Collaboration is the New Currency

We all have big ideas. But what do you do when your goals are bigger than your resources? Well, there’s a movement growing in Brooklyn that is working to remedy that dilemma and create a hub for all those grand ideas to come to fruition. Enter The Feast — a 2 day, invite-only conference that engages in holistic collaboration to build solutions for a better world, business and sense of self (yoga, grassy knoll and swing sets included…seriously).

When you hear the word “feast,” cooperation and progress are probably the last thoughts to come to mind. Food…yes. Gluttony…maybe. Certainly not collaboration. Not to be confused with an out-of-touch utopia, this event congregates some of the world’s brightest and talented doers to practice diversity of thought and offer solutions to personal, societal and business related endeavors.

“We believe that every single person is more powerful, capable and talented then they can even imagine and that is what’s going to change the world. All of us realizing how powerful we really are,” exclaimed Jerri Chou, Founder of The Feast.

With that power comes great responsibility, a willingness to fail and a crazy motivation to continually try again. Guests walked in with goals, business plans and prototypes — for transforming local economies, enabling grassroots progress, creating games to monitor people’s health, etc. — and walked out with business partners, investors, good insight and overall feedback on how to build better business relationships.

The Feast is not your typical business card exchanging, let’s do lunch surface event. It’s about real success through collaboration. Think of it as the new wave, organic sister to Ted.

In everyday life, we’re presented with real challenges that need solutions only achievable through unsecluded thinking and actions. “Most startups in the social innovator field fail. We believe that there’s a better, smarter way to do these social enterprises,” said Jon Morris, Founder of The Windmill Factory.

Jerri continued, “This is a community of people who are really talented and brilliant, everyone bringing a little bit of themselves — their perspective, talent and insight — to bear today in this room with and for each other.”

Have you attempted something lately that has failed? What was lacking in your strategy and execution? Remember, it’s not about the problem; it’s about the solution and the willingness to think big. If you’re in need of a little genuine collaboration in your life, you can join the community online at The Feast Connects where guests and side-liners alike, can continue the conversation and keep the momentum going. And that’s something money can’t buy.