Did you know, that today, February 16th, is Innovation Day? Despite hosting a podcast called Innovate Fort Worth, I didn’t either. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not planning to celebrate this year!
According to the National Today website, Innovation Day is, “an event that inspires young inventors to share their ideas with the world. Business organizations all over the world motivate their employees to be creative and develop innovative products and services for their customers.”
Sounds boring to me. But, I’ll bet you can find ways to make it fun and celebrate innovation in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. Here are 7 ways that you can celebrate, many without leaving your house!
1. Connect with a local innovator and thank them for what they do.
Everyone has that friend that they know that is a tinkerer. An idea guy. That friend who is always working on some crazy idea that you say will never work, but they are super confident that it will. Call, text, Slack or email, that person in your life and express your gratitude for the time and energy they spend trying to innovate and make the world a better place.
2. Read a book about innovation
There are lots of great books to choose from. You could start with the classic The Innovators Dilemma by Clayton M. Christiansen or you could get a glimpse into the future with Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler in their seminal work called The Future is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies are Disrupting Business, Industries and our Lives. If you’re a real nerd like me, then check Dan Breznitz’s Innovation in Real Places about the development of innovative economies around the world.
3. Brainstorm a new idea of your own
Just sit down and think about a way that you could make the world a better place. What is a problem that you could uniquely solve. Or, what is a problem that a friend of someone in your family has that you could fix. It doesn’t have to be earth shattering – some of the most innovative ideas are the simplest!
4. Listen to an episode of the Innovate Fort Worth podcast
If you don’t know who some of the local innovators and entrepreneurs are in Fort Worth, then you won’t know how to help them. So, start by getting to know some of your local innovators. Over 85 local innovators have shared their stories with me on the Innovate Fort Worth podcast over the last four years. Hear their stories and learn how you can help them!
5. Plug into your local startup community.
There are so many places where innovative folks gather in Fort Worth. First, check out 1 Million Cups every Wednesday morning. They meet in North Richland Hills and online. Second, join us for the next Yard Party, a monthly happy hour for innovators and entrepreneurs at a different local spot each time. Take a look at the Sparkyard calendar and pick another event that you think looks interesting and make a plan to attend.
6. Add Global Entrepreneurship Week 2023 to your calendar.
This one is easy. Mark your calendars for November 13-19, 2023. To find what happened during Global Entrepreneurship North Texas 2022, check out their website. Be sure to bookmark the site and keep checking back for more details.
7. Watch a movie that features an innovator.
There are so many great movies about innovators that are probably available on your preferred streaming service right now. Here are a few of my favorites:
- The Social Network (2010)
- Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
- Steve Jobs (2015)
- Lorenzo’s Oil (1992)
- The Founder (2016)
- Moneyball (2011)
- The Aviator (2004)
- Meet the Robinsons (2007)
- Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020)
This country was built on innovation, so take a few minutes to celebrate those people, events, products, services and things that innovators created and brought to market to improve all our lives.
