We had a very inspiring RefreshBCS Wednesday night. Kelsey Ruger of PopLabs came in from Houston to talk to us about visual and creative thinking and ways to exercise our creative potential.

He talked about how creativity isn’t just the domain of artists, and how all pursuits, from business to programming, start with an idea that sparks action.

Unfortunately, the fantastic imagination that we have as kids isn’t always encouraged into adulthood. He talked about common myths that can hamper the creative process and how the fear of change in the business world often discourages the formation of new ideas.

Kelsey introduced several methods to help boost creative thinking, such as creating a visual library, keeping an idea journal, setting idea quotas, and playing games that encourage the creative process.

One of the games he mentioned was Visual Eyes. I’d never heard of it before, but after playing it for a bit after the presentation I find it extremely addictive and effective at encouraging visual thinking. If the host location hadn’t needed to close, there’s no telling how long we would have kept playing.

A couple volunteers also participated in some impromptu creativity exercises designed to make you think on your feet. This was entertaining and I hope there is video floating around somewhere of the performances.

Before the presentation, I had never really thought about working through ideas or brainstorming in such a visual way. My creative process usually goes something like this: 1) Have an idea at random, 2) Maybe jot something down, 3) Forget about it. Hopefully by implementing some of the techniques Kelsey talked about, I can not only not only increase creative output, but be more effective when it comes to implementing those ideas.

The RefreshBCS post for the event has been updated with a detailed list of books, websites, games and other visual thinking / creative resources. In addition, I want to check out “The Art of the Start” and “Myths of Innovation,” both of which were mentioned during the talk. If you’d like to view the slides of Kelsey’s presentation, they can be found over at Slideshare.

I think it was the best RefreshBCS yet. Big thanks to Kelsey and the RefreshBCS crew for making it such a great event.