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Great Gifts for Innovators
In the spirit of the Never Eat Alone blog entry on gifts for Connectors, I present to you my gift guide for Innovators. 1. CaffeineAlthough Starbuck's is the old stand-by, my participation in a recent BzzAgent campaign introduced me to Storyville Coffee. Hands-down the best tasting beans I've ever experienced in my many years of bean-juice drinking. The tale they weave around their coffee is reason enough to sample it, but their practice of only shipping freshly roasted beans in smaller, more quickly-used quantities absolutely makes a difference in how your favorite "Caff-Fiend" will enjoy their product. Check out their website and watch their love for their product being demonstrated in their video on how to crew the perfect cup. 2. MusicThe old subscription music clubs have been cross-bred with NetFlix and have evolved into a new level of service. YourMusic.com allows members to queue music lists online and have their top pick shipped to them once per month for only $5.99 (although I hear it will be raised a buck in 2007.) The selectiojn is pretty good, and unlike NetFlix, you get to keep these discs -- they're yours! Also, if you can't wait and just gotta have a new selection before your normal processing date -- you can order as many CDs as you like at your same rate per CD. I've been a member for three months now, and I really enjoy the service. 3. Great Big CrayonsI have the primary color versions of these in my office. Nothing helped a child expand their imagination like a big box of Crayolas, and I find nothing gets me right back to that level of creative spirit than looking at those giant crayons standing on-end on one of the tables in my studio. At one point, Crayola carried these branded with their logo, but right now the closest I can find is the set at GreatBigStuff.com. The look to be the exact same thing, the label just says "CRAYON" instead of "CRAYOLA." You might want to get them the Giant Lightbulb while you're at it... 4. Certified AwesomeMy buddy Jim Kukral created a really fun site this year, and I give these away to everybody. AwesomeMillion.com started out as a place where you could buy an online link to a certificate stating anyone or anything you specified was "awesome" for $1. Recently Jim made the decision to change their site to a FREE site, so now you don't have to pay a dime to certfy someone as Awesome (so what are you waiting for?) 5. Spark DecksWhether it's Roger Von Oech's "Whack Pack", Idea Champion's "Free The Genie" deck, Michalko's "ThinkPak", Creativity Central's "Creativity a la Card", the International Future Forum's "Prompt Cards", IDEO's "Method Cards", the MetaMemes brainstorm card game, or the "Know Brainer" from Solution People -- there is no end to the ideas and concepts sparked from using these creativity decks. My favorite? ALL of them. Do your innovative friend a huge favor and get as many as you're able (hey, think of all the money you saved with the free "Awesome" certification and get them two or three of the idea decks!) 6. Personal Brilliance KitJim Canterucci not only wrote the book on Personal Brilliance -- he created a magnificent "starter kit" that includes a signed copy of his book, instruction CD, embossed padfolio, and three Personal Brilliance pads that help the big thinker take full advantage of the four catalysts of Personal Brilliance (Awareness, Curiosity, Focus, & Initiative.) It's a very thoughtful gift that will help the recipient organize their creative thoughts. Well, I think that's a pretty good start -- and if you feel I was a bit late in getting these gift ideas to you, I would suggest that they make equally fine New Year's gifts. After all, is there a better time to come up with bright new ideas than at the beginning of a bright new year? Thank-you to all the readers for sharing a bit of your time at The Idea Department in 2006. I look forward to sharing more ideas with you in 2007~! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!~Don The Idea Guy