When I was the Chair of Education for the International Stage Hypnotists' Association, one of the members asked me if I would create a meeting space that helped stage hypnotists come up with new ideas for their shows. That was the genesis of "The Imagination Lab." It quickly became the most popular meeting that the organization offered.

Each month Colin Chapman and I would think of a new method or scenario for pushing people's creative thinking. The ground rules for Imagination Lab are simple, but important:

1. Imagination Lab is a collaborative environment, so nobody owns any of the ideas that are created in the meetings.
2. Everyone contributes actively. This is how we grow our creative skills.
3. We gather to support one another, and the biggest way to do that in this space is to listen and give people what they ask for, not what we think would be better than what they asked for.
4. Whenever possible, avoid philosophical discussion and digression. This is a space for creating!