From Virtual Malls to Remote Dentistry, Harvard’s IdeaBomb Got the Creative Juices Flowing
Reposted with permission from BostInno and Lauren Landry. Original post here.
Imagine opening your internet browser and being dropped into an online mall catered specifically to you and your interests. Only the stores you shop at are there, meaning you can avoid the unwanted trips to Restoration Hardware or Victoria’s Secret unless you choose to make them on your own. When you walk into the video store, all you see are shelves lined with your favorite rom-coms or sci-fi thrillers, and the music that’s booming in the food court comes only from your personal playlist, allowing you to opt for hip hop or hard metal rather than Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” You can invite your friends to shop with you, but in your virtual retail oasis, even they don’t have to wait in the lines. Sounds like a good idea, right? Heavenly, really. Well, that was just one of the ideas that spun out of Harvard's Ideabomb last night.
Nearly 200 people registered for the University’s first brainstorming session. Held in the recently opened Innovation Lab, the event was designed to unify students from schools all across Harvard’s campus. Only half of the students who registered were invited to attend, but nine of the University’s schools were represented, ranging from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine to the Graduate School of Design.
Benn Manning, a Harvard Business School student who helped coordinate the event, said they gave preference to non-HBS students during the selection process, in hopes of encouraging those from other disciplines to come to the Innovation Lab.
“I think there’s the appetite, and it’s not just business students,” Manning said. “Everyone’s seeing the wave of innovation.”
Students were split into 10 groups of roughly 12 people based on industry preference, including consumer goods, education, healthcare, clean tech, low-cost technology and entertainment and media. After a brief round of introductions, groups were given an hour to discuss the trends they’ve seen in their desired fields, as well as any unmet needs and potential solutions to them. Groups were led by facilitators from the Business School, and were asked to briefly share their conclusions after the hour was over with the entire room.
From a consignment store on wheels, to a platform that would be capable of sharing students’ data in real-time with parents who don’t want to wait for bi-monthly report cards, there were ideas constantly filling up the room’s various whiteboards. While not all of the groups finished the hour with one concrete idea, they did identify meaningful problems and began making connections.
“I thought this was great,” a student said to Manning after the brainstorming session. “It definitely got the juices flowing.”
Following the roundup, participants were given the opportunity to talk with Harvard alumni currently working in the venture capital field. VCs from Highland Capital, Bain Capital Ventures and Spark Capital were there, among others, offering insider advice, helping teams build on their ideas.
Although this was the first event, Manning said they hope to create something much bigger in the spring that will draw an even larger crowd, however they’re still working on the format.
At the end of the night, students from Harvard Medical School were given a special thanks from Matt Noble, co-president of the Entrepreneurship Club, for making the trek all the way over to the Innovation Lab, saying he hoped it would be one of their first trips of many over to the Business School campus, because it’s through the collaboration that, as Manning said, “all the magic happens.”
“A lot of great ideas came out of these groups,” Noble said. “I encourage you not to leave them here as you leave this room. Now go mix, mingle and innovate.”
