IdeaFestival Bowling Green 2019:
The Future Is Now

Engagement Ideas for Participants

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Engagement Overview Speaker Packet Activity Packet Contest Info

Overview

Participants will get the most out of the festival if they arrive having begun to think about some of the ideas our speakers and activity creators will be exploring with them, and if after the festival they discuss the ideas they would like to explore further.

To that end, we are providing you with suggested activities for before, during, and after the festival. These activities are not required, but they can make the experience more exciting and more valuable. We have provided you with packets on the speakers and activities to assist you.

We know some teachers have limited time to interact with their student group. We encourage you to

utilize online tools such as Google Classroom or Slack for virtual discussions
use the time on the bus traveling to and from the festival to get students thinking and discussing

In addition, we are sponsoring four contests to promote thinking about and responding to the festival:

Best photo of the festival that captures its theme, The Future Is Now, either emailed to us or posted on Instagram with the hashtag #IFBG19. The winning photographer will receive a program autographed by all six speakers and will have his/her photo featured on our website and promotional materials for next year’s festival.
Best paragraph written after the festival discussing how the festival influenced the participant’s vision for the future and/or responding to one of the After questions asked by one of the speakers or activity creators (see Speaker and Activity Packets). The winning writer will receive a free festival tee shirt and will have his/her paragraph featured on our website and promotional materials for next year’s festival.
Best school group response to the festival: this response may take the form of an online conversation (such as a Twitter thread or a Google Classroom conversation), a word cloud, a paragraph summarizing a discussion, or a visual representation of the group’s response. The winning school will receive six free registrations for next year’s festival and will have its work featured on our website and promotional materials for next year’s festival.
If you include your school name on your response to our survey of IFBG 2019, we will enter the response in a drawing to win receive six free registrations for next year’s festival. (You can fill out the survey using the paper forms in the packet you receive at check-in or by going to this link after the festival: https://erikasolberg.typeform.com/to/lGWDoE)

All entries are due February 22 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time. Details can be found on at the link at the top of this page. Click here for more info and to enter:

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for what we can do in the future to engage your students better with the festival.

Activity Suggestions

Before the festival

General: Ask participants, “Where do you see aspects the future (of you, your community, or the world) already taking shape now?

Do you have plans for what you want to create or do in the future that you have already begun working on?
Do you have a new way of looking at an old problem?
Do you have ideas about how to change an old system?
What parts of the world do you want to carry into the future, and what parts do you want to leave behind?
How can you connect ideas, people, fields, things, etc. that have been separated in the past in order to improve the future?

Speaker Sessions:

Read and share the Speaker Packet which includes links to articles, video clips, and websites. Using these materials, ask participants to answer these questions:
- What interests you about this speaker?
- What questions would you like to ask this speaker — about their work, about their field, about their background, etc.? (There will be a question and answer panel at the end of each of the speaker sessions where participants can tweet question to the speakers, using the hashtag #IFBG19. They will also have the opportunity to talk to the speakers one-on-one during the afternoon Speaker Chats.)
Also included in the packet are questions our speakers would like participants to think about before and after they listen to their talks. Share these questions with participants and have a discussion or ask them to write some answers in response.

Activities

Read the packet of information about the activities. Using this information, ask participants to plan out their afternoon by listing the top four activities that they want to visit. Then ask them explain their choices.
Also included in the packet are questions our activity creators would like participants to think about before and after they experience their activities. Share these questions with participants and have a discussion or ask them to write some answers in response.

At the festival

Speaker Sessions

Encourage participants to think about questions the speakers asked them in the packet.
Encourage participants to ask their questions for the speakers on Twitter using the hashtag #IFBG19.
Encourage participants to share their answers with the speakers during the afternoon’s Speaker Chats.

Activities: Encourage participants to

think about questions the activity creators asked them in the packet.
take time to talk to the activity creators about their work and career paths.
reflect on how ideas in the speaker sessions connect to the activities.
post photos of what they create and do at the activities on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #IFBG19.

After the festival

General: Ask participants

Did you have an “ah-ha!” moment at the festival? What was it?
Do you have any new plans for your future?
What new ideas do you have now about the future of you, your community, or the world?

They can respond to one of these questions in a paragraph and submit it to our contest (see above).

Speaker Sessions:

Ask participants
- Which speaker would you most like to have dinner with? Why?
- Which speaker’s ideas resonated with you the most?
- How did the speakers meet or not meet your expectations?
- What ideas did they share that most interested you?
- How could you pursue some of the ideas the speakers talked about?
They can respond to one of these questions in a paragraph and submit it to our contest (see above).
Talk to participants about their answers to the questions posed by the speakers in the information packet for after their talks. Encourage them to write a paragraph response and submit it to our contest (see above).
Encourage participants to fill out the survey that will be sent out after the festival, including suggestions for next year’s speakers.
Keep posting on Twitter and Instagram with the #IFBG19 hashtag.

Activities:

Ask participants
- Which activity did you learn the most from? Why?
- Which activity did you find most interesting? Why?
- Which activity did you want to explore more? Why?
- How could you pursue some of the ideas the activities presented?
They can respond to one of these questions in a paragraph and submit it to our contest (see above).
Talk to participants about their answers to the questions posed by the speakers in the information packet for after their talks.
Talk to participants about their answers to the questions posed by the activity creators in the information packet for after they experience the activity. Encourage them to write a paragraph response and submit it to our contest (see above).
Encourage participants to fill out the survey that will be sent out after the festival, including suggestions for next year’s activities.
Keep posting on Twitter and Instagram with the #IFBG19 hashtag.