64th Southwest Regional ACS Meeting
Little Rock, Arkansas
Oct. 1-4, 2008

   
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Innovation Workshop
Thurs. Oct. 1
1-5 pm

We have all heard the old adage of doing something in the same way over and over will not produce different results. The very basis of Chemistry, your profession, and ACS challenges you to advance your thinking, identify new solutions, and design new approaches continuously. Yet, it is not easy changing the way you or those you work with look at an issue and create new ideas. Imagine if you could:

§  Tap into a systematic method for creating for new approaches.

§  Eliminate personal and organization barriers that inhibit your ability to think more innovatively.

§  Have a proven process to generate ideas.

We all have the capacity to innovate. Yet, sometimes we are blocked because we don’t have a process that will help us think outside the box, or we are unwilling to challenge traditional approaches, or communication barriers inhibit us. Whatever the reason, the objective is to gain the tools to help you and those you lead stretch your ability to develop new ideas.

In this four-hour course you will learn that innovation doesn’t happen by chance but can be managed. The understanding and tools you gain will help you learn how to tap into your own innovation style as well as learn how to stimulate innovative thinking among your local section, division, regional meeting or national committee members. Specifically, ACS leaders will learn:

  • The structural, personal, and communication barriers to innovation.

  • That everyone is capable of generating ideas and we are innovative in different ways.

  • Four different approaches to developing ideas and how to encourage people to innovate no matter what their preferred innovation approach.

  • The 4 main questions that serve as the basis for innovation.

  • How to help people open to new possibilities, challenge traditional approaches, and encourage diverse perspectives.

Who Should Attend This Workshop?

This workshop is designed for leaders in the Society who need to rely on innovative thinking, ideas, and approaches to move a group of volunteers in a new direction or a project forward. Those leaders who are responsible for making significant changes to current processes, or are asked to create new ideas and approaches for addressing key issues, or who need to make a significant impact, will benefit greatly from this course.

Omar Asensio will be facilitating the workshop (see bio below). You can register for the workshop at the Center for Professional Advancement (CPA) website. (www.acs.org/professionaladvancement) 

 

OMAR ASENSIO works in marketing and technology development at Avery Dennison Office and Consumer Products. Prior to this, he held various engineering roles supporting product and process development activities in the U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining Avery, Mr. Asensio worked at a private nanotechnology company in California developing low cost manufacturing processes in renewable energy from lab to early-stage commercialization. Omar has been an active ACS member since 2001. He currently serves in his local section in Southern California as an elected member of the executive committee. Omar received a Leadership Development Award from ACS in 2003 and was a National ACS Scholar in 1998. He serves on the national younger chemists committee (YCC) and is liaison to the International Activities Committee (IAC). Omar lives in Los Angeles, California and enjoys football, live music and the sport of fencing.