My QCMerge-Inspired Todo List

“It’s not what you know. It’s what you do that defines you.”

—Todd Henry, speaker at QC Merge 2013

Whenever I travel somewhere new, I make a list of three things I want to do or
experience while there. Even though I live in Cincinnati, I technically
“traveled” downtown and stayed in the 21c Hotel there (a first, therefore new)
and so here was my list of three things before attending QC Merge:

1. Reclaim joy and freedom by leaving the confines of my office.
2. Gain some professional and personal motivation.
3. Have an interesting conversation with someone I don’t know.

With this in mind, I merged in our Queen City for the first time last week.
Because there are few things I love more than being dramatic and making lists,
I’m combining the two below to share a little bit of my QC Merge experience.
You will note the list ranges from UX to death. Enjoy.

Photo by Thadd Fiala

Five things on my to-do list after attending Queen City Merge

1. Create more.

I’m an awesome producer at my day job, but when it comes to the projects I
really want to do (i.e. actually launch
socialbusinesstoday.org) it always
seems to come last in the long list of stuff to do in life. After hearing
advice at QC Merge on topics like how to pitch stories, create a good UX, and
fight creative block - I’m moving creating stuff I care about closer to the
top of the list.

1. Email Sara Morgan.

Sara Morgan rocks. Her
energy is amazing, her advice was grounded and real. I loved her tips
on pitching stories, creating a brand voice, designing for emotion,
and the importance of being persistent (and by persistent I’m pretty
sure she meant annoying - which was really great news for me). Also,
Sara can curse like a sailor in a somewhat southern accent which makes
her sound like a bad-ass-southern-belle.

Plus, from what I could tell, Sara is a dream chaser - and I’m always
looking for inspiring people to share their dreams as part of our
Dream Chasers campaign.

1. Do more of my part in Cincinnati.

I admire what Gaslight and the people behind QC Merge are doing in our city. I
should do more to see who I can help in Cincinnati with branding and
communication strategy and implementation.

1. Conduct UX research internally.

Probably the most practical takeaway for me was the workshop by
Jessica Ivins on user experience. My day
job is working at a university on a marketing team with a limited
budget and little to no time for external research. Jessica opened my
eyes to the possibility of doing user research internally through the
Affinity Diagram (disclosure: Affinity Diagram is a fancy term for
brainstorming - love it). I love the idea of getting together with our
IT, web developers, marketing and recruitment teams to brainstorm our
users (students) experience both on our website as well as on campus
in the building.

1. Die empty.

Todd Henry, who wrote Accidental
Creative was the most inspiring
talk for me. I keep recounting in my head the story Todd shared on how
graveyards are the most valuable pieces of lands on earth - because
this is where great ideas that were never executed are buried. Such a
great point, and I made a silent pledge not to take my great ideas
with me when I go!

Laurel Nock