What do you get when you bring some of the most important minds of our time together in the Windy City for an entire week? Chicago Ideas Week of course! Coined, “The Ideas Festival for Everyone,” it just wrapped its eighth-year hosting global thought leaders and innovators to share ideas about how we can transform our world. Sound too lofty? Not when you have political leaders, entertainment icons, boundary-pushing authors and history-making figures on the docket.
With “unbreakable” poise, actress Ellie Kemper spoke on the “Life’s Big Questions” panel.
Image credit: courtesy of Chicago Ideas Week
This year, we had the honor of presenting the panel, “Life’s Big Questions” and featured front-row access to an intimate Off the Record Lab featuring Yuno at Vol. 39. As we think about all the ways we Stay Human at Kimpton, we thought we’d share a few of our favorite takeaways.
Our team loved peeking inside the psyches of the world’s exciting creatives to discover what
drives them—and how they tap into that magical creative spark.
1. Perhaps we are all artists, perhaps we all have the innate ability and calling to create in this world. – Founder & Chairman at Chicago Ideas and Founder & CEO at Uptake Brad Keywell at Radical Creators
2. At the Radical Creators talk, culture-shifting artists discussed how they carve an influential path forward for the rest of us during eras of intense debate.To lead, you must be willing to do something that not everybody wants to do. You must be willing to lose, to not always be included, and to not always be liked. – Raising Your Hand: What Leadership Looks Like in 2018
3. The key to success is to simply be kind to as many people as humanly possible. – Melodic Milestones: How Music Creates Culture
Consider us wowed by the melodic magic of five world-class thought leaders sharing how music has shaped our collective history. Image credit: courtesy of Chicago Ideas Week
4. Take the time to reflect and be present. It helps us all move towards a greater understanding of one another and stay connected to our passions both professionally and personally. – Life’s Big Questions
Creativity fuels every moment of work for Kimpton Director of Music + Brand Activations Lauren Bucherie who lit up the stage at Chicago Ideas Week. Image credit: courtesy of Chicago Ideas Week
If you missed this year’s ideas festival, don’t worry! CIW has a packed calendar of incredible programs that are available year-round. Most start around $15 a ticket. We love dreaming big and hope this inspired you too.
