How to Set up and Run a Web BrainStorm

Setting up a BrainStorm with Sylvia is easy. The first thing you should do is register to use Sylvia. If you have already registered, log in. Then click on the Set up an event link and fill in the simple form (below).

Enter your challenge in the top field. Challenges should be simple, broad and typically start with "In what ways might we..?" or "How could we..?" or similar. Click on this link to read more about designing creative challenges (opens in a new window). If you are just experimenting with Sylvia, we suggest you try a classic creative challenge: "In what ways might we use a brick?"

Then enter the target number of ideas. If you are experimenting on your own, select 10 ideas. Otherwise, push yourself. We recommend a target of 50 if you are new to brainstorming and 100 if you are a brainstorming pro.

In the next field enter criteria for evaluating the ideas. At the end of the idea generation phase, all participants will be asked to vote on which ideas best meet your criteria. Note: you must enter some criteria in order to set up your BrainStorm.

In the free Sylvia Web BrainStormer, all BrainStorms are private. In the Corporate Web BrainStormer, you may choose whether to open your BrainStorm to the public or restrict who may know about and participate in your BrainStorm.

Once you have completed the form and double-checked the details, please click the submit button. Sylvia then generates your BrainStorm and confirms it.

The confirmation screen confirms the details of your BrainStorm, provides a link to the idea generation space and provides a link that should open in your e-mail client an e-mail that you can send to people in order to invite them to join your BrainStorm (note: this link does not work with all web browser and e-mail client combinations - sorry!)

If your BrainStorm is public (all FREE BrainStorms are public), you and others can access it via the Events page on Sylvia. Just click on your BrainStorm and you will enter the idea generation space (as below).

Participating is easy. You and all of the other brainstormers are in the same idea space. You enter your ideas in the field at the bottom of the page and click add idea. Every 30 seconds the idea space at the top refreshes and adds your new ideas. You can read other people's ideas, respond to them and build on them. For best results, do not talk to participants, open Internet chat or otherwise communicate about ideas - and certainly do not criticise ideas. The point of Sylvia's idea space is that you focus exclusively on generating ideas that answer the creative challenge.

For best results, invite all participants to log on and generate ideas at the same time. This allows people to really collaborate and be inspired by each others' ideas. However, getting everyone on Sylvia at the same time is not always possible, especially if participants are all over the world. So you may wish to leave your brainstorm session open so people can log in at their convenience, submit ideas and leave.

Note brainstorms are limited to 24 hours. If you want more sophisticated idea submission or longer periods, please check out Jenni idea management software service.

The idea generation will end once you have reached your target number of ideas. If you are the owner of the BrainStorm, you may also end it by clicking the "Click here to end idea generation link" near the top of the idea space.

Once the idea generation phase is finished, participants see this screen with the challenge, evaluation criteria and all of the ideas they have generated. Participants vote on the ideas they believe best meet the criteria. Then they are finished.

Sylvia compiles everyone's votes and generates an on-line report.

Note: Sylvia only generates a report when one of the following has occurred (whichever happens first):

1. All participants have completed their voting.
2. The BrainStorm event owner manually generates a report.
3. 24 hours have passed since the idea generation was completed.

It often happens in BrainStorm events, especially large ones which involve people logging in and out, that not all participants vote on ideas. If you are the BrainStorm event owner, you may need to remind people to vote; or you may need to make a decision to generate a report before everyone has voted.