIF Summit for a reason and everyone has a purpose. But there’s also an incredible element of surprise over the course of those two days.

"I love the random collisions of unusual suspects, interweaved with the commonality of humanity. Where else would you have Richard Saul Wurman, Irwin Kula, Daniel Pink, and Camille Beatty? You'd never get that lineup at a regular conference."

The distinct perspectives of the #BIF2015 Summit storytellers — poetry, mathematics, healthcare, online leaders — cannot help but jar loose our cherished assumptions, baked-in preconceptions, and limiting frames.

We asked Doug one question: What is it about the BIF Summit that excites you the most? Here's his answer...

The storytellers will make your heart sing...and make you cry. You will make friends, you will develop new contacts, and you might even embark upon a journey that takes you places you never could have imagined. - Nicole Radziwi

Many innovators face stiff organizational resistance when they try to offer a new way of doing things. It's a lonely battle trying to lead change and get others on board. At the BIF Summit, however, innovators find like-minded others. Everyone "gets it" and people support each other.

You never know which BIF Summit story of passion, determination, and focus will transform and inspire you. It may a single story. It may be the curious intersection of many stories.

The BIF Summit is like the college experience should have been — a lot of intellectually curious people connecting with each other. - Jon Follett.

We know this sounds like a pipe dream. And that's one of the reasons we created this "power of #RCUS" blog series — to share real #RCUS stories that make the idea more tangible.

Go to the BIF Summit because of who you are going to accidentally, serendipitously sit next to, have coffee with, meet during breaks. Go to the BIF Summit because of the conversations that will be started as a result of the amazing storytellers you're going to see on stage.

At the BIF Summit, you can leave your language at the door and just talk. - Lois Kelly

To me, the BIF Summit is a humbler, more intimate version of TED. It's where you can talk to people doing amazing things and there's a sense of inclusion between the participants and the storytellers.

"You'll never see things in the same way after you've been to the BIF Summit. " — Tim McDonald