I just got back from an awesome trip to Las Vegas for Blog World New Media Expo 2009.  I learned a lot and enjoyed connecting with many of my online buddies that I had never met in person (eg. Sean Platt, Maya, Michael Martine, and a few others who I hadn’t connected with until this trip like Charlie Gilkey, Naomi and Jamie Dunford, and Chris Brogan).  There were certainly more awesome bloggers and online entrepreneurs that I connected with, beyond the few mentioned above.

My point for this post…

OK, so I’m crazy busy right now, trying to catch up from being gone for the past 5 days, so here’s my point.  Changing our location and scenery for even a short amount of time is often all we need to spark new ideas and think outside the box.

I was on the plane from Charlotte, NC to Las Vegas, staring out the window, thinking about how easy it is to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world.  Even when we go on vacation it’s usually to a destination that we see each and every year.  But it’s only when we try new places and meet new people that certain parts of our personalities come out to play.

Everything from the flights and the people on them, to the new climate in Las Vegas (sunny and 85 to 90 the whole time…NICE!!) to the totally unique feel of the city to the many great people I met at the conference to the hotel, etc…  All these things played a part in resetting my thought process a bit and giving me a fresh perspective.

When we go to a conference and return with new ideas we usually credit the speakers and the ideas being passed around the stage for these fresh thoughts in our minds.  Yet we miss the fact that much of these ideas were already stirring around our heads, only waiting for the right kind of stimulation to bring them out.  And often, it’s everything ELSE that does this, not necessarily the scheduled event.

Think about it.  Think about an event you went to that took you away from your home and usual routine that had a noticeable impact on your ideas.  Now imagine if that event had been held in your hometown.  Would it have had the same effect on you?  Probably not.  And why?  Because you wouldn’t have been forced out of your comfort zone and your usual routine.

So in short, if you want to spark some new ideas and truly stimulate your thought process, take some time away from your normal habits and location.  While your mind is coping with the new situation, being forced to strain where it’s used to being on auto-pilot, you’ll free the intelligence that has been waiting to escape your sub-conscious.

So what were my thoughts?

I’m not going to get into specifics right now, but I can say that I had many new ideas, stemming from business to family to technology and even our society.  No new inventions came out of the experience, but improvements on what I’ve been working so hard on (both business and personal) certainly took place.

Finally…

I just HAD to share this latest picture of Tyson with you all.  It really shows his character and his increasing cuteness.  I’m mean come on!  Who pulls off red tipped socks better than this guy?!

Eric Hamm